Introduction to App Store SEO
Apps are one of the best ways to increase conversion rates, interact and engage your audience and above all, get great consumer feedback. More and more businesses are using apps as a major component in their marketing and social campaigns.
There are several components to inbound marketing for apps, and they are different from web inbound marketing. One of the biggest differences is just how much each app store search works, depending upon which platform you choose.
Is your app showing up in the right App Store queries? Is it showing up at all? Just like you need to follow best practices to optimize your website for search engines, apps need to be optimized for app store search engines. If you haven’t even thought about this factor, then your app is probably invisible to the 63 percent of app users who use app store search to find and download all their apps. In other words, you’re missing out on the most popular and most used route to discovering your app.
ASO vs. SEO
Just in case you haven’t figured out the acronym, ASO = app store optimization. It is the process of optimizing your app to appear higher in app store search results.
But, while Google has had 20+ years to tune and refine its algorithm and search result “laws,” app store search is still a toddler by comparison. Remember how search used to be in 1996? That’s pretty much the stage app store search is at right now.
There are definitely more than a few SEO fundamentals that apply to both web and app store search – especially if you compare early SEO to current ASO. However, one of the most significant differences in app store search is that it’s not determined or dominated by a single platform. Apple aficionados use the search within the App Store app to find their apps; Android users search on Google Play; and Windows Phone users use the Windows Phone Store. Obviously, you’ll want to focus where your app is; but if you have an app on multiple platforms, make sure you aren’t only optimizing for one.
ASO Factors That Can Be Customized
Just like metadata was really important to search rankings in the 90’s, the following things are important for on-page, or on-app, ASO.
Title
Your app title is the most important part of ASO. Make sure it reflects the actual service or mobile enhancement of the app as closely as possible. It’s no different than the importance of a tag of a webpage. It is a significant indicator for app stores as to what your app is or does. Keep it as short as possible so it’s not cut off.
App Description
This is comparable to the meta description of a web page. There is a 4000 character limit for Google Play and probably about the same for the iOS store. Make every word count, since this is the only opportunity you have to talk up your app – I can’t count how many times I’ve seen vague, choppy, badly written and just all-around-terrible app descriptions. It’s like they’re trying to get people to not download it! Get a professional copywriter if you need to, because this ASO factor is not to be overlooked, for optimization’s sake nor for the sake of your potential users.
Icon
Believe it or not, your icon certainly affects ASO, but also app user downloads. If your icon does not represent your brand aesthetically or relevantly, users will move on to another app with a better, prettier icon.
Keywords
You only get 100 characters to work with when providing keywords for your app. Do your keyword research to find which ones draw the most traffic and are most relevant to your app and brand. Don’t repeat keywords used in the title. This is doubly true for app keywords in Google Play – Google Play goes as far as to warn app publishers against using extensive, repetitive or irrelevant keywords, which can result in app suspension.
Another small tip: Multi-word phrases as keywords are not suggested. Le VPN offers a virtual private network app for iOS. Even though “virtual private network” is probably one of their main keywords, it is better to separate your multi-word phrases into individual words – [virtual,private,network] – instead of a multi-word phrase. This ensures that their app comes up for other partial-match searches.
Screenshots
Much like the icon, screenshots are part of an app’s selling aesthetics – the clearer and more informative, the more downloads it will get. Eye-catching, graphic and explanatory screenshots that guide the user through the app like a mini-course and thoroughly explain its functions are the best kind. Remember, text and other graphics can and should be used – both for better user experience and better ASO.
ASO Factors Out of Your Control
This list gets longer and longer as we learn more about ASO and what factors affect search rankings within app stores. Thus far, we know they include:
Ratings
This should be an obvious one. Not only do users download apps that have better ratings, but ones that have more of them. When you see an app has 850 5-star ratings out of 900, you automatically assume it’s a fantastic app. This also has a direct impact on app store search results.
Reviews
Much like ratings, users also tend to download apps with more reviews compared to those with fewer, but positive reviews specifically can also help boost conversion rates. Secondly, over time, they can be a great source for keyword research. Make sure you tune in to how users refer to your app.
Links
Link building as an ASO factor is especially reflected in Google Play – it definitely matters how many links you have to your app’s page. However, this does not seem to be the case for the Apple App Store.
There are other factors that can affect both ASO and number of downloads, such as app localization. Apps localized for global audiences may see an increase in rankings – as well as number of downloads. Another influencer may be updates – apps that are never updated, have a lot of bugs and complaints, or lie dormant for a long time will drop in rankings as well.
It is also important to regularly test and re-test your ASO, just like SEO, especially because of the ongoing development of app store search engines and what ASO factors may be added in the future.
What strategies have you used to improve your presence on app stores? Share your experiences in the comments below!
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