App store optimization (ASO) is becoming an increasingly important aspect of digital marketing. However, the new apps face an incredibly competitive app market, with over two million apps on the Apple app store and three million on Google Play. More than 65% of app downloads result from users searching the app store, making it the most popular and successful way for the apps to be found and later installed. If you consider these factors, you can see a pressing need for the apps to reach a high ranking in the app store to improve their visibility and, thereby, their chances of success.
As an app developer, you strive to make your app successful to stand out from the crowd in the app market. Therefore, you must boost the app’s visibility and drive downloads to succeed.So to make room for your app and to get the attention the app deserves, you need an appropriate ASO plan. You don’t have to be caught in costly marketing campaigns to get your app noticed. Instead, understanding the prospective user requirement and consistently optimizing your app will do the trick.
Let see the best possible way to achieve this is by implementing app store optimization.
The Importance of App Store Optimization
ASO is a crucial factor in your app’s marketing plan. It aims at optimizing your app’s listing in the app stores. An effective ASO strategy convinces users to visit your product page and increases conversions through more downloads and in-app purchases.Along with improved app discovery, ASO also gives you the following benefits:
- Improves the app’s discoverability and accessibility.
- Attracts more organic traffic to the app.
- Significantly expands the app’s user base.
- Boosts the app downloads.
- Increases the CTR (click-through rate)and the app’s revenue.
- Cost-effective.
- Reduces user acquisition and marketing costs.
- Facilitates overall app growth.
Tips and Techniques For Creating a Successful App Store Optimization Strategy
An app store visitor usually spends only a few seconds deciding whether to install your app. So, the look and the content quality of your app’s product page are crucial factors that determine a user’s decision. A well-formulated ASO strategy decides the chances of your app getting noticed among the competitors.
1.Understand the prospective users
People visit the app store looking for specific features or solutions and download apps that meet their expectations. Therefore, start by researching the target market. Identify the users’ needs and behaviors.Understanding the potential users allows you to gather insights that can be valuable while preparing the app content. Find the needs and preferences of the user and update your app suitably to gain more traffic.
2. Use of relevant keywords
Research keywords that describe your app for the success of ASO. The aim is to create a set of keywords that you can use to promote the app store listing.The ASO optimizes every element in the app’s listing page by including relevant keywords in the app’s title and description. The proper placement of relevant keywords can improve your app rankings. Choose the keywords:
- That highlights the main features of your app
- that are synonymous with the keywords that describe these features
- That indicates the app’s category
- Are commonly used terms in this category
During the research, understand the keyword traffic, relevance, and demand. Then, study the number of successful apps already using these popular keywords. Keywords with high traffic used by an average number of apps are always better.
3.Choose an appealing app name/title
People would recognize your app with the title. The app’s name must be concise, creative, and memorable. In addition, it should allow the user to identify the app feature by looking at the title.
Consider the app title ‘Uber – Request a ride’, for example. Uber means super taxi, and the extension part clearly states the app’s functionality. This is how a good app title should unambiguously clarify the focus area of the app with utmost clarity.
You must also understand and adhere to the character specification in the app’s name and appropriately include the relevant keywords.
4.Write a convincing app description
An app description briefs the app’s key features and functions. Compose exciting and readable text that effectively explains the app’s functionality. A perfectly formatted and error-free content in the app description prods the user to read and understand the app’s benefits. A call-to-action and contact details at the end of the description are ideal for establishing a relationship with the potential user. Using relevant keywords with the correct density can boost your app‘s search results and attract more traffic.
5.Create eye-catchy visual content.
The app’s icon, screenshots, and preview video can beer more traffic to the app. Nowadays, people don’t want to read much; it’s part of their online behavior. That’s why the importance of visual content is increasing in terms of ASO. Keep in mind the following points while designing these visual elements:
- Avoid unnecessary texts in the app icon.
- Use clear and understandable CTAs.
- Use images from the app in the screenshots.
- Customize the graphics according to the seasons, events, and holidays.
- Test the screenshot orientation to make sure visuals are appealing across devices.
- Horizontal screenshots are better for optimizing app store search results, and vertical ones perform better on the app’s product pages.
- Incorporate text overlays in preview videos to explain the app features.
6.Localize your app
It would help if you implemented app localization for your app to make a global impression. Customize the metadata fields to suit the local market’s language, preferences and needs. App localization is the best technique to expand your app’s user base. It improves app visibility and increases revenues.
App Store Optimization Benefits
Like SEO, ASO also involves targeting and optimizing the aspects the app store’s algorithm considers, including text, keywords, and images. When deciding on app ranking, the algorithm finds factors dependent on the user, e.g. ratings, reviews, and the number of installs.
So, app store optimization is a way of improving an app’s organic traffic.
- Improves awareness about the app
As most app store visitors discover new apps by using popular keywords, a high ranking ensures that people unaware of the app will be introduced to it and eventually installed it. Hence, app store optimization plays a significant role in informing users of an app’s existence.
- Cost-effective strategy.
App store optimization facilitates organic traffic to your app, making it more popular and accessible. So, by maintaining a good app ranking, you can do away with the acquisition and marketing costs for the future. Because the time, effort, and cost you invest in ASO will always remain effective in the long run.
- Identify and understand the target audience.
ASO makes it easier to expand the target market by identifying and implementing the most relevant keywords. You can customize your app’s product page with the keywords that attract traffic and those which match the user queries. ASO ensures optimized search results, so you can reach the audience sooner and enhance your conversion.
- Increased conversion rate
App store optimization enhances your app’s visibility within the app store, which results in more users finding your app. So, the chance of increasing app downloads also gets higher.The main goal of increased app revenue is met by making the app prominent in the market and expanding the app’s user population.
App Store Optimization Checklist
- Understand the elements in the app store page appropriation, which is part of app store optimization.
- Study and analyze the queries and issues of the target users to update your app as the best possible solution for them.
- Keywords research and analysis are vital for achieving a good app ranking. So choose and implement the most relevant keywords and attract traffic to the app.
- It is essential to track the success metrics of your competitors to anticipate the suitable techniques in your app.
- The App market is constantly evolving, so be aware of the changing trends and update your app with new features.
- ASO is a continual process. Invest the time and effort needed to turn your marketing technique into a successful strategy.