A Deep Dive into Deep Links: Here's How They Can Boost Your SEO

Links are an important part of your SEO strategy, and chances are you’re probably peppering your content with links already. But not all links are created equal; there’s linking and then there’s deep linking, with the latter offering far more benefits to your SEO performance.

What is deep linking in SEO?

Deep links are hyperlinks that send your users to other content that isn’t the homepage. While it can be tempting to send visitors to your homepage as it’s seen as the gateway to all your other content, it creates a much better user experience if you direct them to the content that’s most relevant to the topic they’re already engaged in.

In fact, too many links to your homepage can be counterproductive as it’s seen as malicious behavior and can negatively impact your site’s SEO. As backlinks are now an important factor in a site’s ranking, it’s important they are seen as relevant and placed naturally within the content, keeping the user’s intent in mind.

Content for SEO deep linking

A successful deep linking strategy requires a large amount of content and it will take time to build up a bank of articles and blogs. The quality of these pieces is as important as the quantity so needs to be carefully considered. It’s worth putting together a plan of topics and themes to cover to ensure your resources are going into link-worthy content creation.

Take the structure of your site into consideration and design your deep linking strategy so the user will be guided to different areas of it. Eventually, your links will create a network of pathways that keep your visitor engaged and increase the time they spend on your site, which will help to boost your SEO rankings.

Utilize backlinking opportunities

It’s not just links from your own site that are valuable but also those from other websites that have a high domain authority. Good content should attract backlinks from other sources, especially as your bank of articles begins to show you as an expert in your field.

There are a number of ways to secure backlinks and give your rankings a helping hand, one of which is to write a guest post on a relevant site boasting great SEO credentials. Then you can insert your deep link URL into the copy or into your bio, sending visitors your way and benefiting from the authority of the site your guest post is featured on.

Links on manufacturers’ sites

Another good source of backlinks for ecommerce sites can be a product’s manufacturer. Encouraging the producer of items you sell to link directly to your page should drive traffic and provide valuable backlinks for you. It’s in the manufacturer’s interest to list their merchants on their website and it’s beneficial for them if demand is high.

Foster a good relationship with the producer and check they’re linking directly to a product page as opposed to your homepage. This not only speeds up the time it takes for a potential customer to find the item they’re looking for, but it also presents the opportunity to have multiple backlinks on the manufacturer’s site, each one highlighting the most relevant product.

Deep linking in mobile marketing

The way that content is presented and consumed on mobile devices is distinctly different from traditional desktop computers or laptops. This means there are specific challenges and opportunities for marketers when it comes to a deep linking strategy and how to implement it effectively.

Take advantage of deep links in connection with mobile marketing automation to obtain more data about your visitors and lead them towards personalized content. Deep links in mobile can enable you to highlight specific panels in apps, send push notifications and even lead visitors back to an abandoned basket.

Opening apps directly via deep links

Clever things can be achieved with deep linking from websites to apps simply by matching up URLs on the web with URIs in an app. URIs represent the specific path names and enable an app to be opened directly from a search result if the app is installed on the device. Then the link can seamlessly take the user to a specific part of the app for increased relevance.

This presents an improved user experience as it removes the need for readers to toggle between apps. It was previously stated that Google favored apps with deep linking, but in recent times there’s been no confirmation that this is still the case. Either way, what’s better for potential customers is better for your business.