A quick link is a clickable word or button that sends a visitor straight from one part of your website to another. Menus, footer links, and homepage buttons are all quick links. Used well, they help people find what they need fast, which keeps them on your site and moves them toward a purchase.
Navigation is where many sites lose people. If a visitor cannot find the next step, whether that is a checkout, a signup, or the right product, they leave. Quick links are one of the simplest ways to fix that.
This guide covers what quick links are, how they differ from sitelinks and internal links, why they matter for user experience and SEO, and the best practices that make them work.
What Are Quick Links?
A quick link is a word or button on your website that takes your web visitors from one part of the website to another.
Quick links are a critical element in website navigation because they act like guides. They show your website visitors around and point them to what they’re looking for.
For example, when a visitor lands on your homepage, they can access other parts of your website like your blog, sign-up page, and resource page by clicking on the word or button on your homepage.
Take a look at the quick links on this homepage from Agility CMS:
The Resources quick link comes with a drop-down of different resources that will take web visitors to different types of resources, based on what they’re looking for such as blog content, case studies, webinars, guides, and documentation.
There are also quick links presented as buttons Request a Demo and Try for Free which lead visitors to different landing pages, where they will sign up depending on their preferences.
Most websites place quick links at the top and at the bottom of the home page. This makes it easier for visitors who, once they read content on your homepage, can quickly visit other parts of your website without having to scroll back up the page to find what they need.
Quick links are not limited to your homepage. They are an effective way to connect your web visitors with the most searched or visited pages on your website.
If you have a good internal linking structure and have submitted your XML sitemap to Google, then some of the quick links you’ve allowed Google to index will show in search results. Take a look:
While quick links are classified as internal links, they’re not to be confused with the internal links that appear inside your content.
A quick link helps in navigation by taking web visitors from one part of the website to another, such as from the homepage to the signup page.
Internal links appear inside your content, moving your visitors from the content they’re reading to another related piece of content within your website. Both types of links are important because they contribute to the user’s experience.
Quick Links vs Sitelinks vs Browser Quick Links
One reason quick links cause confusion is that the same phrase gets used three ways. It helps to keep them apart.
- On site quick links. The navigation links and buttons on your own website. This is what most of this guide is about.
- Google sitelinks. The extra sub links Google sometimes shows under your result in search. People call these quick links too. You do not add them by hand. Google generates them from your site structure when it trusts your pages.
- Browser quick links. The shortcut tiles on a new browser tab, like the ones in Chrome or Edge. These live in the browser, not on your site, so they are not something you optimize.
- Contextual internal links. The links inside your article copy that send a reader to a related post. Quick links are technically internal links too, but they live in navigation and move people around the structure of your site, not from one article to another.
The first two are connected. A clear internal structure with strong quick links, plus a submitted XML sitemap, makes it easier for Google to understand your site. That is what helps Google show sitelinks under your result.
How do quick links affect user experience and SEO?
Your quick links influence the usability and accessibility of your website. These factors determine the amount of time web visitors spend on your website.
The Digital Experience Benchmark report by Contentsquare reveals that users in all industries spend an average of 55 seconds on a webpage with web visitors spending more time on Media and B2B web pages.
These findings signal two things:
- Their expectations are higher and they expect to find what they need when they land on your website.
- The less time a web visitor spends on your website is an indication of poor usability and accessibility, meaning that they can’t find what they need once they land on a webpage.
You may not always have poor usability or accessibility issues with your website, but if your web visitors spend less time on your site as compared to the industry average, then navigation issues are a good place to start.
If you’re in B2B for example, you’re aware that B2B buying cycles are long and involve several stakeholders. You’re not the only one on the evaluation list by your potential buyers.
Similarly, if you’re an e-commerce website selling consumer electronics, customers are comparing various products’ feature sets and dimensions. Because of the relatively high ticket items, this can take a while.
So, to provide a better buying experience, you’ll need to improve your website and its accessibility and usability and have a shot at standing out from your competition.
Besides, 88% of customers believe that the buying experience is as good as the product they’re buying. So you’re better off being intentional about your quick links and thinking about where you place them to deliver a smooth browsing experience.
In addition to improving site navigation, quick links also have an impact on SEO. They allow you to create a good site architecture, meaning page rankings flow from your best-performing pages directly to relevant content that your web visitors need to find.
This way, multiple types of content show up in search results and, as a result, you get more traffic. To illustrate this, take a look at this blog post about creating an SEO strategy for a SaaS company and pay attention to the quick link on the right sidebar:
At the time of this writing, the post ranks position #10 for the keyword SaaS SEO Strategy on page one of Google.
Over time, and assuming that the post will continue ranking higher for that keyword, two scenarios are likely to play out.
The first scenario is that some of the PageRank the web page acquires over time will pass on to other links on the page, including the quick link on the sidebar.
That way, if a potential customer with a transactional intent searches for the company (Outreach Monks), the phrase “get a free quote” is likely to appear in their search results, as we showed earlier with Linkody.
The second scenario is that searchers with informational intent will want to learn about how to create an SEO strategy for their SaaS company.
If the content is so good that it moves readers from wanting to learn about SEO strategies to taking action, then they’ll pick one item to act on.
For example, link building. They might learn that collaborating with others for links is part of a solid SEO strategy and decide to try it themselves. Then all they’ll need to do is click on the quick link to get a free quote on how much they will spend on link building when working with the company.
In both scenarios, searchers won’t need to visit the homepage to find a quick link that leads them to a page where they can get a free quote.
If they want a free quote, they’ll get it on demand, which means an increase in the number of leads the company generates and a significant boost in conversion rates.
Where to Place Quick Links
Quick links work best in a few predictable spots. Each one serves a different moment in the visit.
- Top navigation menu. The first thing most visitors scan. Reserve it for your few most important destinations.
- Homepage buttons. Clear calls to action like a free trial or a pricing link that move people to the next step.
- Footer. A home for the links people look for at the end of a page, like contact, support, and key categories.
- Sidebar. Useful on blog posts to point readers from an article to a related product or signup page.
- A quick links section on long pages. A small block near the top that jumps people to the parts of the page they care about.
You do not need all of these. Pick the spots that match how people use your pages, then keep each set short.
Quick Links Best Practices
You’ll want to be intentional about the quick links you create.
Each quick link you create contributes to the objectives you’ve laid out in your content strategy. Here are the best practices you need to keep in mind when creating quick links for your website:
#1 Use descriptive labels
The link behind the text is just as important as the label. Most quick links on the homepage will have labels like products, services, or solutions, which don’t provide adequate context about what’s in it for the web visitor.
Normally, it works well to provide different services or sell multiple products, then a drop-down with the labels above each shows a quick link to each product or service landing page.
However, not all your services or products are popular with your target audience. So instead of listing all your products or services in a drop-down list, provide two to three quick links to your most important or most popular products and services.
Doing this will help you make sure that your label answers the question, “What’s in it for me?” as soon as possible to help the visitor decide whether to click the link or bounce off and visit another website.
For example, if you scroll down to the bottom of Linkody’s homepage, you’ll find different things you can do with the tool. This is accompanied by a CTA quick link to Start a FREE 30-day trial, which makes sense considering users can assess Linkody’s features and how it can benefit them:
Linkody has an option of using a drop-down with the label SEO Tools at the tip of their homepage, but instead, the quick links point to the pricing, sign in, and try it free pages.
These labels are simple and clear, and they tell the visitor what’s in it for them the moment they want to move to a different part of the website.
Besides, when search engines index your site, the labels you use will show up in search results, increasing your click-through rate as long as the labels that show up in the search results align with what your searchers are looking for.
#2 Use topics, not content formats
When creating quick links for your content, product, or service categories, you want to avoid using content formats as your label.
For example, using Infographics, Videos, and Ebooks as categories doesn’t do much to help the reader know whether the content is what they need.
Instead of this, group different content formats by topic to help your visitor interact with content. If the topic is something they’re interested in learning more about, then they will likely watch your webinars, read your blog, and even interact with your infographics.
Besides, content formats change, and visitors may not be interested in consuming content in a specific format. Conversely, if your topics align with their interests, then they will be more than willing to interact with your content regardless of their format.
The same applies to your product or service categories. Add quick links to topics to help your web visitors find what they need.
For example, Piktochart helps its customers create infographics and it provides them with templates to make their work easier.
Instead of grouping all the infographic templates together, they have divided them into three topics: Popular, Use Case, and All Templates:
This helps their users save time when looking for the templates they need and use the tool to create their infographics.
#3 Optimize your quick links
In addition to providing reports on your new and returning visitors and different traffic sources, Google Analytics provides you with a user flow report showing you how your web visitors move around your website.
With a user flow report, you will see pages that have a high drop-off rate, a high conversion rate, and some of the most visited pages on your website.
So, when creating quick links for your website, you want to make sure that you’re taking your user flow reports into account to remove hurdles that visitors have to jump over as they head to your most profitable pages.
For example, a web visitor who comes from an external link pointing to your website may visit your homepage, check out your service page, and then leave.
If your user flow report shows that your service page has a high drop-off rate, that may mean that your service page isn’t optimized for your web visitors. The copywriting and call-to-action aren’t compelling enough for them to take action.
To reduce the drop-off rate, you may need to create separate service or product pages for each customer segment to reduce the drop-off rate. For each of your service page quick links, optimize them to make sure the service page a visitor lands on aligns with what was in the description.
#4 Ensure that your quick links are useful
Your quick link should lead to the exact page that the label describes without requiring your web visitor to make any new clicks. When your quick link doesn’t deliver the promise in the description label, website visitors get frustrated and leave your site. This may alert Google of a poor search experience, potentially leading to penalties.
Help the visitor know what to expect once they click on the quick link by running checks on your site to find broken links and fix them, organizing the most important links based on heat map results, and using action verbs.
Heat map tools track how your web visitors interact with different elements on your web pages, what they pay attention to, and what they ignore. Here’s an example of a heatmap result:
This is an example of a click map, showing sections of Hotjar’s homepage that receive the most clicks.
With a click map of your website, you can know where to place the most important quick links to help your visitors complete different conversion goals once they visit your website.
Quick Links FAQ
What is a quick link on a website?
It is a clickable word or button that takes a visitor from one part of your site to another, such as a menu link from the homepage to your pricing page. Its job is to speed up navigation.
What are some quick links examples?
Common examples are the items in a top navigation menu, footer links, homepage buttons like a demo request or a free trial, and a sidebar link to a quote or signup page.
Are quick links the same as Google sitelinks?
No. On site quick links are the links you place on your own pages. Google sitelinks are the sub links Google shows under your search result. You cannot add sitelinks by hand, but a clean site structure and strong internal linking make them more likely.
Are quick links the same as internal links?
Quick links are a type of internal link, but not every internal link is a quick link. Quick links live in your navigation, like menus, buttons, and footers, and move people around the structure of your site. Contextual internal links sit inside your article copy and send a reader to a related post. Both keep visitors on your site, but they do different jobs.
Are quick links good for SEO?
Yes, when used well. They build a clear site architecture, pass authority to important pages, and improve navigation. Just keep them relevant and avoid overloading your menus.
Where should quick links go on a website?
The most common spots are the top navigation menu, the footer, homepage buttons, and a sidebar on blog posts. Long pages also benefit from a small quick links section near the top.
How do I get sitelinks to show in Google?
You cannot request them directly. Build a clear site structure, use descriptive labels and internal links, submit your XML sitemap, and earn authority. When Google trusts your site, it may show sitelinks on its own.
Conclusion
It’s no longer enough to have basic quick links on your website. They need to be strategic enough that they contribute to the overall objectives of your content and SEO strategy, which includes generating more leads and increasing your conversion rates.
Looking at the bigger picture, quick links are the nuts and bolts that shape your website’s navigation. They determine the quality of a web visitor’s browsing experience. You’ll need to be intentional when thinking about your quick links and viewing your website navigation from the perspective of your web visitors.
If you’re building your website, think about the labels you’ll use, and make sure that your descriptions are clear and deliver on the promise.
If you’ve already launched your website, a good place to start would be to look through your user flow report inside Google Analytics to see how your web visitors move around your website.
Where do they drop off? Which pages account for 80% of your conversions?
Consider using heat map tools to gain more insights into how your web visitors behave once they land on your site. Use this information to optimize their experience by adding quick links where necessary and getting rid of unnecessary quick links.
Finally, once you’ve set up your quick links correctly, use Linkody’s free backlink checker to analyze your backlink profile and create a link-building strategy to help you acquire more links to relevant web pages.