Apps 101: Deep Linking, App Indexing and Why They Matter
Apps 101: Deep Linking, App Indexing and Why They Matter was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.
Apps are largely considered the new SEO frontier. Mobile app usage is growing at an incredible rate and shows no sign of slowing. Overall app usage grew by 76 percent in 2014, and lifestyle apps in particular saw 174 percent growth.
If you have an app or are developing an app, app indexation and deep linking are things you definitely need to be paying attention to. Basically, Google wants to treat your app like a website. It wants to crawl it and index it so that search results can return specific pages from an app in mobile searches. That ability to return specific pages within an app? That’s deep linking.
This article is for those just dipping their toes into app indexation. Read on for a breakdown of what app indexing and deep linking actually are, as well as helpful examples of deep linking in action. You’ll also learn basic requirements for Android and iOS setup.
First, Some Definitions: What are App Indexing and Deep Linking?
What is Deep Linking?
Deep linking, in a general sense, involves linking to specific content within a website or app, rather than to the homepage. Here we’re talking in particular about getting specific elements of an app to show up in search results on a mobile device, allowing users to open an app directly from a search results page. Note: Users will only see this prompt if they have the particular app installed.
What Is App Indexing?
App indexing is the result of getting your app in Google’s index to enable deep linking. By allowing Google to index pages within your app, features (or promotions) within the app can begin showing up in users’ mobile searches, driving visits (and hopefully conversions) to the app.
Deep Linking in Action
Let’s say you search for “Jurassic World” on a mobile device, and you’re offered IMDB’s Jurassic World page rather than the IMDB homepage — this is deep linking in action. You, as the user, have the IMDB app installed on your smartphone, so you’re pleased to find among the top results the page for “Jurassic World” in your app, as well as a listing on IMDB.com directly.
Let’s return to the previous example of Jurassic World. If you wanted to read some reviews for the movie, you might type in “Jurassic World reviews” in a mobile search.
This result doesn’t give you the option to open the reviews in the mobile app. This would be a great opportunity to drive you to the app rather than the website, but that option simply doesn’t exist. Now, what if IMDB’s reviews page wasn’t ranking on the first page? Using deep linking in this instance would be a great way for IMDB to keep driving people back to the IMDB app, since Google is giving favor to apps that users have installed.
Next Steps: Getting Your App Indexed
To begin with, there are general setup requirements for Android and iOS:
Android Setup Requirements
Must be developed with minSdkVersion 17 or lower.
Only available on searches using Google app version 2.8 or higher, and Chrome for Android 4.1 or higher.
Users must be signed in for deep linking to work.
iOS Setup Requirements
Developed on a base SDK of iOS8.
Only available on searches using Google app version 5.3 or higher, and Chrome for iOS.
Users must be signed in for deep linking to work.
From there, Google offers specific guides for setting up Android apps and iOS apps for indexing. It is a technical process, but investing the time and effort can drive more users into your app and increase your relevance and visibility.
Have a specific question about app indexing and deep linking or mobile seo in general? Ask us in the comments! We’re always here to help. And in the meantime, check out this liveblog from Search Marketing Expo (SMX) West 2015 on Deep Linking and Development .
