Deep links are the new web links, especially if you have an app that you're trying to grow and redirect customers to. Without deep links, that feels pretty much impossible, with owned media (deep linking is a technique used within owned media), including SMS-to-app and email-to-app, experiencing a 64% increase in conversions (AppsFlyer).
And for web-to-app (arguably the most popular, driven by the rise of ‘contextual’ marketing), web-to-app campaigns saw conversions surge by a staggering 77% (AppsFlyer).
But marketers still get stuck on the difference between deep links and regular links, and why deep links are now the leader of owned media conversions. Read on to learn the difference.
What Are Deep Links?
Deep links and regular links aren't competitors; they're more complementary routing tools for different destinations and measurement contexts.
A deep link is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) designed to route users directly to a specific page of mobile app content. Minus aura points to brands that send people to the app home page—it's the most annoying part of modern search. It skips the generic entry points of regular links.
This typically requires configuring Universal Links (iOS) and App Links (Android).
For marketers, the practical difference is intent preservation. Deep links are designed to keep the user's intent intact from ad to app, or email to app, web to app, or even QR to app, which can materially improve conversion efficiency. Without them, users would land on the home page or a page totally irrelevant to their initial intent.
The three technical models for marketers
Deep linking typically appears in three technical families:
- Custom URL schemes, for example, myapp://product/123.
- HTTPS deep links through OS‑level association (recommended for most marketing). On iOS, Universal Links use standard HTTPS URLs that, when properly associated, open the app directly without routing through the browser as an intermediate step. On Android, App Links are HTTP/HTTPS deep links that require domain verification, with the OS checking an association file on the website to prove ownership.
- Deferred deep links for the app not installed gap. Users are deferred to download the app, and if the deferred deep link is actually working as it should, the app should then open the intended content, not the app homepage.
Cross‑platform behavior and fallbacks
A marketer‑usable deep link system must explicitly define what happens across device states:
- App installed: open the app to a specific screen, for example, product detail, checkout, subscription management.
- App not installed: fall back to the web page, app store listing, or a deferred deep link flow.
- Misconfiguration or verification failure: Links might open a browser instead of the app, and that can damage performance and attribution continuity.
What Are Regular Links?
A regular link is typically a standard HTTP/HTTPS URL intended to open in a browser. It's as simple as that. They're the links we all know and love because we aren't being redirected to do something else, other than the rather annoying CAPTCHA puzzles we have to complete before being confirmed that we're not a robot and can enter the website.
It's just a standard web URL that resolves to a web resource and is handled by browsers and web clients. The generic URI standard defines the scheme, authority, path, etc., and HTTP defines the semantics of the http and https URI schemes.
When you click on a regular HTTPS link, the browser becomes an HTTP client and requests the resource from the server, making HTTP intentionally stateless, and that's actually why cookies and other storage mechanisms are used for continuity.
So, go to Google, search for something, click a link, and go to the website instead of an app, and you've just clicked on a standard link.
What Are Deep Links Better For?
The app economy remains a major spending and growth area in 2026. AppsFlyer reports global user‑acquisition (UA) spending reached $78 billion in 2025. Another report found global app installs rose 10% year over year in 2025, and sessions increased by 7%. There's definitely a continued scale for app‑first journeys.
In general, deep links are better for:
- Creating a seamless user experience
- Increasing engagement
- Improving conversion rates
- Providing valuable campaign analytics and granular insights
And you can get all of that with a deep linking solution like AppsFlyer. They connect users to the right in-app experiences across every touchpoint.
What Are Regular Links Better For?
Regular links are the backbone of discoverability, SEO, and low‑friction cross‑platform distribution. They're definitely not dead.
Google explicitly notes that crawlers discover pages and understand relevance through standard links. That said, web measurement has become more complex with privacy controls and signal loss. For example, a November 2025 European industry survey report found major concerns, including a lack of cross‑platform data access/transparency (68%), privacy regulations (58%), and signal loss due to cookie deprecation (48%).
These pressures change how you should think about link choice and attribution design.
The difference between deep links and regular links is essentially where the user will end up. And as long as the deep link is set up correctly, the user should still end up where they wanted to be, even if they have to go to an app rather than a website.
