A deep link is a link that points directly to specific content instead of a start page. On the web, it targets an inner page of a site. In mobile apps, it opens a certain place in an app.
Deep link on the web
In SEO, the term is used in contrast to a link to the homepage. A link from a trade article to a specific product category page is a deep link. Wikipedia describes the web meaning as a link to specific content within a site instead of its homepage. In affiliate marketing, it also describes a link to a particular product page that includes a tracking code.
Google says it uses links as a signal for the relevance of pages and to find new pages to crawl. Google can only crawl a link if it is an <a> element with an href attribute. That applies to deep links like any other link.
Deep link in apps
On Android, deep links are defined through intent filters in the app manifest. Android distinguishes three kinds.
- Custom deep links with their own URI scheme, such as
example://products/123 - Web links that use
httporhttps - App Links, which are verified web links. They open the app without a disambiguation dialog and require verification through an
assetlinks.jsonfile on the website. App Links are supported on Android 6.0 and later.
Example
<a href="https://www.example.com/shoes/running-shoes/">Running shoes overview</a>
This link points to a category page, so it is a deep link in the web sense. A link to https://www.example.com/ would go to the homepage.
FAQ
What is the difference between a deep link and an App Link? An App Link is a deep link whose domain ownership was verified, so Android opens the app directly.
Are deep links good for SEO? Google describes links as a signal in general. It does not publish separate guidance for deep links in the web sense.
Sources
- Create deep links to app content – Android Developersdeveloper.android.com
- Android App Links – Android Developersdeveloper.android.com
- SEO link best practices – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
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