How to Use Deep Linking to Boost User Engagement and Retention in Your App?

Situation – You float an exciting offer that urges thousands of users to download your app. However, after downloading the app, the system dumps them into the homepage of your app. They spend time looking for the content they initially interacted with. However, their excitement finally succumbs to the maze of menus and they leave the app!

Disappointing, right? For you, yes! You’ve made every effort to drive people to your app but couldn’t retain them. It is like losing a closely knit victory by a minuscule margin.

But for users, it is frustrating! They feel it was clickbait and form a negative opinion about your brand, pledging never to trust you again.

The loss? Unimaginable!

So, how do you deal with the situation? The answer is deep linking.

But what does deep linking do and how can it help enhance user engagement and retention in your app? Let’s find it out in this blog.

What is Deep Linking – Types of Deep Links

Deep linking helps direct users to a particular location or piece of content within a specific app, instead of leaving users on the app’s homepage screen.

Unlike conventional links that handhold users only until the app’s homepage, deep linking transports them to precisely the screen they want to see (the content that originally drove or encouraged them to click).

The page can be about anything, depending on what the business wants to promote. For instance, it can be an end-of-the-season sale offer, an early bird subscription discount offer, a free consultation link, a demo video of a product, etc.

But what if the user doesn’t have a particular app installed on their mobile phone? Does deep linking still work? To understand this, let’s see the various types of deep linking.

• Traditional Deep Links: These work only if the user has the app installed on their phone. If the user doesn’t have the app on their device, the link fails or redirects the user to the fallback URL.
• Deferred Deep Links: These links precisely the above question. So, deferred links direct users to a particular content even if they don’t have the app. In situations like these, the system first takes the user to the app store and then, the user installs the app. Once they do it, the link directs them to the desired content.
• Contextual Deep Links: Contextual deep links open specific content and carry extra data like user preferences, referral information, and promotional codes. Thus, they deliver a more personalized experience.

Advantages of Deep Linking to Improve User Engagement and Retention

Honestly, user engagement and retention are subjective topics. Besides, every business has its unique way of doing it. However, universally, every user expects seamless experiences across downloads, installs, and interactions. Furthermore, they love it when they see what the clicked link has promised them.

Deep linking serves all these purposes. So, let’s delve a little more into how deep linking helps enhance user engagement and retention.

• Reduced Friction and Enhanced Navigation

Users feel frustrated when they don’t land on the content they initially saw. It is like a cab dropping you to a place other than the desired one! How annoying would that be?

Deep linking avoids such situations. It takes users to the content that interests them and that initially encourages them to click on the link, making them more likely to engage!

Thus, for example, when a user clicks on a promotional email about a discount, deep linking takes them directly to the page instead of the homepage.

Users can thus complete an action in fewer clicks, minimizing drop-offs, and enhancing engagement. Such experiences also help build trust amongst users and encourage the user to stay with the app for the next purchases.

• Increased Retention Rate Through Personalization

We can attribute this to contextual links that allow you to gather data about user behavior and preferences. It can enable you to serve your users with more personalized content like customized offers, tailored product recommendations, etc., based on earlier interactions.

It is like a café brewing just the coffee you like. Won’t you visit such a café repeatedly?

• Improved Re-Engagement

Re-engagement refers to a reconnection attempt with users who left disappointed, or without any reason. For example, some users may abandon a cart abruptly. You can try to reconnect with such users through a push notification comprising a deep link that directs them to a cart. Even if a user hasn’t opened the app for a while, a deep link associated with a personalized offer can help them remember the app and bring them back.

• Cross-Platform Engagement

So far, we’ve discussed deep linking with regard to apps. Hence, you might think it is limited to apps. But that’s not the case. Deep linking works across multiple platforms, including social media, search engines, and emails.

It helps you create smooth highways, connecting users from social media, search engines, emails, etc., with your application or platform.

When users see what they want effortlessly, they tend to engage more meaningfully and stay with a business for longer!

• Better First-Timer Experiences

This is where deferred deep linking works wonders.

It particularly helps onboard new users and delivers elevated first-time experiences.

This type of linking enables you to guide users to a particular section or offer within the app after they install it. For instance, if the user clicks on a particular offer link, it takes them to the offer page after installing the app.

It helps serve three purposes – first, users download the app, second, they see what they want, and third, they do all of it effortlessly!

This helps improve engagement and leads to better user experiences.

Want to Leverage Deep Linking? But Firebase Dynamic Links is Closing Soon!

Yes. The popular Firebase Dynamic Links is closing on August 25, 2025. 

So, what alternatives do you have? Honestly, you have many. One of them is ChottuLink.

We are a reliable deep linking platform, helping businesses connect users to their applications seamlessly!

ChottuLink does all types of deep linking and works across every platform. Besides, we offer deep linking as a separate service. So, if you need only deep linking support, you can have it, unlike many other platforms that sell it as part of their comprehensive package.

Want to know more? Explore our Features page and Join Our Waitlist!