App Store Optimisation: ASO improve the visibility of your mobile app across app stores. Follow these basic steps: App name/Title, App description, Category selection, Videos, Keywords, Meta data, screenshots
With million of mobile apps (Android, iOS) in the app stores (Google Play, Apple iTunes), getting your app discovered is one of the biggest issue facing mobile app developers and companies today.
Product/marketing managers must focus on effectively using ASO - App Store Optimisation techniques to get organic downloads. ASO can also be termed as the Mobile SEO.
Apple Analytics dashboard now gives number of views on iTunes store. This help in optimizing keywords for the purpose of App Store Optimisation.
2. Investing in ASO is one of the
best strategies for increasing
the organic downloads
3. WHAT IS ASO
App Store Optimization (ASO) is the first step to
succeed in mobile app marketing.
It is the process of improving the visibility of a
mobile app (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone) in the
app store (iTunes or Google Play).
And, increased visibility tends to translate into more
traffic to your app’s page in the app store.
4. An organic download occurs
when a user discovers an app
and then decides whether it is
worthy of downloading
5. INFLUENCING FACTORS
Featured apps
General browsing in app store
Friends/family
Seeing an ad – TV, Digital,
Newspaper etc.
Social media
Reviews on
Tech
sites/blogs
Searching on Internet
Reach out to your
network of friends,
acquaintances
6. WHY IS ASO IMPORTANT
63% of people discover apps via search,
according to research firms Nielsen and
Forrester, so high visibility in app store
search results is a key to success
Search is the top app discovery tool.
7. ASO – STEPS TO FOLLOW
Make the best use of following:
App name/ App Title
App description
Category selection
Demo Video
Keywords
Meta data
Screen shots
8. APP TITLE &
APP DESCRIPTION
App Title
Use the title to convey the most important function of your
app. Your app’s listing in app store is heavily dependent
on this.
App Description
• Pay attention to the default fold in your description text
• It’s important to communicate your app to potential
users, to-the-point and easy to understand.
• Include every detail that you should include; omit
everything unnecessary
• Do not repeat words (Google Play recently changed
its content policy to disallow this).
9. KEYWORDS
Create your app store metadata using the right keywords that
your users might be searching for.
Search for your primary keywords on the App Store and find
out who are the top search performers.
Find out which are the less competitive keywords with medium
search volume you could rank higher for.
Localize keywords to make your app popular in certain
geographic locations.
Make use of tools to guess keywords of your competitors as well as to
track your search rankings over time.
10. OTHER TAKEAWAYS
Create a stunning App icon - believe it or not, the
actual icon of the app does make a difference
Screenshots - Everyone likes to see what an app
or game looks like. Humans are visual creatures, so
display some eye-catching screen shots of app in
action.
Include a video - 20-60 seconds video describing
main features, benefits to users makes an impact
Regular update - Iterate, make changes, publish
every few weeks
11. PERSUADE
App Reviews
People always download apps that have positive reviews.
Sometimes reviews reveal a great deal of information about
the app that may convert into download.
App Ratings
Every app has a rating. People download an app that has a
high percentage of ratings. Developing a great app will
automatically drive great and higher ratings.
12. BETTER RATINGS
RANK HIGHER?
YES.
Connect with your users inside your app, giving them a place to vent
and talk directly to the developer. On the flip side, you want to guide
happy customers to leave positive reviews for you.
Solicit these points
Asked friends to download and rate your app
Post on Twitter account for every follower to check out your app
and rate it
Similarly on Facebook fan page, to download your app and rate
Integrate 3rd party tools that prompts a user to rate based upon
how many days the app has been installed
Does he love your app and more….
13. OFF-PAGE OPTIMIZATION
Social / Articles / Blogs
Post latest app features on Social network to engage with
consumers and new users. Keep writing about your app on
various blogs. It may cover real life experiences or a basic
description of app.
Capture the demand from Web Search – analyse keywords/trends over
web so Google crawls your app landing page and may be, create
inbound links to Google Play
15. GET FEATURED
Basic principles to follow while developing a mobile app, will
help to get the app Featured (appear on top) on app stores
User Experience
Beautiful & Innovative
Well-built
Optimum use of OS (Apple iOS/Google Android functionality)
Follows best practices
Consistent across devices
Localized (or “language agnostic”)
Above points do not guarantee but surely fulfils all requisites
to be on TOP positions.
16. Apart from Search, one more factor that
helps in app discovery is Find.
Featured and Top ranking apps are discovered
first, therefore better chances to get more
downloads.
*Various researches show – a Featured app gets 400% more downloads
17. TOOLS
Few tools that will help you track rankings, keywords,
competition and more…
MobileDevHQ
App Annie
18. POINTS TO PONDER
App Discovery
Unless you do a paid campaign (CPI), there two ways your app
get discovered on app stores – Search and Find
Factors that influence the app download decision
Browsing the app store, recommendations from friends & family
and mobile websites. App store reviews are also an important
factor in influencing download decision.
App Explore
Most new smartphone users download apps in the first 30 days.
The appetite for exploring new apps is high.
19. THANKS
I am happy to have feedback/queries at c.munish@gmail.com
Also, I have collated some insights on mobile app user engagement
based my personal experience. View Beyond Downloads