Posted on February 22nd, 2018
Improving an app’s visibility doesn’t require a degree in artificial intelligence or machine learning. Although the algorithms that determine what an app is indexed for are very complex, the process by which any given app is ranked is fairly straightforward. Google looks at three key areas of an app’s metadata when it determines the relevancy for a keyword, and how well it ranks: The Short Description, Long Description, and the Title. Thanks to App Store Optimization (ASO), developers can get a leg up on their competition and improve their visibility by focusing their efforts on these three key areas.
Posted on February 16th, 2018
Your app has been approved by the Apple App Store, and it’s ready to be launched in the territory of your choosing. Now that the hard work of developing your idea is done, you have to make sure that users can find it. With your App Store Description, This should be a simple task, right? Every app has specific fields to help it gain visibility for specific relevant keywords that users are most likely using in their search. This means that you’ll have to make sure that these fields are filled out accordingly, so your app is visible to users. Thankfully, you have the description to help you explain your app’s core features and help it become more discoverable in user search queries. Writing an App Store description can be more difficult than you think. Maybe you’re struggling to figure out how best to describe your app or what keywords you want to incorporate. Is the description too short? Too long? Does it make sense? Fortunately, there are tactics such as ASO best practices for writing the perfect Apple App Store description. Any app that follows these guidelines is sure to increase their app’s visibility for high-volume keywords.
Posted on February 14th, 2018
You have the next best idea for a new app, and perhaps this is something you’ve been mulling over for a long time or maybe you just recently drafted the idea on a whim with friends in passing. Either way, this new app has the potential to be created. Luckily for you, you’ve taken the proactive first step into actualizing this idea by doing your research. If you’ve been paying attention to how the mobile space has changed in recent years, you’re already one step ahead of the game. Many developers don’t know how to optimize their app after it’s been launched. Paired with a preliminary road map, it’s recommended that developers implement an App Store Optimization (ASO) strategy to ensure that their app is visible in the app stores to reach its maximum audience. Creating an app, even if it’s just in the idea stages, still needs to have a step-by-step process to make sure that it’s created successfully. Every step in this process should be meticulously thought out to avoid pitfalls in the future. Read the following list below to start brainstorming a roadmap and act on your big idea.
Posted on February 10th, 2018
Ah, Valentine's Day – the hype is short-lived compared to other holidays, but apps across different categories can still take advantage of the Hallmark Holiday and update their metadata. Any app from mobile games to dating apps can benefit
Posted on February 8th, 2018
“There’s an app for that.” With more than 2 million apps across both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store competing for their chance in the spotlight, developers need to have a solid App Store Optimization strategy to outshine the competition. Despite many apps having an ASO strategy, it seems like there’s a group of apps that are considered untouchable and don’t need an aggressive ASO strategy to thrive. The exception to the rules can drive downloads based on popularity and brand recognition alone. More often than not, these apps are not optimized and typically don’t rank for keywords relevant to its functionality. Instead, they convert users who are searching specifically for their brand. Popular apps come and go, but long-term success relies on developers ensuring that their app is updated and relevant to current user app store search trends and behavior. If big brand wants to truly drive downloads from a wider market and achieve long-term success, then they must implement an ASO strategy at the top of their user acquisition funnel.
Posted on February 2nd, 2018
Over the past few years, Google has worked hard to increase trust in the Play Store by constantly removing bad apps and improving their technology to make sure similar apps never appear in the first place. This hasn’t been easy for them since they rely on an automated approval process rather than human interaction, but their algorithm has come a long way. In the fight against the bad seed developers, 2017 was a banner year, with over 700,000 apps either being taken down or denied, which was a 70% increase over 2016. Google claims that 99% of these apps were caught during the approval process and never reached the Play Store. Along with this, they have begun to deal with repeat offenders, with 100,000 developers being banned outright. While it’s not perfect, Google attributes their success to increased reliance on machine learning technology, which has successfully identified and blocked copycat apps, apps with inappropriate content, and Potentially Harmful Applications (PHA). When you’re ready to submit your app to the Google Play store, here are a few helpful tips to prevent it from being rejected: Make Sure You Own All Your Content The most common type of apps that Google looks for is copycat apps, which accounted for over 250,000 of the 700,000 caught last year. Google describes these as “attempting to deceive users by impersonating famous apps.” This can range from completely stealing an app’s code to copying the icon. However, not all apps turned down by Google as copycat apps are copies on purpose. Some apps simply don’t have a license for the assets they use. This reason is why it is important to either create original content or make sure you have all the rights to anything you use, both in your creatives and within the app itself.
Posted on January 25th, 2018
As the seasons change and new apps hit the market, it’s fundamental that developers make captivating changes to their creatives to curate a unique app store experience. Users definitely do notice and appreciate when apps put the extra effort into making graphics relatable to the upcoming season or holiday. On top of highlighting an app’s features and functionality in current app store graphics, it’s recommended that developers apply seasonal changes to attract users. This can help set their app’s creative apart from other relevant apps in the space that don’t incorporate seasonality into their graphics. By utilizing App Store Optimization (ASO) best practices, developers can create stunning, one-of-a-kind creatives (icon, screenshots and preview video) that encourage users to download year-round.
Posted on January 20th, 2018
Apps thrive off their users. Understanding the current user experience is a top priority. As a developer, you want to make sure that users are enjoying your app and saying positive things to help with the app’s overall rating. The easiest way to understand their experience is by monitoring user reviews. Monitoring and managing user reviews can help you understand their current experience and help boost retention and conversion rates. Since everyone wants to boost their numbers, it’s important to monitor and respond to these reviews to engage with a majority of the app’s audience. Establishing a constructive developer-user relationship that shows you want to give them the best possible experience. By adopting one of ASO’s many facets, Reputation Management, developers turn negative reviews in positive ones.
Posted on January 16th, 2018
Imagine you’re a user browsing through either the App Store or Google Play Store and an app catches your attention. While some users instantly tap ‘Get’ without reading the description or even looking at the screenshots, you want to dive deeper into this app and understand what other users are saying about it. You start reading reviews only to realize that the app’s star rating is low and many users are upset because of various bugs or crashes. Thanks to these user reviews, you move onto the next best app you can find. Bad reviews tend to have a negative effect on the decision-making process of users. If they see an app that is riddled with negative reviews, they are less likely to convert. User reviews can be a major deciding factor, so what can developers do to make sure their reviews don’t negatively affect their conversion rate? Developers can focus on monitoring and responding to user reviews, which is an important facet of ASO best practices. Before we get into responding to users, let’s first break down why reviews are important.
Posted on January 12th, 2018
When it comes to getting an app seen and downloaded, reaching the top 10 list in the app stores is like reaching the holy grail. For most people, it takes a momentous adventure through proverbial caves, dodging competitors, and working hard (on their ASO strategy) to reach their goals. However, for some, reaching the top 10 happens without much effort. Reaching the top 10 is a numbers game that takes into account the amount of downloads over a certain period of time. It can be a great way to jumpstart an app’s claim to fame, but without proper ASO, an app will start to lose steam and drop from the ranks faster than a boulder falling from the sky. Before we jump into why ASO is so important even if an app is already ranking in the top 10, let’s go over what it actually takes to reach. The top 10 list requirements vary for different app stores, and even for different categories within an app store, but the concept is the same. If an app is able to get more downloads over a set period of time than another app, it ranks higher. To reach the top spot in a category, or overall, the app must have more downloads over the same time period as the app in the second spot.
Posted on January 6th, 2018
Every developer anticipates that fleeting moment when the “App Store: Promotional artwork request for…” email arrives in their inbox. But it’s not luck that brought that email. Every app that is chosen to be featured in the App Store is there because they practice good App Store Optimization strategies. Once an app is featured, Apple needs a set of creative assets to use. Every developer can submit these in the Promotional Artwork tab within iTunes Connect. When submitting your Promotional Artwork, it is mandatory to use the pre-set templates because it is the only format supported on iTunes Connect. This is so Apple does not have to request every type of asset from a given developer every time they need it. Instead, the developer’s kit of assets will be readily available to Apple at any time. There is more than one Dropwell in the Promotional Artwork Tab for different types of creative assets that Apple might need for a featured app. When submitting artwork for each Dropwell, it is imperative to respect Apple’s promotional artwork guidelines as well. For instance, artwork cannot include any URLs, marketing taglines, app icons, references to price, or featured Apple products. However, the different types of Dropwells have different specifications. Title Treatments
Posted on January 3rd, 2018
It’s that time of the year again! The holiday season has come to a close and the New Year brings new opportunities for developers and their apps. With the turn of the holidays comes a throng of new smartphone users who are eager to fill their phone with new apps. With the start of the year, developers are now given the opportunity to get their app noticed on the App Store or Google Play Store. This past holiday season can confirm that apps are here to stay. In fact, 2017 was another record-breaking year for the industry, reaching a projected 197 billion downloads across all app stores. However, for those who haven’t kept up to date with the newest trends or ASO best practices, do not fret. We’ve outlined everything developers need to know to kick start their ASO strategy in 2018! Major Changes From 2017 Before jumping into how to get your ASO strategy started for 2018, below are some major changes that 2017 brought to the app industry.
