Posted on May 20th, 2017
Google’s I/O conference kicked off with major announcements that will help users and developers. CEO Sundar Pichai made a stunning announcement that there are now 2 billion monthly active Android users, and there were 82 billion app installs in 2016. Google showed off its technology by starting its keynote on Wednesday addressing its advances in artificial intelligence that will be coming to Google Assistant soon. The tech company is also making big changes to Firebase, Google Photos, Android Instant Apps and Gmail along with unveiling Google Lens, Android O and Android Studio 3.0. Here is a list of Google’s announcements and how they will help users and developers alike: 1. Google Assistant Updates – Now for iOS Google discussed its Software Development Kit for Google Assistant and how it will now let third-party device makers inject the conversational technology into home appliances. Order-taking, payments and receipts will also be integrated into TV allowing you to make orders and payments while watching your favorite shows. Users will now be able to type requests and questions rather than speaking. During the keynote address, Pichai stated that Google Assistant is coming to iOS devices. This makes Google Assistant available to hundreds of millions more users that do not have an Android device. Unlike Siri for iOS devices, Google Assistant cannot be used with the home button but must be opened by tapping the app icon. Part of Google Assistant is the newly launched Lens, a service that uses AI technology to quickly recognize objects, locations, businesses and other things in the world all through your camera lens.
Posted on May 18th, 2017
Apple’s App Analytics update is now giving developers access to specific data on App Store Sources and Referral Data, making it easier to find where their app’s current customers come from. Now, developers can view attribution and conversion metrics with a clearer picture tied to organic versus non-organic installs in iTunes Connect. The updated App Analytics tools will provide key insights to pertinent data regarding how many users find the app via browse and search in App Store, along with data on how many users are directed to an app from another app or the web. Data on where organic users view the app is pertinent to developers looking to improve visibility, conversion and installs. As Apple has stated in the past, up to 65 percent of all downloads comes from search. The data that the new analytics tools provides only proves how important search and organic traffic are to an app’s conversion rate.
Posted on May 13th, 2017
Apps in the Google Play Store are not magically indexed or ranked. Google has a specific algorithm that determines how an app indexes, which in turn helps its overall ranking. Google Play indexes apps according to its descriptions, which serve many purposes like:
Posted on May 9th, 2017
People think the toughest part of creating a mobile app is simply gathering the funds and launching the app. However, one of the most difficult parts of maintaining a mobile app is continuing its success post launch. Developers need to understand how to navigate and manage the challenges that occur after launching their mobile app. To continue being successful in the App Store and Google Play Store, developers need to be strategic and have a clear vision of what direction they want to take their app. The best marketing tool to ensure growth post launch is App Store Optimization (ASO). This marketing tool will help developers monitor and manage their growth and continue their marketing efforts by using real-time mobile data based on user trends and behaviors within the app stores to drive discoverability to their target audience. While ASO is available to all developers, there are common mistakes that many developers tend to make after launching their app.
Posted on May 6th, 2017
Apple Releases Updated App Analytics with new App Attribution Data; App Developers Can
Posted on May 1st, 2017
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Posted on April 27th, 2017
Toward the end of September 2016, Apple reduced the character limit allowed for app names, which caused a frenzy among developers focused on App Store Optimization. It pressured many developers to restructure their app’s title tags since keywords in title tags that exceeded 50 characters on the App Store would no longer be ranked.
Posted on April 22nd, 2017
While many developers have followed ASO best practices and improved their app’s metadata (title, description and screenshots), not many focus on the app’s preview video. The preview video is in place to improve conversion rates by engaging the audience and showing users the app’s core features. Unfortunately, it’s a forgotten part of the app’s metadata. Developers need to optimize their preview video with ASO to increase their odds of converting users and encourage them to tap “GET.” What’s a Preview Video? Preview videos are one of the first visual representations of your app that users will see when searching in the app stores. On an Android device, the video appears at the very top of the listing, encouraging users to interact with the gameplay and see how to use the app before scrolling down to read the description. For iOS, the preview video can take the place of a screenshot and is always listed first in the sequence. A preview video is supposed to be rich in content and deliver the app’s message well. There are three common types of preview videos developers tend to use, and those are:
Posted on April 20th, 2017
It seems every time you go to either app store’s home page there are new apps popping up in every category. The Apple App Store alone has over 2.2 million apps, and the Google Play Store has even more. Last year alone, there were 130 billion downloads on the App Store. Competition is intense regardless of what app developers are trying to market for. One industry, however, stands out from the rest. Mobile games are constantly growing and gaming companies want to get their apps noticed by users. From what was seen at this year’s GDC, the mobile gaming industry is booming, and developers need to stand out against the competition. The only way to create more visibility for an app is by utilizing an ASO strategy.
Posted on April 14th, 2017
Apple’s newest software update, iOS 10.3, made waves when the company announced that developers could now respond to user reviews. While developers are making time to respond to reviews, others detect another hidden gem of iOS 10.3. Before the software update was released, developers took notice a new function in the SDK that allows for multiple app icons for one app. While iOS 10.3 is only two weeks old, one company has already implemented the new function in two of their apps. MLB at Bat and the NHL app were the first two to update to the under-the-radar option and allow users to change the app’s icon to their favorite team. While it may seem easy to customize an app’s icon, there is more that goes into the update than some realize.
Posted on April 7th, 2017
The mobile app market is growing at an exponential rate, and as it stands, more than half the world now uses smartphones, which equates to roughly 4.92 billion global mobile users. Across the globe, mobile app developers are adopting an ASO strategy to change their app’s metadata to increase discoverability in the new market. While creating an app’s visibility in the market is essential, developers looking to expand their app’s appeal on a global scale need to correctly localize their app to increase conversion.
Posted on March 31st, 2017
The number of mobile users is growing exponentially, and mobile app usage in all categories of the app stores is up from last year, especially shopping. Retail apps have given users the power to buy anything they want straight from their mobile devices, and the ecommerce market is predicted to surpass $2 trillion in the coming years. Users are no longer shopping from their desktops, and are now primarily using a mobile device at every step of a transaction. Companies like eBay and Amazon have basically cornered the ecommerce market, and their mobile apps are ranked in the top free apps on the App Store. These companies have made the effective shift to mobile, and are appealing to users that want to instantly buy anything. In Q4, eBay’s mobile platform delivered record-breaking results and crossed the $10 billion benchmark. On Black Friday in 2016, Amazon surpassed the $1.2 billion mark on their mobile platform for the first time. Mobile retail apps have taken over the way that users shop for their products, and it will not slow down. eBay and Amazon dominate ecommerce, but it is because of their mobile apps that they do so well. These companies have paid attention to what users want, and are evolving with the specific user trends. By being attentive to their customers and updating the app store listing to include specific trends while being relevant to users’ searches, it has lead for better optimization in the app stores. The best companies in the ecommerce market all have one thing in common: they’re optimizing their mobile apps using App Store Optimization (ASO).
