Why Deep Linking Takes Apps to the Next Level – Here’s Why #81

Google deep linking opens up the world of Google search to app developers. Learn why that’s important to the future of apps and search in this episode! You’ll find any links mentioned and a full transcript below the video.

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Resources Mentioned

• Advanced Google App Deep Linking (on Search Engine Land)
• All our Here’s Why videos

Transcript

Mark: Eric, at this year’s SMX Advanced in Seattle, you covered the Google app deep-linking session. Now, today I’d like you to share some of what Tam Phan and David Iwanow taught us. But let’s start by what we mean with deep-linking apps.
Eric: It’s a really important topic, Mark, because we’re seeing that more and more time on mobile devices is being spent in apps and not in mobile browsers. But the majority of that time is spent in a relatively small group of apps. And a lot of the apps that people download are rarely or never used.
Mark: So, how does that relate to app deep linking?
Eric: App deep linking is the ability for Google to index content from within an app and then display it as mobile search results. So, think about it. If your app is not one of the fortunate few that get most of the attention, but your app content ranks high in searches, then you could end up with a lot more users in your app than you might have had otherwise.
Mark: But what if the user doesn’t have your app installed already?
Eric: Well, that’s where app indexing gets truly amazing for app developers. In certain scenarios, when a user does a search that surfaces app content, but doesn’t have the app installed, Google can show an app install button. So, enabling your app for Google indexing could actually increase the installed base of the app.

And early adopters of app deep-link indexing can gain a big advantage. Right now, the percentage of sites with apps that are setup to allow Google app indexing is pretty small, just 30% on Android and only 19% on iOS.

Mark: So, if you want to know how to set up your app for deep-link indexing, Eric shares three methods in his Search Engine Land article.
Eric: And now, one more interesting tidbit from David Iwanow before we end. He noted that click-through rate on app-install buttons is highest for branded searches, as you can see in his chart, showing click-through rates for two different brands.

When the search query includes both the brand name and the word “app,” the CTR is pretty much the same. But once you remove the word “app,” the number of people who click on an app-install button depends greatly on the strength of your brand.
Mark: Yet, another piece of evidence for something you and I preach all the time. Building your brand’s reputation is an essential component of digital marketing.
Eric: Yes, indeed.
Mark: So, to sum it up, if it makes sense for your brand to have an app then it also makes sense for you to enable deep linking to that app.
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