Wondering why App Store Optimisation is crucial for your app? With more than 6 million apps on the major app stores, the chances of your app getting discovered to become a challenge. As per a report, in a day approximately 2,550 apps are released and 16,077 in a week on Google Play Store. Spending your time creating a perfect app does not get the job done, you need to further do research to create a perfect store listing too.
One of the main methods that people use to search for an app is “search” on the app store. Around 63% of app downloads come from search as per Apple and in just 3 seconds your product page visits dropoff. This is where app store optimization becomes very important.
App Store Optimisation or ASO in short is the process of improving the performance and visibility of an app on the app stores like Google’s Playstore, Apple’s App Store, and other OEMs. When your app ranks higher in the search results the chances of it getting discovered by potential users increase. An increase in visibility results in an increase in traffic on your store page which in turn results in more downloads, which is the ultimate goal of ASO.
In short, the goal of ASO is to cut through the clutter and get in front of the right audience, that is improving your app’s visibility with the objective of reaching your potential users and increasing organic downloads.
To achieve the above goal we need to focus on the two main pillars which are Keyword Optimisation and Conversion Rate Optimisation. Keyword optimization results in a traffic boost to your app’s store page and the right conversion rate optimization results in converting this increased traffic into app downloads.
Keyword Optimization: Google’s and Apple’s algorithm is designed to give users the relevant result for their searched query. The key factors you need to pay attention to improve your visibility include App Title, Subtitle, and Description, Keywords. There is a limit on the characters that you can use in these fields, therefore it becomes essential to pick the right keywords to get the most traffic. If a keyword that a user searched for is present in your metadata then your app has a chance to get ranked for it. The keywords in your title and subtitle (or short description in Google Play) weigh higher than the keyword field (or long description in Google Play).
Conversion Rate Optimisation: Not only getting better visibility and getting people to your store page important to improve the ranking of your app but converting these visitors into installers is crucial too. A good conversion rate and good download velocity play a vital role in improving the ranking of your app since Google or Apple does not want to show irrelevant results or create a bad experience for its users.
Conversion Rate Optimisation involves working on the creative side of the product page, which includes App Icons, Screenshots, Featured Graphics, and Preview Videos. Your app’s product page is where you create your first impression, make sure to make it count. The store page gives a glimpse of how your app feels so make it worth your while.
There are certainly other factors that you don’t have direct control of but do impact your performance like ratings and reviews, retention rate, and app performance.
To conclude, App Store Optimisation or ASO should always be considered as a process where there is always room for improvement. Even if you think it’s executed perfectly, it will after a period stop showing the same results and will eventually lose ranking and thus visibility. Therefore, you must regularly audit your app’s performance, keyword rankings, and your peer’s performance, and also do keep a close eye on ratings and reviews of your app.
