Use case: How to use deeplinks in your chatbot

This article explains how to set up and use deeplinks in your chatbot to streamline the user experience.

Deeplinks are custom URLs that guide users to specific content within a website, often used in webshops to direct users to specific categories or products, or on sites with filters to allow for a more personalized search.

By adding deeplinks to your chatbot’s domain knowledge, your chatbot can provide users with relevant links tailored to their preferences, saving time and making navigation smoother.

What is a deeplink?

A deeplink is a URL that leads directly to a specific page, category, or search result within a website. For instance, in a webshop, deeplinks can take customers to specific product categories or filtered search results. Similarly, on other websites, deeplinks can apply pre-set filters based on user preferences.

Example for a webshop in clothing

Imagine you’re assisting users in navigating an online store that sells clothing. Using deeplinks, your chatbot can guide customers directly to the categories, styles, and sizes they are interested in, creating a personalized shopping experience.

1. Base URL
   For this example, let’s use the base URL: https://fashion-store.com/shop/.

2. Add product category
   When a customer mentions the type of clothing they’re looking for, add the corresponding number for the category to the base URL by attaching /?category=[NUMBER]:

   • Dresses (101)
   • T-shirts (102)
   • Jackets (103)
   • Pants (104)
   • Shoes (105)

   If the category isn’t available, offer a list of available categories without numbers.

3. Add style preference
   If the customer specifies a particular style, add it to the URL by appending &style=[STYLE_CODE]:

   • Casual (CA)
   • Formal (FO)
   • Athletic (AT)
   • Outdoor (OD)
   • Business (BU)

   If no specific style is chosen, proceed without adding this filter.

4. Add size
   Finally, if the customer indicates a size, attach the size code to the URL as &size=[SIZE_CODE]:

   • Small (S)
   • Medium (M)
   • Large (L)
   • Extra Large (XL)

Example instruction

The instruction you would add to the domain knowledge would be:

Example URL

Suppose a customer is looking for casual T-shirts in Medium. Based on these preferences, the chatbot generates the following deeplink:

This deeplink takes the customer directly to a selection of medium-sized, casual T-shirts.

Adding deeplinks to domain knowledge

To make these links accessible, it’s best to add them to your chatbot’s domain knowledge. This way, the chatbot can automatically provide tailored links based on user input, improving the user experience and driving targeted traffic to your site.

Using deeplinks in this way allows your chatbot to provide more precise assistance, offering users direct links to relevant pages based on their preferences and making the navigation process more intuitive.