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8 Factors in App Store Optimization: How to compete!

08.06.2016 Margaret Geras
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8 Factors in App Store Optimization: How to compete!

Nowadays mobile applications become a new method of e-commerce, business promotion and even a tool for earning money. It is up to you what activity is more preferable. Anyway, whatever you choose you will face to app optimization necessity.

App Store as a part of iTunes store, containing millions of apps for Apple products, dictates its rules for being a leader. Therefore, App Store Optimization allows solving many challenges such as ‘How to be on the top of the app list?’, ‘How to get the best rating?’, ‘How to make an app suitable for searching?’ and many other ‘How’. In other words, ASO is a set of approaches for raising mobile apps visibility.

The strategy of app promoting is simple. The better apps are optimized the higher the rating index and the more downloads. Certainly, all these factors influence your profit. So, let’s consider what are the main items we can highlight in App Store Optimization and what steps you should do to compete.

A few of interesting facts

No doubts that quantity of app downloads is extremely important. Direct detecting of applications in the App Store is one of the most leading factors, which makes 53% of all the downloads. Placing the app in the first place isn’t so easy, because of one and a half million apps just existing in the Apple App Store. In order to hit in the US top 10, you need about 100 thousand of downloads. So, if promoting in this area costs about $ 3,30 per download, the budget will be about $ 330,000. What a huge sum! Fortunately, there are some useful proven approaches to compete for the place under the Sun.

App Store Optimization via SEO

To understand the optimization way more clearly we’d like to compare App Store Optimization (ASO) and Search Engineering Optimization (SEO).

  1. Name

Be careful choosing the name of the product. Likewise in SEO, in ASO it must be clear and readable easily. Using keywords in the name, be sure it won’t push away a customer. Looking through SEO, the application name should be written as a title tag. Thinking of the app name, you strive to create a catchy title that helps to promote branding strategy and give all necessary information about application theme to users. However, if the name includes relevant keys that implement ASO like SEO additionally, it will be the best variant.

The maximum length of the name in Apple store is 255 symbols, but during searching 70 symbols will be displayed in the visible zone on App Store screen and 25 symbols and less – on iPhone. You ought to keep in mind this, writing the name.

According to MobileDevHQ’s research, the title including keywords is 10,3% more efficient than without. The title tag is the most important in SEO. Search robots look through it first and then define others.

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  1. Keywords

As we see, keywords penetrate into many text blocks. Nevertheless, don’t use them too often.

App Store suggests writing 100 symbols in the keyword block. We decided not to describe them all, and simply to number main recommendations necessary for forming a list of Apple store keywords.

  • Don’t use spaces after commas. Users will not see the list, and the store engine runs with no gaps.
  • Don’t repeat keywords. In this case, no matter if you use copies. Actually, keywords duplicates seem as a spam, and it takes more time. Save it.
  • Use numbers instead of numerals (“3” instead of “three”).
  • Use short keywords in various combinations.
  • Don’t use plural nouns. Singular is the best way for App Store Optimization.
  • Don’t use words like “the”, “on”, “at” and their equivalents in other languages;
  • Use all 100 characters. Have a benefit from all the opportunity.
  • Avoid special symbols. Google reads them badly.
  • Don’t use category names in the title. For example, the app name “free puzzle games” contains such categories as “free” and “games”.
  1. Localization

Keywords localization for different regions increases the number of downloads 767% over. Obviously, we need localization to raise the search rates and to make usability comprehensible for customers.

  1. Publisher’s name

By the way, sometimes users need to search apps with a publisher’s name. Noticing the name would be a good idea in case of promoting new apps. The user searches anything one, but, as a result, can see other products of the company. According to SEO, the name of the company is described with tag h1.

Some extra ASO items

As we’ve written, there are SEO factors influencing on App Optimization, and extra factors having no keywords. First ones participate in search optimization as best promoting in outside search sites (Google, Bing, etc.) as inside system (within App Store interface). Others form attractive design and as a result user’s impression.

  1. Description

Descriptions are not taking part in searching, but they could influence on a customer. The interesting description gives more installations than the boring one. This is not an SEO option but important for customer’s preferences.

Accept it, keep in mind that:

  • A/B-testing of different variants would be useful;
  • description preview contains only first 3 lines;
  • press releases and updates would be relevant in section “What’s new”;
  • an efficient reason for downloading is necessary (ensure your customers to have it).
  1. Tasty icon

So little thing, but so useful! Design push a user to choose one among the majority. It doesn’t depend on SEO. It is a matter of taste! However, this decisive factor attracts users and make them sure. Therefore, an icon should be made unique and inform users about the app direction. Good idea is to keep inform style within the app.

App-Store-Optimization

  1. Screenshots

How is to use the app? What is it inside? Do I like it? These are the questions every user asks. So why don’t you tell a story of the product through a few shots of the real app?

Moreover, you can use 5 screenshots with size 640×960 for iPhone. The first one depicts the main idea of the application. If your app supports many languages, notice it in one or several screenshots. Actually, you can form 4 screenshots in one if necessary information is too much.

  1. Testimonials and rating

Testimonials is a feedback to the app publisher. The more testimonials people post, the higher the rating of the app. Obviously, customers won’t install apps with a low rating. However, it is possible to make the rating higher. You just need to answer customer’s posts, explore their complaints and update the app fixing all flaws.

Applying these methods, you can achieve good results in App Store Optimization and gain popularity among customers. We think it isn’t important to mention that due to the top range of the app you get a strong reputation and further opportunities to trade successfully.

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