Google Ads Sitelink Assets Checklist

Use this Google Ads sitelink assets checklist before publishing, after a site or campaign change, and during recurring account reviews. Confirm that each link has one clear purpose, a destination that fulfills its label, a deliberate association level, valid policy and schedule settings, working measurement, and an owner who knows when to review or remove it. A complete checklist is more than a count of assets; it checks the effective ad experience.

Google’s current sitelink asset guidance describes creation, account and campaign associations, descriptions, scheduling, reporting, and troubleshooting. Use the current Google Ads interface for field names and availability because formats and campaign-level options can change. The checks below are the decision record around that workflow.

1. Define the campaign and page context

Complete these fields before drafting link text:

[ ] Campaign name, type, market, language, device mix, and date are recorded.
[ ] Primary query or audience, offer, and main landing page are named.
[ ] Primary conversion, qualified outcome, value model, and normal lag are documented.
[ ] The page hierarchy and customer questions between ad click and action are mapped.
[ ] A content, policy, analytics, or business owner is assigned.
[ ] The review date and the condition for changing or removing the set are written down.

List the secondary destinations a visitor may need: plans, pricing, services, locations, proof, integrations, support, availability, or a lower-friction research step. Do not add a page just because it exists. Add it only when it answers a real question for the campaign branch.

Give every link one job

For each candidate, write the label, one-sentence promise, final URL, scope, owner, and review date. Remove a candidate when its promise is vague, its page duplicates another link, or its destination is not ready. “Compare plans” and “Customer stories” should not lead to a generic homepage or a page that hides the promised information behind an unrelated step.

Use the broader Google Ads sitelink assets best-practices guide when the team needs to decide which questions belong in the set. This checklist is for proving that the resulting set is ready and maintainable.

2. Review labels, descriptions, and claims

Before entering the editor, confirm:

[ ] Every label says what a visitor will find at the destination.
[ ] Link text is distinct across the effective set.
[ ] Labels do not rely on “Learn more,” “Click here,” internal names, or vague benefits when a specific destination can be named.
[ ] Descriptions add accurate context instead of repeating the label.
[ ] Pricing, savings, availability, eligibility, performance, and feature claims have the required approval.
[ ] Trademarks, regulated wording, and promotional terms have been reviewed.
[ ] Automated or dynamic description sources have an owner and review rule.

Google’s sitelink asset requirements prohibit repeated link text even when destinations differ. They also address relevance, third-party destinations, and punctuation or symbols that serve no useful purpose. Treat policy review as a content-and-destination review, not as a final cosmetic step.

Read the set as a menu

Put the labels in the order a visitor might encounter them and ask whether the differences are obvious. A useful set can cover evaluation, proof, and action without forcing every person into a high-friction form. Remove near duplicates and replace them with a meaningful question or leave the slot unused until a suitable page exists.

3. Test every destination

For every sitelink, check:

[ ] The final URL is the intended destination, not a shortener or avoidable redirect chain.
[ ] The URL domain matches the ad’s final-URL domain unless a permitted third-party case has been reviewed.
[ ] The page loads on mobile and desktop in the intended region.
[ ] The visible heading, offer, and first action match the link text.
[ ] Forms, calls, booking, checkout, inventory, and regional availability work where promised.
[ ] Login, consent, cookie, and accessibility paths do not block the intended next step unexpectedly.
[ ] Parameters preserve attribution and follow the account’s tracking rules.
[ ] Canonical and analytics behavior are understood by the site and measurement owners.

Test the page as a visitor, not only as an administrator. A link that opens for a logged-in team member can fail for a new visitor, and a page that works in one region can redirect or show no inventory in another. When a destination is not ready, pause the candidate rather than publishing a label that is only approximately true.

4. Confirm scope and effective associations

Before saving the assets, check:

[ ] Account-level links are valid for every relevant campaign and ad group.
[ ] Campaign-level links apply to the offer, market, and page family below them.
[ ] Ad-group or asset-group links match the narrow query, product, service, location, or audience.
[ ] The chosen level is recorded with the reason for the decision.
[ ] Existing associations have been inspected before editing a shared asset.
[ ] A representative ad group or asset group has an effective-set review planned after saving.
[ ] Product, location, price, or seasonal links are not shared more broadly than their promise permits.

Google allows sitelinks at account, campaign, ad group, and, for applicable campaign types, asset-group levels. Assets in the same account branch can be eligible together. Therefore, check the links a specific ad can inherit rather than assuming the table filtered to the asset you just created is the complete serving set.

Check reuse and shared edits

If you choose Use existing, verify the label, description, URL, schedule, policy state, and all current associations. If an exception needs different wording or a different page, create a separate asset. Editing a shared asset can change every branch that uses it; record that impact before saving.

5. Create, schedule, and review the assets

Use the current Google Ads flow under Campaigns and Assets. Check each step:

[ ] The correct account is open and the intended campaign branch is selected.
[ ] The plus control and Sitelink asset option are the intended asset type.
[ ] “Add to” points to the planned account, campaign, ad group, or asset group level.
[ ] Create new or Use existing matches the reviewed asset map.
[ ] Link text, description lines, and URL are copied from the approved record, not an unrelated campaign.
[ ] Every proposed sitelink has been reviewed before Save.
[ ] Association view and status are checked after saving.
[ ] A shared asset’s other associations are recorded before any edit.

Set a schedule only for a genuine time boundary such as a promotion, event, seasonal service, staffed phone path, or temporary availability:

[ ] Start and end dates are correct.
[ ] Days, hours, and time zone match the business and ad schedule.
[ ] The expiry owner knows what to remove, replace, or restore.
[ ] The fallback destination and offer terms are recorded.
[ ] Evergreen links have not been scheduled without a reason.

After creation, confirm the asset status. Do not count an asset as ready while it is disapproved or while a destination and policy question is unresolved. Google’s review-status help explains the status and Policy details views to use when the current interface shows a review or limitation.

6. Check preview, policy, and launch readiness

Before launch, verify the complete combination of primary ad and sitelinks:

[ ] The preview uses the intended campaign, branch, device, location, and date context.
[ ] The set reads like a coherent menu rather than unrelated site navigation.
[ ] Shortened or rendered labels remain accurate.
[ ] The combination does not imply a price, feature, appointment, or result that is not universally available.
[ ] Sitelink text is not repeated across the effective set.
[ ] Domain, third-party, relevance, punctuation, trademark, and destination requirements are reviewed.
[ ] Policy details and warnings have an assigned resolution.
[ ] The launch time and person responsible for the final check are recorded.

A preview is useful but not a delivery guarantee. Sitelinks can be absent from an impression because of eligibility, schedule, device, position, available set, or predicted performance. Use status, associations, and reports as the primary evidence, and treat a live search as a limited spot check rather than proof that every user will see the same links.

Keep policy repairs concrete

If a sitelink is disapproved, read the reason and fix the relevant text, destination, domain, claim, or page. Do not add symbols, vague wording, or duplicate variants to work around a review. The sitelink policy requirements describe repeated link text, third-party URLs, punctuation, and relevance; keep the review record with the asset owner.

7. Verify measurement and customer outcomes

Before reviewing performance, confirm:

[ ] Asset and ad reports can identify sitelink interactions where supported.
[ ] Tracking parameters survive redirects and preserve attribution.
[ ] Conversion events fire once on the destination.
[ ] Phone, form, booking, checkout, and assisted actions are measured as intended.
[ ] Qualified lead, sales, revenue, or pipeline data can be connected to the campaign.
[ ] The expected conversion lag and review window are documented.
[ ] Budget, bids, ads, audiences, landing pages, offers, and seasonality changes are annotated.

Review impressions, interactions, spend, conversions, qualified outcomes, value, and page completion. A sitelink with few direct conversions may still support research; a high-click link may still be poor if it attracts the wrong intent. Compare the entire journey from query or audience through destination and business outcome before retaining or removing an asset.

Assign the next review action

For each asset, record one action: retain, revise label, revise description, fix URL, move scope, schedule, pause, remove, replace, test, or wait. Include the reason, owner, date, expected effect, and rollback trigger. The record is especially important for shared assets, time-sensitive links, and changes that coincide with other campaign work.

Recurring sitelink maintenance checklist

Run this shorter review after a site migration, product or location change, offer launch, phone-system change, analytics release, or material campaign restructure:

[ ] Are all URLs live, relevant, mobile-ready, and correctly attributed?
[ ] Are labels and descriptions still true and distinct?
[ ] Are inherited links relevant to the effective branch?
[ ] Are schedules, time zones, offers, and contact paths current?
[ ] Are any assets under review, limited, disapproved, or unexpectedly absent?
[ ] Did the page hierarchy or conversion path change?
[ ] Do clicks, qualified outcomes, value, and lag still support the current role of each link?
[ ] Does each asset have an owner and a next action?

Do not wait for a performance report to discover that a promotion expired or a service area closed. Sitelinks are small fields with live dependencies on pages, people, policies, and measurement systems.

Final Google Ads sitelink assets checklist

Copy this compact version into a launch or review ticket:

[ ] Intent, offer, primary conversion, page hierarchy, and owner recorded.
[ ] Each link has one distinct label, promise, final URL, and scope.
[ ] Descriptions, claims, domains, punctuation, and policy reviewed.
[ ] Mobile, desktop, regional, login, consent, form, call, and checkout paths tested.
[ ] Account, campaign, ad-group, or asset-group associations deliberate.
[ ] Inherited and shared sitelinks inspected for the effective branch.
[ ] Schedules, time zone, expiry, replacement, and fallback recorded.
[ ] Status, Policy details, preview, and reporting fields checked.
[ ] Attribution and conversion events verified.
[ ] Baseline, lag, review date, rollback trigger, and next action recorded.

For step-by-step creation, see how to set up Google Ads sitelink assets. For optimization and diagnosis, read the sitelink optimization guide and sitelink troubleshooting guide. The adz.so product overview describes the current audit entry point; it does not claim that adz.so creates or publishes Google Ads assets.