How Deep Linking in Your Android App Will Now Impact Your Website SEO

The impact on your company in respect to how people use mobile devices is not limited simply whether you have an iOS or Android app. New changes implemented by Google can now impact how people find content on your website. These updates focus on how mobile friendly your website is and separately, if you have an Android app. 

A recent blog post the Google Webmasters team discussed how, as more people use mobile devices to access the internet, Google has continued to change their algorithms to meet these mobile usage patterns. For example, recent changes include Google’s view on how a site is configured for viewing on modern devices in an effort to meet the company’s goal of making it easier for users to find mobile-friendly web pages. 

Also, to facilitate access of content in mobile apps, Google has been using App Indexing which lets Google index Android apps just like websites with deep links to Android app appearing in Google Search results.

Now Google has again tweaked its platform with the following two changes:

1. More mobile-friendly websites in search results

Starting April 21, Google will be expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact on search results. 

So if you want to keep your ranking high, you need to make sure you meet the Google definition of a mobile friendly site. You can learn more on how to meet these requirements with Google's guide to mobile-friendly sites. 

2. More relevant app content in search results from signed-in users who have an Android app installed

Google has now started to use information from indexed Android apps as a factor in ranking for signed-in users who have an app installed. This will cause content from indexed apps to feature more prominently in search results. To find out how to implement App Indexing, which allows Google to surface this information in search results, Google offers these guidelines on their developer site.

This second update adds an interesting twist, in that publishers with large install bases may want to pay attention to trending search terms and include relevant updated content in their apps, as a way to encourage users to engage more often with the app.