App Store Optimization Isn’t dead. Here’s What You Need to Know

Getting an app discovered is of the biggest challenge app developers face. No matter how perfect or innovative an application is, it’s dead in the water without the right optimization and marketing to get it found.

How do users find new apps? Easy. They search for them.

What’s the takeaway? You need to optimize your app for search potential.

Understanding ASO

Like SEO, app store optimization (ASO) is the simple task of optimizing an app for search. Basically, ASO aims to establish relevancy for targeted search queries or keywords.

How do start with ASO? It involves a deep-dive into the

Once you know your customer and they keywords they’re using you can better position your app using a variety of optimization and marketing methods.

Why ASO is So Crucial

According to research from Forrester, users discover more than 60% of apps using the app store’s search function.

Simply put, if you’re not optimizing your application to be discovered through search then you’re neglecting the largest traffic segment that costs you absolutely nothing.

You’re in luck though, because the majority of app developers and publishers are tech-smart but shy on marketing skill.

They’re not optimizing their content.

You can incorporate ASO into your strategy to quickly push your app closer to the surface and minimize your competition.

Keep in mind that ASO isn’t just about optimization for visibility; it’s also about optimizing your content in a way that brings the highest conversions of the targeted traffic you acquire.

The Elements of App Store Optimization

If you simplify the concept of optimization there are really only a few components you have to work with.

Title – The title or name of your application is one of the largest factors where optimization and relevancy are concerned.

Keywords – The right keywords used throughout your app within the store, positioned correctly, will help you establish dominant relevancy.

Description – Your description also offers plenty of opportunity for optimization, not only for visibility but for convincing your audience that this is the app they’ve been looking for. Use keywords strategically within the description.

Images – Images, screenshots and videos help establish relevancy and tell the story about why your app is the ideal solution.

Downloads – This holds significant weight in your visibility within the app store. More popular apps, obviously, get greater visibility and placement in the store.

Reviews – And the way to get positive reviews is to make a great app. User experience, as usual, comes before detailed optimization.

How to Approach App Store Optimization for Your Application

To truly optimize your app store page, you need to pay close attention to a number of factors that impact not only search visibility but how people interact with your app.

Conversions are just as important as visibility because conversions mean downloads and rating, which I’ve shown directly impact your rank.

Here are the areas you need to focus on when optimizing your app listing.

1. Keyword research comes first

Optimization starts with keyword research, because you can’t gain visibility without know what your audience is searching for. If you’re not optimized for the right keywords, all you’re left with is very specific app name/brand searches meaning you’re relying solely on whatever other marketing you’re doing.

Your page should include relevant, sought-after terms that lead people to your app, so find keywords that target different levels of competitiveness or difficulty.

You don’t have a lot of room to work with, so choose your keywords carefully.

Two tools can help you find the right keywords, as normal SEO tools for keyword planning may not be the best choice, Sensor Tower and App Annie both provide insight into keywords used within the marketplace.

2. Naming your app

The name you choose for your application needs to be more than just the name or brand of the application. It should be something that is catchy, memorable and informative while also utilizing targeted keywords.

This can be a little challenging because Google Play limits the number of characters for a title and Apple is a little unpredictable when it comes to titles.

Don’t choose a title based solely on what sounds fun or attractive. Take the time to research your category, as well as your audience, and see how you can utilize keywords to influence your rank and grab the attention of your target users.

Keep it short and sweet for the most impact

3. Choosing the right logo

Your logo has little impact on search rank within the marketplace but everything to do with conversions and downloads.

Make sure your icon is attention grabbing and truly...iconic!

When users are scrolling the marketplace, the icon is often the first thing they see. Make it stand out so that the user pauses. A great way to do this is to turn a flat 2D icon into a 3D effect by giving your icon image a frame, then making the image partially overlap the frame.

This gives the effect that the image is breaking out of the frame to create that cool 3D effect.

4. Writing a powerful description

Keyword placement within your description contributes to your overall search rank, but the people who actually read your app description will use it as a basis for whether or not they download it.

A lot of app published botch this part of optimization. They stuff the description full of keywords and write for the algorithm, not for the user.

Never keyword-stuff your description.

Instead think about the solutions your app provides, or the entertainment value. Write compelling copy that hits their pain points and provides clear benefit statements about why they need the app.

Always focus on the value proposition.

Once it’s written, keywords should fit naturally into the copy if you haven’t included them already.

If you ever trip over a keyword while reading content, then it doesn’t below and will negatively impact your conversions/app installs.

Simply put; your audience doesn’t care about keywords. They want to know they can trust the app that is asking permission to access their most sensitive information. They want to know it’s going to provide a solution.

Don’t include text that would suggest otherwise, or impair the development of that trust.

5. Tell a story with visuals

Don’t make the mistake of using your screenshots to sell the features of the app. Simplified in-app screenshots are a waste of time and space. Treat it like an advertising platform and an opportunity to outshine competitors.

It’s a space where you can really tell a story with visuals.

Keep these stats in mind when you’re trying to decide what kind of creative visual assets to use in your app page:

• Research has shown that colored visuals increase people’s willingness to digest content by 80%.
• Shoppers who view video are nearly 2X more likely to make a purchase.
• Photos that show faces get 38% more attention in social media than photos without faces.

Use images to tell a story about how the app is used by people, and show those people. Don’t settle for screenshots.

Include a video that also tells a compelling story. It doesn’t need high production value to connect with your audience on an emotional or personal level.

A video gives insight on the product, but also builds trust as the user can see the creativity of the people (you) behind the products. This brings together education as well as entertainment.

6. Choose the right app category

Listing your app in the right category impacts your marketplace rank for that specific category while limiting it in other areas of search. You need to choose the right category based on what is relevant to your audience as well as the level of competition.

For the Apple store you also can choose subcategories that give you micro-segmentation for ranking in more specific areas.

7. Watch the data

Optimization isn’t a one-and-done approach. Once your app is live you need to constantly watch and measure the results. This can help you improve your optimization by adjusting keywords you use and altering your descriptions to improve conversions.

I mentioned Sensor Tower earlier for keyword research, but it’s also a powerful analysis tool to look at the performance of your app as well as competitors. This can present you with tremendous opportunities to improve your optimization.

Don’t just rely on the basic analytics that come from the app store. Leverage competitive intelligence.

Conclusion

In order to completely understand what drives visibility as well as app purchases and downloads, you have to think beyond the app. Look at your listing in the marketplace as a brick and mortar business on one of the busiest boulevards in a major metro area. Each tip above is a way to turn heads of window-shoppers and get them into your store.

Once they’re in, your goal is to create an experience that connects to them on a very personal and emotional level. That’s the only way to increase downloads and ratings that will ultimately improve the visibility of your app in the marketplace.

What kind of success have you had with optimizing your app in the major app stores?