SEM Blog: Website Marketing Blog

Authority Sites & Search Boxes

Posted by Linda at March 25th, 2008

Many people refer to a site having extra links in Google’s search results as being an authority site. For example see:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS176US215&q=golf+gifts&btnG=Search

The links to the interior pages of a site are given at Google’s discretion when a site is deemed worthy enough to feature them. This is very useful to the site owner because it brings more attention to the search result; it also takes up more of the space on the top of the first page, which is excellent for the site owner trying to drive traffic.

Now check this out:

http://www.google.com/search?q=walmart&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS176US215

Not only does the top result have extra links it also features the site’s search box so users can easily search for merchandise. The buttons are also custom in that they have the site’s name right on the button “Search walmart.com”. Other sites that return a search box in the results include:

Target:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS176US215&q=target&btnG=Search

PetCo:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS176US215&q=petco&btnG=Search