table of contents

A TOC turns a long page into something skimmable. Each entry is a fragment link like <a href="#pricing">Pricing</a> pointing to a heading that carries a matching id: <h2 id="pricing">Pricing</h2>. Click it and the browser scrolls straight to that section. The links must use bare fragments (#pricing), not full paths (/guide/#pricing), or the pattern breaks.

Why it shows up in search

Google generates sitelinks and section links automatically by analyzing a page’s link structure, so you cannot force them. A clean fragment-based TOC gives Google the raw material: named anchors it can surface as “jump to” links beneath your listing, often using your subheading text as the label. Sebastian Klein notes Google “has the final say,” and whether the links appear “will largely depend on the user’s search query.” Treat it as an enhancement, not a guarantee.

There is a second payoff. Breaking a page into clearly labeled, anchored sections makes each passage easier for search engines and AI answer engines to isolate and quote. The same structure that earns a jump link also helps a specific section get pulled into a featured snippet or an AI Overview.

Practical rules: add a TOC only on genuinely long, multi-section pages; write descriptive anchor labels (not “Section 2”); keep ids stable so links and any earned SERP features do not break when you republish.