Is your mobile app struggling to rank on Google Play Store?
With over 2.56 million Android apps, you are not the only one who is finding the right strategy to promote the mobile app.
As competition is getting tough day by day on the play store, so you must be looking for a solution that could not only improve your app’s visibility but also increase revenue.
The solution is App Store Optimization (ASO).
ASO is a highly important part of Mobile SEO Optimization to improve your app’s visibility on the Play Store and eventually increase the number of app downloads.
Right ASO strategy can empower your mobile app to appear on the top of the search results. But if doing it was easy so you wouldn’t be searching for ASO tips on Google.
What is App Store Optimization? How it should be implemented? How it can improve your mobile app’s ranking and business revenue? How to track app’s success?
This blog will give you great ASO tips that will help your Android mobile app to stand out on Google Play Store.
ASO is the key to boost your app downloads.
What is ASO?
App Store Optimization is the process of optimizing a mobile application to maximize its visibility on Google Play Store. It simply means optimizing your mobile app so that it appears when users search or explore browser.
ASO helps the app to get high traffic and improved conversion rates to generate the maximum number of organic download. It brings free loyal users to the app while reducing user acquisition cost and increase retention rate.
How does ASO work?
ASO = Traffic + Downloads
It requires a deep understanding of how does ASO work. What is the target user base, the most relevant keyword that users are typing or speaking to search apps?
Additionally, Google Play Store is continuously evolving and playing a very critical role to make mobile applications visible in the search results such as Similar Apps, Top Charts Rankings, and so on.
Android app Development Company usually focuses on SEO over ASO, which again impact on your app’s search ranking.
Therefore, app owners need to focus on the App Store Optimization so that they can customize their strategy accordingly. To help you, here are the two key factors that directly affect ASO for Android mobile application.
1. On-metadata
On-metadata includes those factors of the product page or listing which can be modified within App Store or Google Play Console to improve app download numbers, app store keyword rankings, and explore visibility.
These elements contain URL/Package, developer name (only for Google Play), app name,title, category, app icon, screenshots, video, short description, and subtitle- which are 100% under your control. Optimizing on-metadata helps app to rank higher in search and explore.
2. Off-metadata
Off-metadata includes those external factors which are not under the control of the app developer or owner such as ratings, reviews, user engagement, app abandon rate, speed of installs, etc.
Benefits of App Store Optimization
The truth is that ASO is the key to your app’s success. Without focusing on a dedicated ASO strategy, it will be truly hard to get the results you want, both in terms of app downloads and ranking (except if your app is like Facebook, TikTok, or other iconic apps).
ASO helps your app to get more organic downloads and enables you to spend less money on paid downloads. Google Play Store is the main spot where users find or download apps by searching in the app store.
Therefore, many experts suggest that optimizing your app is the most effective marketing strategy for mobile apps and games. Here are the benefits of App Store Optimization that will prove its high importance:
- Boost visibility and stand out your app in the App Stores
- Get discovered by high-quality and relevant users
- Improve organic app downloads in a sustainable way
- Reduce user acquisition cost and increase continuous growth
- Enhance app revenue and conversion rates
- Enable your app to reach a global audience
ASO tips to rank your app on Google Play Store
You already know how important is to optimize your mobile application. But the point is here, how to do it? How to optimize App Store the right way that boost your app’s visibility and downloads?
Here are those ASO tips that will help your mobile app to rank higher on Google Play Store:
1. Give your app a strong descriptive title
What is in the name? There is a lot, especially when you are talking about the name of your app and ASO. An attractive name not only identifies your app to potential users but also improves its rankings.
Include a keyword in your app’s title that is relevant to user search. Google Play Store allows maximum 30 characters for the title, so you have to be extremely concise and compelling too.
2. Keyword Research
Choosing the right keyword is critical for app store search success. You should target those keywords which have high relevance (related to your business), high traffic, and low difficulty or competition level.
Keyword research strategy differs for each app. For example, for new applications, it is better to use long-tail and low competition keywords initially, then gradually change them accordingly with more traffic and competitive keywords.
You can use some app research tools such as Sensor Tower, App Annie, to evaluate your keywords and market aspects.
4. Describe your app well
Your app’s description is like your website’s home or landing page. If you somehow managed to bring users to your app, you certainly want to close the deal and make the sale at that time.
Hence, your app’s description and page within the app store should be seen a significant part of your app store optimization strategy.
Always assume that users know very little or almost nothing about your app. You should think as if you were a customer so how your app could help them. Below are the key points that you should focus on describing your app:
- What does your app do exactly?
- What problem does it solve?
- How it will ease the buyer’s or customer’s life easier?
- Why the price or paid subscription is worth for customers?
Be convincing and helpful. And don’t forget to pay attention to keywords as we discussed above.
5. Use Attractive Screenshots
Users only spend 4-7 seconds deciding whether they are going to download an app or not. How your app store page looks is a critical aspect in their decision, and attractive app store screenshots can make a big difference.
In fact, these screenshots are considered the second most influential factor (after app reviews and ratings) when it comes to convincing users to download your app.
You should use screenshots wisely and focus on the most engaging parts of your app. Show what is the main feature that could help users, or other amazing functionality that users may like.
6. Add an app preview video
Video has now become the most powerful content to engage the audience. People now love watching videos than reading text. You can harness the power of video in your app and giving users a better insight into what your app can offer them.
Adding an app preview video is like a movie trailer that educates the audience while entertaining them.
You can show a recording of the in-app usage experience, UI/UX, top features, and benefits. Video is a catalyst to enhance your app’s appearance.
7. Choose the right app category
Placing your app in the proper category is highly important for users who are searching apps by category. It might be possible your app fits into more than one category; there are three ways that you can figure out this problem.
- First, pick the category that best describes your app.
- Next, check out how many other apps are in each possible category available for the app. Choose one with the least competition for a better chance of ranking closer to the top.
- Finally, see the estimated app worth (EAW) of the apps near the top of those categories. Place your app in the one with lower numbers to take advantage.
Make sure you don’t put your app in the wrong category for ASO as it may lead to app rejection.
8. Focus on Icon Design
Icon is the mark of your app’s identity. Knowing how to design a unique app icon that stands out in the market is crucial. You only get one permanent place to show app store audience why your app is meaningful for them.
And, as it has been proven already that icon design directly influences users’ decision while choosing the app for download, your mobile app designers should spend additional time and effort for coming up with a great icon.
You can explore other famous app icons that have marked their unique identity in the market as well.
9. Encourage Positive Reviews
Positive reviews and ratings have the most influential impact on app downloads. If users are not downloading your app, there may be a lack of positive or more negative reviews that could impact users’ decision before downloading an app.
You should check whether your app is getting a sufficient number of positive reviews, having a few good reviews may not work well.
To improve it, you should better encourage positive reviews or thank users who write positive feedback on your app. This will create an impression that you care about users’ feedback.
Make sure the number of positive reviews or feedback should be greater than the negative reviews. You can also enable an in-app pop-up notification asking the user to leave a good review if any user likes your app.
10. Use App Store Analytics
Just like Google analytics serve for website marketing, there are many powerful app store analytics tools to help you creating an effective app marketing strategy. Here are some tools:
- AppAnnie
- Sensor Tower
- AppRankCorner
- Appstatics
- Appnique
These tools are extremely helpful because they give you critical data and insights about all kinds of measurements related to your app. They can tell you what you are doing wrong in marketing the app, what you can do to improve your app store ranking, and much more.
11. Tracking and monitoring
ASO takes time to give desired results. As mobile applications are changing, Google Play Store is updating accordingly to the demand of the market. Apple App Store also updates its policy for iPhone App Development Company who publishes their iOS mobile application to ensure the users get what they are looking for.
Hence, you should constantly track and monitor the app’s performance that meets guidelines and algorithms of these stores.
If it has been a few weeks, and still you are not happy with your app’s current performance, it’s time to focus on the most important KPIs on a weekly or monthly basis.
These KPIs include ratings and reviews, number of installs (organic + non organic), keywords rankings, and top charts (overall, category). Analyze:
- Are the keywords right?
- Is the description persuasive enough?
- Is the app category right?
- Does the app icon need some different design?
It’s simple. Revamp your keywords and remove the ones which are not performing anymore, try experimenting more with unique graphic elements, and have A/B testing until you find the best combination of the keywords that give better results on listing on the Play Store.
When you make any changes, it is beneficial to make one at a time and then wait for a week or more to see if there is any impact on the result.
Analyzing app analytics requires intelligence and expertise. If you don’t find yourself an expert in this area, you should better buy ASO packages from app development agency India who can especially help your app getting better ranking on the store quickly.
Conclusion
Remember why you developed your app? So that users download it and then you can offer them your products or services, right? But this is possible when at first users download your app.
And with the right ASO strategy, you can make improve your app’s ranking and visibility on the Google Play Store. Pay attention to metadata and ASO algorithms. It is a long-term process of continuous improvement, tracking, and optimization.
Don’t ignore revising your keywords, encouraging more and better reviews and ratings, and you will find your app is now getting discovered in all possible ways.
