The Ultimate App Store Optimization Guide 2017
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The Ultimate App Store Optimization Guide Tips & Tricks on How to Increase Your App Store Traffic and App Downloads The Ultimate App Store Optimization Guide Summary 1. Introduction - Why We Prepared This Guide & Why ASO Is So Important? - But, What Exactly Is App Store Optimization? 2. Step by Step Guide For App Store Optimization - Check Your Competitors First - Get Found With the Right Keywords - Choose Your App Name Wisely - Choose Your App Name Wisely - Write a Distinctive Description - Share Your App Updates - Optimize Your Visuals: App Icons, Screenshots & Videos - Reviews & Ratings - Choose the Right Category - Frequency Update - App Localization 3. Mobile App Marketing 4. App Optimization Tools At A Glance 5. Checklist 1. Introduction Why We Prepared This Guide & Why ASO Is So Important? There are almost 5 million Apps in both, the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store and over 200 billion download in total. We live in a mobile world and the App industry keeps on growing. These millions of mobile Apps are waiting in the stores to be found. According to a study by Tune, 52% of Android and 55% of iOS users found the last App they downloaded through an App store search. To get your App found, ASO might be your secret weapon. If you spend time on improving your ASO, you will definitely impact your App’s ranking and overall performance. As the number of peers and competition increases, the cost and the time you have to spend increases, too. So, keep on optimizing, ASO is the key to your success! You need to be sure that you rank well, that you attract the right users and outshine from your opponents to reach the download numbers you are aiming for. But, What Exactly Is App Store Optimization? ASO is the process of optimizing mobile Apps to rank higher in an App store’s search results. The higher your App ranks in an App store, the more visible it is to potential customers. That increased visibility tends to convert into more traffic to your App’s page in the App store. The main goal of your optimization efforts is to drive more traffic to your App’s page, so searchers can easily download your App. So, it’s crucial to understand your target customer’s behaviour such as keyword searches, similar Apps they are using etc. Once you get to know your potential users needs, you can not only use this information for your ASO efforts but also for your whole mobile App marketing strategy. Bonus: Difference between App Store Optimization and SEO for Apps App store search is separate from Google search, and is another form of Mobile App SEO. While ASO is about optimizing App ranking in the App Store / Google Play Store search results, SEO for Mobile Apps deals with improving your App’s visibility in the Google’s SERP. But both are important for your mobile App marketing. Considering the differences of the search behaviour of Google Search, App Store Search and YouTube Search you may want to invest into a good keyword tool since keywords are crucial on any search optimization. At the end of your research you will see that you won’t need long tail keywords like you would normally have on Google Search. Now you have your keyword list, congrats! Choose Your App Name Wisely Before we begin let’s make one thing clear to avoid any confusions. Apple’s App Store uses as title “App Name” and Google’s Play Store uses “Title”. Practically, they both actually mean title and they both are the most valuable piece of your App store results page view. Another study by Tune found that Apps with relevant keywords in their title are ranked 10.3% higher than the ones that are not using them. Ok, if you have decided on your keywords you can now start typing the most visible, most determining words for your App. No pressure, but you only have a couple of letters to type due to the character limits. App Store Make sure that your App name is fully visible on any kind of screen. (Tip: Test it on smaller screens!) Your iOS App name should not exceed the 25 characters limit. In these 25 characters you need to add your brand name, main keyword(s) and beside this you may want to add an extra keyword which makes your visitor click on your App and download it. Yes, this is especially challenging if you have a long brand name. When writing the keywords: - Don’t use spaces just separate them with a comma - You don’t need to write plurals - Use numbers ‘2’ instead typing ‘two’ Play Store Within the same context Google Play Store gives you a 50 character limit for your title. However, because of the different screen sizes the suggested optimum character amount is 30. So, even if you keep it longer than 30 characters make sure that you use your main keyword, brand name and purpose of the App within the first 30 characters. Max. Character Apple App Store Google Play Store App Name 25 Recommended (225) 30 Keywords 100 - Short Description 225 80 Description 4000 4000 What’s New 4000 500 Here are some examples: ikinciyeni.com - ikinci el oto Google Maps – Navigation & Transit Bonus: iOS 11 update With the iOS 11 update in the iOS App Store in October 2017, it will be possible to add subtitles below the App Name/Title section. This will have an impact on our optimization process. Let’s wait and see... Write A Distinctive Description It is important to have not only your App title contain the strongest keywords, but also your description. Writing a message that is easy to understand, well-structured and stands out of your competitors is important. Keep in mind that you want to convince your users to download your App. Your App description, your visual and clear App icon, and engaging App screenshots will be the main assets for this. Both the App Store and Google Play Store have a 4.000 character limit for the description area. The first 2-3 sentences are the most important ones, because this is what users can see without tApping the ‘more’ link. You will be able to provide more detail on what you want to say later. But first, try to wrap up why the user should download your App, what the main benefits are and highlight the unique features that this App has in the first 252 characters. Bonus: Users don’t like to read According to StoreMaven’s research collected from 50m App users, App store users don’t like to read. Only 5% click the ‘more’ button to continue reading. So every single character and wording you use in the short description counts. While keywords used in the description have an impact on rankings in Google Play, this is not relevant for App Store for iOS. But this doesn’t mean that you should put less effort in it. Keep in mind that this description area plays a role in convincing the visitors to press the download button. Stretch your description by giving details about your App’s benefits, features and additional advantages. Try adding your website link, social media and blog links or any other information that you may think can affect your users decisions. The recommended description should be kept “concise & informative”. Additionally, - Make it easy to read. Try using bullet points - Tell them what they will gain and they will love the App - Highlight how easy the App is to use - Explain why your App should be preferred over the competitors ones - Maintain the tone & terminology of your brand Isn’t it easier to read the above items in bullet points. What do you think? :) Keep in mind: - Don’t use over-optimized keywords in your title and description. Be natural in your language. - Don’t forget the most important thing is your target audience. Why do you want that specific user to download your App? You don’t want that people just download your App and later delete it and contribute to the dump of deleted Apps. - Don’t forget that you can only update your description when submitting a new version release, in iOS at least. If you’ll need to add more information or updates you can use some of the additional features that do not require a release to update. Bonus: New iOS features iOS 11 will have lots of new features, making us optimizers feel like in heaven. Next to the subtitle feature already mentioned above, you will be able to add promotional ad texts above the description with 170 characters. Promotional ad texts can be used to emphasize new features and promotions. The good thing is, you can play around with this text and do A/B tests without releasing a new App version. Share Your App Updates iOS gives you an additional 4.000 characters to tell your users what is new with you App prior to the latest version. So if you have any updates, don’t hesitate to share this in your ‘What’s New’ section. If there is nothing new, don’t bother to write anything in here. But you can be creative and write funny updates to capture your visitor’s attention. Write only if your App really has new features. Besides this, if there is a bug make sure you put it in there. Optimize Your Visuals: App Icons, Screenshots & Videos They say ‘A picture says more than 1000 words’.