App Store Optimisation: Tips for Boosting App Visibility and Downloads
Evangelist Apps
Experts in mobile app Development & Design for all iOS (iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches & Apple TV) and Android platforms
How many apps do you have on your phone right now? I have about 282 apps on my phone; we likely have at least 25 common apps.
But how did I find the remaining 257 apps?
It's a combination of products or services I already use, apps I have heard about online, friends or family, and some I have found on the app store.?
The first two avenues for finding new apps are something you, as an app marketer or app owner, have no control over, but the final avenue is something you can improve to get more downloads for your mobile app.
The way to do that is through app store optimisation or ASO.?
What is app store optimisation?
App store optimisation is the process of optimising your app store listing to improve its discoverability by users searching for your app or an app like yours.
It encompasses a strategy that focuses on setting up the app listing on the app stores and then managing that listing to ensure that the app is ranked and discovered easily.
Why is app store optimisation important?
As pointed out above, users discover many apps by searching the app store, and more than 8.93 Million apps are available across both app stores (Google App Store & Apple App Store).?
The number is increasing daily, and discoverability will be a huge challenge for new apps launched in these stores.?
This is why app marketers must focus on app store optimisation to ensure they can get many downloads.
Is this like SEO?
This sounds like SEO, and the fact is, it is really like SEO, but for the app stores.?
As a marketer, you would still look at areas like titles, descriptions, and keywords to optimise for search in both SEO and ASO. But instead of page speed in SEO, ASO focuses on regions like usage data and quality metrics.
Instead of social signals and links in SEO, ASO focuses more on reviews, ratings and download stats.
What are the factors that affect the ranking of the apps:
The reviews and ratings are the most significant factors affecting an app's ranking. These two define your app's ranking on the app stores.?
Apart from that, it is also essential to select the right kind of category in which you are looking to launch the app.?
What are the critical elements of an ASO strategy?
Here are a few critical elements of an ASO strategy and some tips on how to use them effectively:?
App Name / Title:
The app name should focus on your business and be unique enough for potential users to find and download it.?
You might have multiple apps in the market, so the name and title need to differentiate those apps based on the purpose they have been built for.?
To make it easier to find your app, you could explore adding a few words next to the name/title of the app, like "Spotify - Music and Podcasts". They have added the words "music and podcasts" deliberately to help people searching for the words "music" or "podcasts" to find their app easily.?
Also, Apple allows you to add a subtitle, which makes it easy to optimise search. Look at an app like "Zoom - One Platform to Connect", which uses the subtitle "Team Chat, Phone, Video & More".
Along with the title, it is also essential to think hard about the icon for your app. The icon will let the user identify your app amongst all the apps in the search. It must show your brand logo and stay consistent with the colour theme.
Keywords:
Keywords play a vital role in ASO. From selecting the title of the app to the subtitle or description of the app, it is essential to consider the keywords that your potential users are likely to use when searching on the app stores for apps they want to download.?
App Description:
This is another area where there is an opportunity to add the right keywords and optimise the content to make it easy for visibility for potential users.
Another significant bit is to look at the potential for localisation here (especially if you want to launch your app in multiple markets). Canva has done a great job on the Play Store by writing its app description in Hinglish (Hindi written in English) in the Indian Play Store, which lets it connect with its local users.
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Pictures and videos also play an essential role in the description. It is vital to showcase the unique features of your app. Spotify does a great job of adding images and using text to contextualise those images better.?
Download Numbers:
Another crucial part of ASO is to keep track of the downloads of your app. It shows the app stores how popular your app is and impacts your app’s ranking in app rankings and the search.?
Google Play Store clearly shows how many times an app was downloaded on the app screen, and it acts as a way to establish the authority and authenticity of the app for potential users looking to download and use it.
Ratings and Reviews:
Ratings and reviews need to be managed by encouraging the users to rate and review your app after they use it. These ratings and reviews will impact the app's discoverability and ranking overall on the app stores.?
One important tip to remember is to ensure you respond to the reviews, especially if it is a negative review. It lets you let the users know that you are looking into their issues with the app and enables you to continue holding onto those users for a longer term.
Updates:
As part of your app strategy and ASO strategy, it is essential to keep updating your app with bug fixes and edits regularly.?
It ensures that your app continues to work on future OS releases and lets the users know that you are improving the app for them.
Remember that users do not like large updates, which make them wait hours before using an app. So break your updates into smaller chunks (which can be updated in a few seconds when the device is on charge) and release those updates at a few intervals to make your app experience smooth for your users.
What tools can help you to execute ASO?
Here are a few tools that we think can help you to execute ASO:
What KPIs to measure as part of ASO?
Now that you have understood what ASO is and have started looking at the tools that can help you manage ASO, the next big question you need to answer is: What are the KPIs you will measure?
Here are a few metrics that you should consider measuring as part of your ASO KPIs:
What are the trends that are going to appear in the app industry in the future?
The app industry is constantly changing because of the ever-evolving technologies around it. Here are a few trends that we think will impact the app industry a lot in the coming years:
AI:
If you haven't noticed already, every business is exploring how they can utilise AI to improve the app solutions they provide to their users. Over the next few years, many new and existing apps integrate AI capabilities to enhance user experience.
This includes including chatbot-based systems within existing and new apps, which can help users in many ways.
XR:
The prediction for XR to be the next big thing has been going on forever, but we all know that Apple has a knack for picking some tech and making it more exciting for users. With Apple Vision Pro coming up soon, app developers will look at how they can elevate the app experience for their users using this technology.
Apps for Foldable Devices:
More and more companies are launching foldable devices (bringing back the nostalgia of devices like Moto Razr), and there are some unique ways that app developers can utilise these new screens.?
NoCode:
No code development has recently gained much popularity amongst businesses; it will be interesting to see how these platforms will evolve to enable even novices to launch apps quickly.
Conclusion:
As indicated above, the industry is evolving, and the competition is getting more prominent daily.?
Keeping yourself updated and ready to work with the trends to improve your rankings and visibility is essential.?
Also, it is essential to remember to keep testing; what worked today might not work tomorrow (ask any marketer), so keep testing the description, languages, keywords and even logos if required to find the perfect set of elements that make your app the top app in the rankings.