Deep Links

When it comes to a user’s experience on your website you want to make that interaction as non-challenging as possible. If a user is pointed directly to the product or service information on your website that they came there for you are more likely to sell that product or service, not to mention earn a smile from a customer, so let me take you directly to the point of this article.

The Deep Links, or Deep-linking, is the process of linking your website user directly to the item they are searching for on your site. If a link to your site takes a user to your homepage, and your homepage is not well organized or easy to follow, website visitor could be detoured to one of the gazillion other placed on the internet that offer the same item or service they came hoping to find on your website. A deep link takes the user past the homepage and directly to the item/service a shopper, or potential client, is looking for at that moment.

Example, here is the link to GK Home & Garden websites that, let’s say, I was attracted to this site for the microwave cooking set I saw in an ad for their website. The deep link would take me directly to the microwave cookware webpage on the GK Home & Garden website, by-passing the homepage. Not exploring deep links means you could be passing up a great way to enrich your website visitor’s search-experience on your site. Seems to me deep links can be a real time saver. If you’re like me, kind of just starting out and still learning about the care and feeding of your website you might want to file this deep link information away to be put to use later.

Even a little research, if this topic interests you, might help fill in any information I miss. I did learn that a links to specific product on your website, other than your homepage, are viewed positively by the major search engine. You can also make your deep link even more desirable by having good content associated with the item or service on the page your web-visitor lands on. The more descriptive and informative you can be about your product or service the better. A good product or service description should leave your web visitor thinking how can I buy, or signup? And not questions like, how big is it really, what does it weigh, or what other services are included?

So if you have products for sale then in addition to a picture of the item, and a price, the best description of that product you can come up with, including any experience you might have had with a particular product, is valuable.  The more descriptive you can be about whatever it is your website sells, or promotes, the better the chance of building trust with your customer and helping them make a decision at that moment based on what they read in your product, or service, description.

   

So again, what exactly is a deep link?

Answer: A way to identify a specific piece of content, product, service or functionality on your website to visitors that is intended to improve the experience for first-time and return visitors to your website. That way someone looking for square-blue-widgets is taken directly to the page on your website that shows and tells about---square-blue-widgets.

Deep links can be a useful marketing tool however a word of caution. One of the drawbacks to using deep links is that by bypassing the homepage to go directly to a search target valuable advertisement and other offers on the homepage could go unseen, or un-clicked on. (For those familiar with affiliates) The main idea is that some thought should be given to the use of deep links on your site. Meaning if there are things you really do want visitors to see on your homepage then some consideration should be given to how to route site visitors back to your homepage to view ads, or special offers, or care should be used when choosing which items you want to deep link to.

I would imagine that a website that is well setup and organized so that a visitor to your homepage is given the choice to explore your homepage or go directly to the item they are looking for would be the best case. In other words that would be the ideal website setup. The reality though, when it comes to your homepage setup, can be altogether different; so for those of you who already have a “website homepage” to worry about you might want to be aware of the above and make sure your homepage is easy to navigate when it comes to directing web searcher around your website.

If, however, you happen to be a seller of square-blue-widgets, or want people to go directly to the signup page for your service-orientated-website, deep Link it! Use the URL for the page, even better, use the URL of the item on that page and take your web-shopper straight to what your website has to offer.