Forrester Research conducted a survey which showed that most mobile users find new apps by browsing and searching through the various app stores. These are stores like Google Play and Apple App Store. In fact, approximately 63% of iOS apps are discovered by browsing the app store and approximately 58% of Android apps are discovered that way too.

Therefore, one can conclude that app store searches are how most apps get discovered. This means that you need to do work on app search optimization to get your apps ranked high in the search results pages of these app stores. That is how you will get more app downloads by people too.

Forrester research

What is App Store Optimization

App Store Optimization, or ASO for short, is similar to search engine optimization (SEO). The difference is that ASO pertains to optimizing your app store ranking so that they will rank well in those stores’ search engines. SEO focuses more on ranking well in regular search engines like Google. But the purpose of each one is the same, which is to bring more targeted traffic to your webpage or listing page. For app search optimization, this means to get more quality app downloads from people who are actually interested in them.

What Factors Will Affect Your App Store Ranking?

App store search engine has algorithms just like traditional search engines. These algorithms are what determine the app store rankings. But you cannot expect to find the same algorithm used for Google Play and the Apple Store. Each algorithm is unique; however, there are some ranking factors which are universal among all algorithms.

App Download Quantity

The more people that download your iOS or Android app, the higher your app store ranking will be. However, you still need to optimize your app store ranking in the beginning so that you can get these app downloads. Once you practice app store optimization properly and get downloads, you will get a better rank in the app store search results pages. Then you will get even more app downloads on top of the other ones. This Entrepreneur article will help you to drive more downloads with

App Downloads Must Be Consistent

People need to be consistently downloading your apps in order to achieve a higher app store rankings. If you have a low download consistency rate, this won’t necessarily hurt your search ranking. But if you can grow the consistency rate of your downloads, it will greatly improve the search ranking of your app listing.

Feedback and Ratings

When people read the feedback and ratings of an app listing, they immediately assume it represents that person’s experience using the mobile application. If you see listings with more positive ratings and feedback, then it must mean it is a good app.

As a startup entrepreneur, you should encourage people to leave feedback and ratings for your apps after they’ve downloaded them. If there are any negative reviews, work to resolve whatever the problem that user had. It is better to obtain field user reviews because this will give you the chance to fix any bugs in the app before the official release or update. If you are able to get enough positive ratings for an app listing, then more people will feel motivated to click on it whenever they see it in their searches.

Recommended Reading: Guide To Creating A Successful App

Number of Uninstalls

When someone downloads your app, they can easily uninstall it from their mobile device. When you log in to the admin control panel of your app store account, you will see the number of uninstalls that you have per listing. A high rate of uninstalls will indicate that people did not like your app. This will cause your listing’s ranking to decrease your app store ranking.

To reduce the chances of this happening, you need to write an accurate description of your app in Apple App Store or Google Play Market. You could also allow beta testing of your mobile app before it gets officially released into the store. Uninstalls won’t count if it is a test app.

Even though reducing uninstalls is good for the search ranking of your app, it is not exactly part of an ASO marketing strategy. App Store Search Optimization will require you to create a positive user experience that will raise mobile app engagement, deliver positive customer service, and market your listing appropriately. Below we will talk about actual actions you can take to enhance your mobile app optimization and app store ranking

App Store Optimization Techniques

Keyword Research

App store keyword optimization is a major part of ASO. You need to know which keywords that people are using to search in app stores for mobile applications like yours. Then you can integrate these keywords into the description and other areas of your listing page. That way, the app store’s search engine will detect these keywords from your listing when they are searched and then show your app on the search results page. But first, you need to have an application search optimization strategy for how you’re going to place them in your listing. Do this prior to submitting the listing for review.

Keywords need to have three things: Relevancy, Competitiveness, and Volume.

• The keywords need to be relevant to what target audience normally searches for.
• The keywords should rank well in the app store’s search engine.
• A lot of people need to be searching these keywords.

Title

Based on your app store keyword optimization, you should have discovered a primary keyword that delivers the most results. This is the keyword that should be included in the title of your startup app. Search crawlers tend to notice title content a lot more than description content. If a keyword is found in the title content, it will rank your listing much higher when it is searched. Statistics show that your app store ranking will be enhanced by 10.3% if you put the keyword in the title of the listing.

Although keywords can be powerful, do not overstuff your listing with them. Search algorithms can detect if you’re trying to perform keyword stuffing. It is the same way that Google can detect it when you’re doing SEO for your website. App Store Optimization is no different when it comes to keyword stuffing.

Recommended Reading: Secrets behind the most successful app launches

The Google Play Market allows titles to have up to 30 characters and the Apple App Store allows titles to have up to 255 characters. Even though you could probably do aggressive app search optimization and stuff more keywords in your Apple title listing, you should only limit the number of title keywords to 2 per listing.

Description

A Google Play listing description is different than an Apple App Store description. In a Google Play listing, the algorithm looks at the app description to find the keywords. The Apple App Store has an actual keyword field where the keywords are entered. So, which one is better?

Since a Google Play listing lets you enter up to 4,000 characters in the description box, this will give you the opportunity to use a lot of rich keywords in there. Remember to use quality keywords while still making the content readable and relevant. The algorithm can detect if you are merely stuffing these words in there or overusing them.

When users are searching the App Store and find your description, they will only see the beginning 5 lines of it. If they want to see more lines, they need to choose the “read more” link. To motivate people to read more of your listing description, the first couple of lines must be filled with compelling content. It should inform them of how they will benefit from your app and list as many features as you can.

Visuals

It is always important to include attractive visuals in your app listings to increase app store ranking. This includes high-resolution screenshots of your app and colorful icons that signify your app’s theme. These visuals will give people that extra bit of motivation they may need to want to download your mobile application. Your screenshots should capture the most important areas of your app or at least the most interesting scenes.

Increase app store ranking with appealing visuals in your app listings

Conclusion

Remember that 65% of mobile users will discover apps by searching their favorite app store. If you are a startup entrepreneur then you must learn to master ASO marketing. It is the best way to increase the traffic to your app listing so that you can get more downloads. Do not just rely on outreach, press releases, or marketing alone.

Perfecting your App Store Optimization techniques will only help your app listing to get high app store ranking and gain more popularity. You won’t even need to spend any money in the process either. ASO is free if you do it right.

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