Google are introducing a lot of new elements in the SERPS, and some of these include a lot of deep links to your site.
Sitelinks and breadcrumbs
The sitelinks are allocated to your site by Google, and you are only able to remove sitelinks, not add sitelinks that would benefit your business.
The breadcrumb navigation in the SERPS are still quite new, but it seems Google are using these without any possibility opt-out of breadcrumbs for individual URL’s or even for all the URL’s on a domain.
What is the problem with sitelinks and breadcrumbs?
With more deep links to your site, Google will be able to move some of the navigation from your site to a Google controlled area (adwords). This means you will loose the possibility to present other content or products to the user, as he will be surfing on Google.
Example
If you have a shop with two products, one main product with a lot of search traffic, and a secondary product with only a little search traffic.
In this example only the main product will be presented in the sitelinks, and quite a large share of the users will click on the sitelink and go directly to the main product page, without being exposed to your information about the secondary product.
What are the consequences?
In general more links to your site on Google should be a good thing, and sitelinks offer great visibility in the SERPS.
But if Google move some of the navigation from your site to Google, the entry pages on your site will change, and your sales funnels on the site will change, and most likely be shorter.
Google increased use of deep links in sitelinks and breadcrumbs then calls for a different site architecture, and revised sales funnels for the products. The main products will be exposed directly on Google while the secondary products should possibly have more attention on the site.
Sitelinks and breadcrumbs – good or bad?
In general sitelinks and breadcrumbs are a good thing, but the effects should be monitored carefully, as the navigation on the site can change dramatically over time, thus changing the optimal sales funnels.
Bur remember, if Google and Google alone controls the deep links, then your possibilities to change your product and market focus will be reduced, as a lot of the users will use the deep link navigation Google offers.
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