Deep links send mobile device users directly to relevant screens in your app rather than your website when they tap a link, as long as the app is already installed on the user’s device. For example, a user on a mobile device taps a link to a product on your website. The deep link sends the user to the specific product page in your mobile app rather than the product page on your website in a mobile web browser.
What are the types of deep links?
App Links (Android) & Universal Links (iOS)
App Links (Android) and Universal Links (iOS) are the industry standard. They use your existing HTTP destination and take customers who have already installed your app to the in-app content you specify. Users who don’t have your app installed simply go to your mobile website instead of the app, since App Links look like standard web URLs (such as http://www.example.com), but are configured so that the device OS can decide whether to open your app or a web browser. App Links and Universal Links provide a seamless user experience and are secure, since other apps cannot open your deep links.
- App Links developer guide (Android)
- Universal Links developer guide (iOS)
Custom schemes
Custom schemes are custom URIs that link to any of your in-app content. They demand less engineering support but are less secure. Because custom schemes do not require authorization, they can be claimed by other apps and may be used to direct traffic to apps other than yours. Users who tap on a custom scheme link but do not have your app installed will get an error page.
- Custom scheme developer guide (Android)
- Custom scheme developer guide (iOS)
Benefits
- Greater security: App Links and Universal Links give you peace of mind that no other app can use your links. Other companies can’t claim your link, so they can’t send traffic to their own app (as can be done with custom schemes).
- Relevant page results: You can send current and potential customers to relevant pages within your app, rather than browser or mobile-web pages. App Links and Universal Links use the same URL as your web links, so if your app can’t open, instead of being shown an error page, users will be taken to the mobile site landing page.
- Seamless user experience: Deep links provide a more seamless integration for your app, improves user experience, increases key events and conversions, and improves customer loyalty.
Implement missing deep links or fix misconfigured deep links
Google Analytics surfaces the following recommendations related to Deep Links:
- Missing deep links: If you've linked your Google Ads account to your Google Analytics property, have an active app data stream, and have eligible campaign spend, Google Analytics will surface a recommendation to implement missing deep links and provide a downloadable report of ad URLs ranked in order by corresponding missed conversions.
-
Misconfigured deep links: If you have an active app data stream, and your app has misconfigured App Links or Universal Links (i.e., the links are not successfully directing mobile users to the mobile app when they have the app installed), Google Analytics will surface a recommendation to fix deep links and provide a downloadable report of your app’s broken deep links, ranked in order by each deep link’s corresponding user engagement on mobile web traffic for those links.
Note: If your misconfigured deep links report has no engagement data, this may be because you do not have an active web stream setup in the same property, and therefore Google Analytics cannot observe the mobile web traffic associated with the deep links. Set up a web data stream for the domain(s) you deep link into your app within the same GA4 property in order to retrieve mobile web engagement data.
For both recommendations, click the Download button and then open the CSV file to view the list of missing or misconfigured deep links and associated data. To implement or fix deep links, work with your development team and refer to Android and iOS documentation as needed