App Store Optimization: A Quick Overview
This article was originally published on the WordData blog.
When I began making apps a couple of years ago, there were roughly 500,000 apps in the App Store. Today, the number is more like 1.3 million apps. Needless to say, App Discovery is one of the main concerns app developers have nowadays.
The good news is: Most of them are crap; in fact, according to a research by Vision Mobile, 52 percent of app developers are not even trying to profit from their apps. The bad news: The crappy apps can overwhelm your quality app. It’s your duty as an app developer (or marketer) to do App Store Optimization (ASO).
More and more app developers are getting familiar with App Store Optimization. While ASO may not be the panacea you’re looking for, it will at least remove growth friction and increase your app’s organic downloads. Depending on the keyword niche you’re aiming for, ASO alone might be enough to earn your app a great number of downloads — provided, of course, that you made a great app in the first place.
If you’re a newcomer to the App Store, you might think that App Store Optimization boils itself down to choosing keywords. This is only half-true. While it is a very important part of the process of optimization, there are plenty of other things you should take care of on your app’s metadata, including elements that will increase the rate between app page views and downloads.
Here’s a quick guide for you to understand what App Store Optimization really covers.
App Store Optimization (ASO)
Sometimes referred as “Mobile SEO,” this term relates to the process of optimizing the content of all metadata fields you can complete on your app’s submission to Apple and the metadata it will receive during its lifetime, the reviews and ratings.
I like to break this process in two: Keyword Optimization, which will determine what search queries your app will appear, and Conversion Rate Optimization, which will help make sure that people who found your app will actually download it.
Keyword Optimization (KWO)
It is related to the Keywords, App Name, Category, Pricing, Publisher, and In-App Purchases (IAP) Display Names app metadata fields. Any keywords on these fields will guarantee that your app will appear (somewhere) in the search results.
For keyphrases, the algorithm searches for combinations between words on the Keywords, App Name, and Publisher fields. On the IAP Display Name case, it will only place your app in an exact match search.
If your app is free, the keyword “free” will automatically be added to your keyword pool. Words on your category name will also be added as Keywords, so don’t add “game” or “action” if your app is placed on the Action Game category. The publisher name words will guarantee a position in the search results as well.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Another term that made its way from web marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization is responsible for increasing the conversion of app page views into downloads. CRO covers the app icon, screenshots, description, app size, and after iOS 8, app video previews. The app name, although more important in the Keyword Optimization side of ASO, can affect the perception the user has from the app.
Your app’s icon has to stand out from the App Store icon sea, and the Screenshots (the first specially) have to be amazing, explaining to the user what the app does and why he should download it. You can also use a video app preview instead of the first screenshot, a great opportunity to show your app’s functionality or gameplay features.
The description is the final wall between the user and the download. It has to explain deeper functions and features of the app and finally convince the user to download it. Watch for your app’s size though: if your app is more than 100 MB big you’ll lose some downloads, as users won’t be able to download them on cellular network, i.e., 3G or 4G.
Conclusion
If you go through all these aspects of App Store Optimization, you’ll guarantee your app much more downloads while costing you only time (or a little bit of money for an inexpensive ASO tool). Since it’s not that easy, most devs won’t do it, and you will have the competitive advantage.
Even if you are working with paid advertising, ASO will help to bring even more downloads organically and thus push down the effective cost of user acquisition (eCPI). If you want to know more details on ASO and how to optimize each of its elements, keep tuned to this post: I’ll be updating it with time, linking it to more posts about ASO!
Learn more about App Store Optimization (ASO) on the WordData blog.
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