We talk about a deep link when a link is placed to a subpage of a website. So it's not a link to the main page, but to a ‘deeper’ page within the same site. A subpage is easily recognizable by the “/” that is appended to the URL is added. There can also be further branches for these pages. But what exactly is a deep link? What is it used for? And what function does creating these links have for the findability of your website?
If we look at the theory behind the World Wide Web, we can also say that there is no difference between the pages on the web. All pages are accessed via HTML made visible to the user/reader. In theory, that is. In practice, however, it's different. As a web administrator or reader, you likely place more value on certain pages. For example, the homepage is the most important page for many websites. At the same time, it's also the page most frequently linked to in order to attract visitors. Therefore, it's highly probable that the homepage of a website has a higher quality score possesses.
A deep link is not intended to be manipulated for the visitor or Google. However, in some cases, you do try to hide pages. This is often seen on news websites. They often have a selection of premium articles. Only members can read these articles. Therefore, a direct link to these pages should not directly reveal the information.
In the past, there have been many sites that have abused deep links. For example, by using content from other providers for their own benefit. However, this is seen as misuse of information and can lead to severe Google Penalty In the worst-case scenario, Google might even choose to remove your site or significantly increase your spam score. Linking to third-party information from your own site is only allowed when it's also made clear where the information originates from. Therefore, these links must not be misused. Certainly not if you don't want to jeopardize your own SEO ranking.
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