Building and Measuring User Journeys with Deep Links: Best Practices for Tracking Success

Ever wondered what differentiates a successful brand from an average business? Of course, you may pinpoint many factors. However, along with many others, a meaningful user journey is something that makes a brand stand out!

Unparalleled user journeys stem from a collective effort that involves various aspects, out of which deep links are one. While expediting the flow of interaction, deep linking contributes to fluid and seamless journeys that foster growth.

Nevertheless, merely implementing deep linking isn’t enough. You must also be able to determine whether you are on the right track and measure your success.

So, how do you do it? Thankfully, deep links enable you to do it. Thus, let’s delve into the best practices to build and measure user journeys with deep links.

Understanding Deep Linking – Beginning with the Basics

OK. So, let’s begin by understanding the basic concept of deep linking. A deep link is a URL that directs users to a location within a mobile app instead of its homepage. 

For instance, you see an incredible offer with a link you click on. 

Conventionally, the link would take you to the app’s homepage, after which you would be required to search for the link on your own. While that’s time-consuming, it can dilute the excitement and disengage you from it.

Deep links take you directly to the content that intrigued you, enabling you to get to the desired content quickly and easily. It contributes to a seamless user journey, engaging users more meaningfully by taking them precisely to the point that intrigued them.

However, what if the user doesn’t have a particular app on their phone? That takes us to understanding the various types of deep links.

• Basic Deep Links: Work when the user has the app installed on their device.
• Deferred Deep Links: Take the user to the app installation link (if they do not have the app installed on their device), let them install it, and then transport them to the page or the content they interacted with initially.
• Contextual Deep Links: These carry metadata like the user identity, campaign source, referral information, etc., for personalized post-installation experiences.

Deep links serve as a bridge between intent and action, helping users progress from curiosity to engagement and then to a favorable action in the form of inquiry or sale.

The Role of Deep Links in User Journey

User journeys refer to stages of a user’s engagement with a particular business. These include everything from initial acquisition to final conversion into sales. 

Deep links play a role in each. Let’s understand it.

• Acquisition: Deep links direct users swiftly to app installs through personalized onboarding from emails, social media campaigns, or paid ads.
• Engagement: Deep linking also encourages users to open apps through targeted push notifications or email promotions.
• Conversion: The links are a shortcut or a faster way to guide users to checkouts, upgrades, or in-app events. Users love it when they complete a process quickly.
• Re-Engagement:  These links also help businesses bring dormant or inactive users to specific app sections with the help of relevant offers or reminders.

Great! But how do you know if your deep linking strategy is producing the desired results? How do you measure the outcome? Let’s shed some light on the techniques.

How to Measure User Journey Success with Deep Linking?

Here’s how you can determine whether your deep linking strategy is working.

• Define Goals and KPIs

You must begin asking yourself crucial questions, including the below.

• What do you want users to do after clicking a deep link?
• Which stages of the user’s journey matter the most for you for conversion?

Based on the above, define KPIs like click-to-install rate, click-to-open rate, retention after a duration (say a day, week, fortnight, or month), and in-app conversion rate.

• Implement a Solid Deep Linking Platform

Your ability to measure your success and analyze it matters. So, use robust deep linking platforms with reliable tracking and analytical capabilities. These platforms or services usually provide deferred deep linking support, event logging, and attribution tracking.

• Use UTM Parameters and Custom Metadata

Integrate UTM parameters or custom key-value pairs in contextual deep links to track factors like source campaigns, landing content, and referral user IDs. You must ensure the metadata passes via install and re-opening instances into your analytics tool.

• Track In-App Events

Ensure you integrate a deep linking strategy with your app’s analytical platform to track key in-app events that happen after a user clicks a deep link. These events can include product views, purchases, items that users add to a cart, content shares, and sign-ups. Correlating these actions with the initial deep link offers useful insights into user behavior and conversion patterns, and paths.

• Utilize Mobile Attribution Platforms

Furthermore, you can use platforms like ChottuLink with robust attribution capabilities. It will help you track deep link installs, attribute actions to campaigns, and analyze drop-offs or conversions across the relevant funnels. However, you must ensure you integrate these platforms optimally with your application and marketing ecosystem.

• A/B Testing

Amidst the evolving environment and user expectations, don’t stick to a particular deep linking strategy but experiment with different deep link destinations and messaging to optimize the user journey and enhance your conversion numbers. Nevertheless, also track and measure the performance of each variation to determine the most productive approaches.

• Develop Funnels for Deep Link Events

Build funnels that signify deep-linked user flows within your analytics platform. For example, a user clicks an ad, installs the app, views the product page, interacts with it, and checks out. Another instance is a user clicks an email link, opens the application, engages with the discount screen, and makes a purchase!

One can also refer to this as visualizing a user’s engagement path after clicking a deep link. While helping you visualize the path, it will also provide a clear understanding of the drop-off points and identify areas of optimization.

Now that you know how to measure your deep linking strategy’s effectiveness, you must also learn about the various best practices to track the success.

Best Deep Linking Tracking Practices

Here’s how you can ensure your deep linking strategy delivers quantifiable success.

• Standardize link generation with the help of centralized tools or APIs to ensure a consistent experience across campaigns.
• Test your deep links across various platforms by simulating user flows on iOS, Android, and web to identify edge cases.
• Enhance client profiles and automate journeys depending on link behavior.
• Monitor broken or redundant links and set up fallbacks where it is required.

Final Thoughts

Shortcuts for users but a long-term strategy for businesses – yes, that’s how deep links are. While deep links prove to be effective, you must not take them for granted but track their performance continuously to ensure they deliver the intended outcomes. 

We hope the above helps you in your endeavors to measure your deep linking success. However, you also need a partner who will do it for you. This is where ChottuLink steps in. While providing various other services, we provide comprehensive and reliable advanced analytical support to help you evaluate your deep linking success.

So, choose us and get miles closer to succeeding in your deep linking strategy.