How Can You Add Sitelinks to Your Google Ads?

What Sitelinks Are (and Why They’re One of the Highest-ROI “Easy Wins” in Google Ads)

Sitelinks are additional clickable links that can show with your ad, sending people directly to specific pages (for example: pricing, locations, services, best-sellers, or contact pages). When they’re built thoughtfully, sitelinks don’t just “take up more space”—they pre-qualify clicks, shorten the path to conversion, and often lift click-through rate because the ad becomes more useful for more search intents.

From a practical account-management standpoint, sitelinks also give you cleaner traffic segmentation. Instead of funneling everything through one landing page, you can steer different intents to the most relevant destination and then evaluate performance by which link users actually chose.

Where Sitelinks Can Show, and How Many You Might See

Sitelinks can be eligible across Search campaigns, Performance Max, Video campaigns, Demand Gen, and AdSense for Search. The number of sitelinks that actually appear depends on factors like device, ad position, and what the system predicts will perform best in that auction.

In Search/Performance Max placements, you generally need at least two sitelinks eligible to show, and the system can show up to six on desktop and up to eight on mobile (often displayed in a swipeable carousel on phones). In Video and Demand Gen contexts, the maximum shown is typically up to four sitelinks when eligible.

Cost: You Don’t Pay Extra to “Add” Sitelinks

There’s no fee to create sitelinks. You pay the normal click cost when someone clicks—whether they click a sitelink or the main headline. One nuance that matters: the platform limits billing to no more than two clicks per ad impression, and rapid repeat clicks from the same impression can be treated as invalid/duplicate clicks and not billed.

How to Add Sitelinks in Google Ads (Step-by-Step)

If you haven’t built sitelinks recently, the most important mental model is that sitelinks are now managed as assets. You create them once and then associate them to the right level (account, campaign, ad group, or asset group). That structure is what makes sitelinks scalable in larger accounts—done right, you’re not rebuilding the same links over and over.

Step 1: Decide Where Your Sitelinks Should Live (Account vs. Campaign vs. Ad Group vs. Asset Group)

You can add sitelinks at the account, campaign, ad group, or asset group level. Here’s the expert way to think about it: start broad for coverage, then go granular for relevance.

Account-level sitelinks are best for links that truly apply to most of the account (for example: “Contact,” “Locations,” “Financing,” “About,” “Reviews,” “Support”). Campaign-level sitelinks are ideal when a campaign represents a distinct product line or audience. Ad group-level sitelinks are where you get laser relevance (for example: a brand campaign ad group that deserves “Official Site,” “New Arrivals,” “Store Hours,” while a competitor ad group might deserve “Compare Plans” or “Why Switch”). Asset group-level sitelinks are commonly used when you want sitelinks aligned to a specific Performance Max theme or grouping.

One key serving rule to remember: sitelinks from higher levels can be eligible to serve alongside sitelinks from lower levels within the same branch of your account hierarchy (account > campaign > ad group or asset group). The system then chooses what it predicts will maximize performance.

Step 2: Create and Associate Sitelinks in the Google Ads Interface

In your Google Ads account, go to Assets from the Campaigns section. Click the plus button and choose Sitelink. From the “Add to” dropdown, select the level you want (Account, Campaign, Ad group, and where available, Asset group).

Next, choose whether you’re creating a new sitelink or reusing an existing one from your asset library. Then complete three essentials: the sitelink text (the clickable label), the final URL (the destination page), and the description fields. Descriptions are technically optional, but they’re strongly recommended because they unlock richer formats and can improve the usefulness of the sitelink. If you use descriptions, write both lines so the sitelink can qualify for the expanded format when there’s room.

Save, and repeat until you’ve built strong coverage. In most real accounts, I aim for at least four solid account-level sitelinks quickly, then expand to six or more sitelinks with descriptions for high-volume campaigns/ad groups where the incremental performance impact is meaningful.

Step 3: Edit, Schedule, Pause, or Remove Sitelinks (So They Stay Accurate)

Go back to Assets and switch the table view to Associations so you can see which sitelinks are attached to which parts of the account. This is where most “why aren’t my sitelinks showing?” issues get solved—often the sitelinks exist, but they’re attached at a level you didn’t intend (or they’re scheduled outside your active ad schedule).

To schedule sitelinks, edit the sitelink association and open Advanced options. You can set a start/end date (useful for promos) and apply day/time scheduling so the sitelink only runs during certain windows (for example: “Call Now” only during staffed hours). You can also pause or remove sitelinks from this same area when they’re no longer relevant.

Best Practices That Actually Move CTR and Conversion Rate (Not Just “More Links”)

Build Sitelinks Around User Intent, Not Your Org Chart

The most common sitelink mistake is treating sitelinks like a mini sitemap. Instead, treat them as intent shortcuts. Ask: “What are the top 4–8 decisions someone needs to make before buying, and which pages help them decide fastest?” For service businesses that may be pricing, service areas, reviews, and scheduling. For ecommerce, it may be best-sellers, category pages, shipping/returns, and deals.

A quick rule: if a sitelink doesn’t materially change the user’s path versus clicking the main headline, it’s probably not earning its slot.

Write Sitelinks That Earn Eligibility (and Avoid Disapprovals)

Your sitelink text is limited in length (so shorter is better), and multiple sitelinks with the same (or effectively the same) link text won’t be allowed to serve together. Keep each sitelink label distinct and specific.

Also keep sitelinks clean and professional. Overuse of punctuation, symbols, and attention-grabbing formatting can trigger disapprovals or reduce serving. And make sure the sitelink is clearly relevant to what the user will see after clicking—misleading sitelinks are one of the fastest ways to get assets restricted.

Destination consistency matters too. In general, sitelink URLs should match the same domain as the ad’s final URL. There are limited exceptions where third-party destinations can be allowed, but when that’s done, the sitelink text needs to clearly describe the destination and include the full domain in the text so users understand where they’re going.

Expect “Perfectly Built” Sitelinks to Still Not Show Every Time

This surprises advertisers: even approved sitelinks don’t show in every auction. The system selects from your eligible pool based on predicted performance, available space, and context.

There’s also a modern layout behavior to be aware of: responsive search ads can use enhanced flexibility, meaning certain responsive search ad headlines can appear as link-like elements in the space where sitelinks historically showed (pointing to the same domain as your final URL). Translation: your sitelinks can be eligible, but the auction may render a different “link-based” experience when it’s predicted to work better. This is normal, and it’s one reason you should judge sitelinks by data over time—not by a single preview.

Troubleshooting: Why Your Sitelinks Aren’t Showing (and the Fast Fixes)

When sitelinks don’t show, it’s usually not a “bug.” It’s almost always an eligibility, association, policy, or auction-selection issue. Here’s the shortest path to diagnosis.

The Critical Checklist (Use This Before You Change Anything Else)

• Confirm you have at least two eligible sitelinks for the context you’re trying to trigger (and ideally more than two so the system has choices).
• Confirm the sitelinks are attached at the right level by checking Assets > Associations (account/campaign/ad group/asset group).
• Check that sitelinks are approved or eligible (not disapproved, paused, or limited).
• Confirm scheduling: the sitelink’s start/end date and day/time schedule align with when your ads are actually running.
• Check for duplicate link text across multiple sitelinks—repetition can prevent sitelinks from serving together.
• Verify your sitelink URLs align with your ad’s final URL domain, unless you’ve intentionally used an approved third-party destination with proper disclosure in the sitelink text.

If Everything Is “Correct” but Sitelinks Still Rarely Appear

Assuming the checklist is clean, the next most common cause is auction dynamics. Sitelinks are selected only when predicted to improve performance, and their visibility is influenced by factors like ad rank and available layout space. If your ad is often in lower positions, has limited impressions, or is competing in dense SERPs with many other formats, sitelinks may show less frequently.

In these cases, the best lever is usually not “rebuild the sitelinks.” It’s improving overall eligibility and competitiveness: stronger relevance, better landing page alignment, and ensuring you have a healthy pool of high-quality assets so the system can choose the best combination.

Dynamic Sitelinks and Automatically Created Assets: Helpful, but You Should Control Them

Dynamic sitelinks can be created automatically and may show alongside (or instead of) your manually created sitelinks when predicted to perform better. They’re designed to expand coverage without manual setup, and they can also help by generating sitelink descriptions automatically if you’re opted into dynamic sitelinks.

If you see a dynamic sitelink you don’t like, you don’t have to turn everything off. You can view dynamic sitelinks within Assets, filter to those added automatically, and then pause or remove individual sitelinks. If needed, you can also disable automatically created assets at the campaign level so only assets you provide are used; when disabled, automatically created assets stop serving and are reported as removed.

Bonus: Adding Sitelinks in Google Ads Editor (Best for Bulk Builds)

If you manage multiple campaigns or a large account, Google Ads Editor is often the fastest way to scale sitelinks because it’s built around shared assets and bulk operations.

Attach Existing Sitelinks from the Shared Library

In Google Ads Editor, select the account, campaign, or ad group in the account tree. Then go to Ad assets > Sitelinks, choose Add sitelink, and pick from your shared sitelinks. This is ideal when you’ve already standardized a set of sitelinks and want consistent rollout.

Import Many Sitelinks at Once (Spreadsheet-Style)

For bulk imports, prepare a sheet with required columns like campaign, link text, and final URL (and ad group if you’re doing ad group-level sitelinks). You can also include optional columns such as description line 1 and 2, platform targeting, device preference, start/end dates, and ad scheduling. Then use the “Make multiple changes” workflow or import a CSV to apply at scale.

Control Device and Scheduling in Bulk

Editor also supports platform targeting (all/desktop/mobile) and device preference, plus start/end dates and schedules. Just remember that some settings—like platform targeting—need to be consistent for all sitelinks within the same campaign or ad group, so plan your structure before you paste in hundreds of rows.

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Adding sitelinks in Google Ads is mainly about creating sitelink assets in the Assets section, then associating them at the right level (account, campaign, ad group, or asset group) so they stay relevant to intent, can be scheduled or paused when needed, and can be measured individually over time—even if they don’t show on every impression due to auction dynamics. If you want help turning those best practices into a repeatable process, Blobr connects to your Google Ads account and can run a dedicated Sitelink Extension Optimizer agent that reviews your existing sitelinks and their performance, crawls your site to find better destination pages, and suggests more relevant sitelinks per ad group (including text, URLs, and descriptions) with a ready-to-upload CSV for bulk implementation.