Building a mobile app is hard work, but it is an adventure. So what happens if, after all that effort, potential users never discover your app? With countless apps sitting in the stores, putting a great product online is not enough on its own.
Did you know that over 60% of users rely on store search to find the apps they want? You only get high download numbers if your app sits at the top, in the top app rankings. Fortunately you found this page and you are reading it now. In this piece we will walk you through the effective method for conversion optimization in the app stores: App Store Optimization (ASO). In everyday terms people also call it App Store SEO.
What Is ASO?
App Store Optimization (ASO) is the general term for the work of improving an app’s visibility in the app stores. The stores rank every app against a set of factors. Use the right keywords, useful visuals and a strong app description, and you can climb higher in search and pull more downloads.
Our 6 golden pieces of advice at Türk SEM:
- Keep your target group in focus
- Get the keyword optimization exactly right
- Write the descriptions against a considered strategy
- Use images and video as accurately and as well as you can
- Reach users worldwide through translation
- Collect user reviews
How Do You Do ASO?
1. Keep the Target Group in Focus
Just as in search engine optimization (SEO), there are many ways to lift an app’s ranking and get the increase you are after. But we always have to think about conversion rate optimization for users first and for the search engines second. That principle sits at the front of our fundamentals at Türk SEM.
Design your app so it is useful to your target group and offers them real added value. The first question to put to yourself is why, out of all the apps in that store, yours is the right choice. Whether ASO can genuinely work rests on this step.
2. Keyword Optimization
Look at your rivals’ apps and work out which keywords match your app and your target group. A memorable title carrying the right keywords can work wonders. Take this example: “Super Wallpaper, free animated wallpaper for phones and tablets.” Be careful, though: do not overload the title with keywords, focus on quality instead.
3. A Description Built on a Considered Strategy
The app description affects not only the ranking but the decision to download. Write one that speaks straight to people and brings out what makes your app distinctive. Do not forget: a strong call to action can make a large difference.
As an app publisher, work your keywords in as well, while avoiding anything that would make the text read unnaturally.
Finally, choosing more than one language on your App Store listing affects your ASO too: when you publish, always focus on the language of your target group, or on the App Store location.
Translating the listing on the App Store may not be enough on its own. Opening the app in the downloader’s own language will earn you extra points.
4. Images and Video: the Key to an App’s Success
An attractive icon, app symbol or logo can change your download numbers. Video and app screenshots lift them too. They give users a good idea of what your app is, and that can be what gets them to install it.
5. Score Worldwide Through Translation
If you want to rank internationally, language specific App Store Optimization is essential. Provide excellent translations, research which keywords people are searching in other countries, and write the descriptions around them.
6. Collect User Reviews
We come to the last of ASO’s 6 basic steps, and that is reviews. Reviews are a genuine indicator of quality. Watch the quality of your app and encourage users to leave feedback, particularly the ones ready to give you five out of five. The average you end up with here is vital to the project.
- 4 to 5 is very good
- 3 to 4 is normal
- 2 to 3 is mediocre
You have now read the 6 points of App Store Optimization (ASO) and you will have noticed that none of them are hard to do. At bottom, the chef’s secret recipe is not that interesting. A little care and a little thought about what people want, that is all of it. Watch these 6 points and you can get your app in front of a far larger audience.
Apply the optimization steps set out above and you will win new downloads and reach more people.
Wild Card Tip
Promoting your app out on the wider internet and adding it to the other mobile app stores can grow your reach considerably. Promotion outside the stores brings you new people, and it can also lift how often your app name gets searched inside the App Store and Google Play.
THE UPSHOT: OPTIMIZE YOUR APP RANKING
Your Road to a Successful App
App store optimization is worth doing because it lifts your ranking and brings more visibility and more downloads. But real success does not come from the 6 methods described here alone; it comes from maintaining and developing the app continuously.
