App Store Optimization (ASO) and Mobile Marketing

Who's planning to attend the BrightEdge Share15 conference on September 21-23, 2015 in San Francisco?  I'm honored to be one of 66 digital marketing leaders presenting and will cover mobile app optimization best practices and the near and far future of mobile and the Internet of Things.

App Store Optimization (ASO) is initially seen as a search engine management effort.  The consummate ASO practitioner can rank well in the app's search engine page ranking (SERP) with any mobile app … for a little while anyway.   The search algorithms in the app stores are not nearly as sophisticated and there are no Hummingbirds, Pandas or mobile friendly penalties to be concerned with - yet.  You can navigate your way to the top through good-enough apps, cleverness, and hard work. And generous media spend, which increases download quantity, and is a direct impact on the organic ranking algorithm.  

You will not, however, maintain that ranking if your mobile app isn’t performing up to par and meeting the needs of your customer. I stress the customer sentiment factor strongly. Even a good mobile app with bad ratings and reviews will not rank competitively given enough time.

The Role of Mobile App Development

Let’s get to the point. ASO is only useful if the mobile app development process creates an initial quality app that the customer needs and wants.  And an ongoing commitment to app quality that accounts for ratings and reviews feedback.  We talk on and on about creating an integrated marketing environment where technology and organization work together to a common objective. What does that really mean? It means that if you’re responsible for the ASO function in your marketing effort, you must be aware of the mobile app development process to put out quality apps. You should be part of the conversation to influence the creation of all the desirable characteristics that will raise your mobile app above the noise to be noticed. It’s the only way to gain a competitive edge in the market. It’s a complicated world to compete in. What should you influence as part of the development process? Here are a few ideas about that from the International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications (IJSEA).

• Developers should use well known and certified tools during the development of an app. Superior quality apps can be developed through practical means.
• Developers should spend sufficient time on testing the apps with respect to security and performance criterion which will play a vital role in the success/failure of an app.
• Developers can use any software management tool to plan their mobile app development activities. Efficient planning will help the developers to meet strict deadlines.
• Developers should integrate user feedback into subsequent versions of the app to remove non-obvious blocks to sustained usage, so developers need to treat user questions and comments like high-valuable unpaid consulting opinions.
• Small things such as push notifications and alerts should be used carefully. They will keep the app top of mind when they are used responsibly to convey relevant content to the user.
• Developers should avoid having a complex registration process. Many users return in between the process of downloading the app if the registration process is complex and consumes more time.

ASO Best Practices Overview

I outlined some of those factors in a previous blog post where I discussed improving the mobile user experience. They warrant repeating in the context of this post.

Apps can help customers access your site and content faster and easier while increasing engagement.There are roughly 60K apps added on iTunes each month and 50K on Google Play. For your app to be successful, it has to have this kind of qualities.

• It has to be a well-designed and useful app that is engaging and easy to use
• It has to align with your organization and brand message
• The focus should always be on the customer experience
• You should leverage relevant and opportunistic keywords along with engaging descriptions
• All images, including the icons, should be visually pleasing and useful
• Keep an eye on ratings and reviews and make sure your app page is always up to date and displays them prominently.

Optimizing your apps is not a one-and-done approach. It’s best to refine your apps based on ratings and reviews continually. App store optimization, like all optimization activities, is ultimately about improving the user experience, not just search results.