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Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Do you have an Android app in addition to your website? You can now connect the two so that users
searching from their smartphones and tablets can easily find and reach your app content.
App deep links in search results help your users find your content more easily and re-engage with
your app after they've installed it. As a site owner, you can show your users the right content at
the right time—by connecting pages of your website to the relevant parts of your app you
control when your users are directed to your app and when they go to your website.
Hundreds of apps have
already implemented app indexing.
This week at Google I/O, we're announcing a set of new features that will make it even easier to
set up deep links in your app, connect your site to your app, and keep track of performance and
potential errors.
Getting started is easy
We've greatly simplified the process to get your app deep links indexed. If your app supports HTTP
deep linking schemes, here's what you need to do:
As we index your URLs, we'll discover and index the app / site connections and may begin to
surface app deep links in search results.
We can discover and index your app deep links on our own, but we recommend you publish the deep
links. This is also the case if your app only supports a custom deep link scheme. You can publish
them in one of the following ways:
Add a rel=alternate<link /> element to specify the
corresponding app URI. You can insert it in the <head> section of each web
page, or in your sitemap.
Find out how to implement these methods
on our developer site.
There's one more thing: we've added a
new feature in Webmaster Tools
to help you debug any issues that might arise during app indexing. It will show you what type of
errors we've detected for the app page-web page pairs, together with example app URIs so you can
debug:
We'll also give you detailed instructions on how to debug each issue, including a QR code for the
app deep links, so you can easily open them on your phone or tablet. We'll send you Webmaster
Tools error notifications as well, so you can keep up to date.
Give app indexing a spin, and as always, if you need more help ask questions on the
Webmaster help forum.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eAndroid app indexing enables users searching on their smartphones and tablets to easily find and access relevant content within your app.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBy connecting your website pages to corresponding sections of your app, you can direct users to the most appropriate content depending on their device and context.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGetting started with app indexing is simplified to three steps: adding deep link support, connecting your website and app, and waiting for Google to discover and index the connections.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can further enhance app indexing by publishing your deep links using methods like adding a \u003ccode\u003erel=alternate\u003c/code\u003e \u003ccode\u003e<link />\u003c/code\u003e element or using the App indexing API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA new feature in Webmaster Tools assists in debugging app indexing issues by highlighting errors, providing examples, and offering detailed instructions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Android app and website owners can connect their platforms, enabling users to access app content via search results. To implement, add deep link support to the app and connect the app to the website. Google will index these connections, surfacing deep links in search. Publish deep links using `rel=alternate` in web page headers or sitemaps, or via the App Indexing API. Webmaster Tools now includes features for debugging app indexing issues, including error detection, example URIs, and QR codes.\n"],null,["Wednesday, June 25, 2014\n\n\nDo you have an Android app in addition to your website? You can now connect the two so that users\nsearching from their smartphones and tablets can easily find and reach your app content.\n\n\nApp deep links in search results help your users find your content more easily and re-engage with\nyour app after they've installed it. As a site owner, you can show your users the right content at\nthe right time---by connecting pages of your website to the relevant parts of your app you\ncontrol when your users are directed to your app and when they go to your website.\n\n\nHundreds of apps have\n[already implemented app indexing](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/).\nThis week at Google I/O, we're announcing a set of new features that will make it even easier to\nset up deep links in your app, connect your site to your app, and keep track of performance and\npotential errors.\n\nGetting started is easy\n\n\nWe've greatly simplified the process to get your app deep links indexed. If your app supports HTTP\ndeep linking schemes, here's what you need to do:\n\n1. [Add deep link support to your app](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/)\n2. [Connect your site and your app](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/)\n3. There is no step 3 (:\n\n\nAs we index your URLs, we'll discover and index the app / site connections and may begin to\nsurface app deep links in search results.\n\n\nWe can discover and index your app deep links on our own, but we recommend you publish the deep\nlinks. This is also the case if your app only supports a custom deep link scheme. You can publish\nthem in one of the following ways:\n\n-\n Add a `rel=alternate` `\u003clink /\u003e` element to specify the\n corresponding app URI. You can insert it in the `\u003chead\u003e` section of each web\n page, or in your sitemap.\n [Find out how to implement these methods](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/)\n on our developer site.\n\n- [Use the App indexing API](https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/)\n\n\nThere's one more thing: we've added a\n[new feature in Webmaster Tools](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9679690)\nto help you debug any issues that might arise during app indexing. It will show you what type of\nerrors we've detected for the app page-web page pairs, together with example app URIs so you can\ndebug:\n\n\nWe'll also give you detailed instructions on how to debug each issue, including a QR code for the\napp deep links, so you can easily open them on your phone or tablet. We'll send you Webmaster\nTools error notifications as well, so you can keep up to date.\n\n\nGive app indexing a spin, and as always, if you need more help ask questions on the\n[Webmaster help forum](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community/).\n\n\nPosted by\n[Mariya Moeva](https://google.com/+MariyaMoeva?rel=author),\nWebmaster Trends Analyst"]]
