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Pokémon Masters App Store Spotlight
Posted on September 5th, 2019
New Pokémon apps typically take off fast in the App Store and Google Play Store, starting with Pokémon GO and continuing on to its latest app: Pokémon Masters. This new mobile game is starting off strong, having used pre-ordering to build momentum and keyword indexation before it even launched. Now that it’s live on the stores, does it have the App Store Optimization necessary to be the very best? For this week’s App Store Spotlight, we take a look at Pokémon Masters and see if it can master the app stores.
Wizards Unite App Store Spotlight
Posted on June 25th, 2019
A few years after Niantic’s smash hit app, Pokémon Go, the company is attempting to recreate the same magic with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. As with Pokémon Go, the augmented reality app is off to a strong start, quickly gaining high ranks for several keywords, but its early momentum can only take it so far – Wizards Unite will need App Store Optimization to keep up with the high expectations users have placed upon it based on Niantic’s past success. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at Wizards Unite for this week’s App Store Spotlight and see if it can cast a spell on its optimization.
Pokémon Pass App Store Spotlight
Posted on May 14th, 2019
The Pokémon Company is no stranger to the mobile world, between their apps for the Pokémon video game, TV show and card game. The brand itself is also associated with a number of successful apps, such as Pokémon GO and Magikarp Jump, while the release of the “Detective Pikachu” movie gives all Pokémon apps a new marketing opportunity. Is Pokémon Pass another critical hit for the franchise, or is its App Store Optimization not very effective? For this week’s App Store Spotlight, we catch Pokémon Pass and check the stats of its ASO.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump App Store Spotlight
Posted on October 9th, 2018
While Pokemon GO may be the Pokemon app that took the world by storm, The Pokemon Company has released other apps and mobile games. One such game is Magikarp Jump, a light game where players raise up a weak little fish Pokemon to jump high into the sky. In this week’s App Store Spotlight, we reel in Magikarp Jump and see if its App Store Optimization is super effective or a flop.
Pokémon GO App Store Spotlight
Posted on July 17th, 2018
Whenever anyone talks about apps that were massively successful from the launch, or apps that brought augmented reality into the mainstream, it’s safe to assume that Pokémon GO will be mentioned. Niantic’s killer app was an immediate success, bringing Pokémon into the real world with augmented reality, but even though the app is a household name, is it properly optimized for the app stores? Apple App Store One thing that Pokémon GO did well was update its creatives with screenshots showing off all the new features that users were demanding. A recent update added trading and a friends list feature, so two of the first three screenshots include those features. The screenshot before those properly demonstrates the app’s features by showing a rare Pokémon in augmented reality with the pokeball (an item used to capture Pokémon) ready to be thrown. Each screenshot shows off a different feature of the game, including gym battles, sending gifts and completing research tasks. There are even small touches to several of them, like the inclusion of rare Pokémon or scenic poke stops, that further demonstrate its value. However, with all of those features, it doesn’t include the overworld or trainer customization features, in spite of having space for two more screenshots. The screenshots could benefit from callout text. These would explain the gameplay and features to the users in a quick, concise manner, while integrating important keywords and explaining the game’s value. Without them, the features such as gyms or trading are not immediately clear to people who don’t already play. Additionally, many of the creatives seem focused on players who are already familiar with Pokémon. While the screenshots feature rare Pokémon such as Mew or a golden Magikarp, that means little to people unfamiliar with the franchise. While those do appeal to longtime fans, they make it harder to bring in new users, especially without a call to action explaining why they should care about those. While the creatives are quite good, save for the lack of callout text, the description is very bulky on iOS. While it does properly call out each feature, include important keywords and mention the awards it earned, each section forms a large block of text. Even the headers take up a few lines, and without bullet points underneath them, they seem like another part of the paragraph. Google Play Store On the Google Play Store, Pokémon GO uses very similar descriptions and creatives. However, it does include more screenshots there, including the overworld map. It also includes an outdated screenshot from before the in-game gyms were revamped, which could be replaced with one showing a more recent feature. These screenshots could also benefit from callout text to better demonstrate the game’s features and value, because as with iOS, the images only stand on their own to players already familiar with the game, or at least with Pokémon. The creatives no longer feature a video, but considering the number of updates the game has gone through since its promotional videos were filmed, that is for the best, as it avoids presenting outdated information. Additionally, its previous video was part of its featured graphic, which Google Play is experimenting with not using on many devices. The description is written and formatted the same as the one for Apple, but it works much better on the Google Play Store. Here, larger paragraphs are acceptable, and the headers are more evident. With that said, the description could benefit from placing its keywords closer to the start of each line, so that Google’s algorithms can better identify them. As it is now, the algorithm would read it as targeting “join one of three teams” and “succeed in defeating it in battle” as key phrases before “catch Pokémon” in some sections.
Pokémon GO's New Update Isn't Enough to Win Back Users
Posted on December 21st, 2016
It has been a wild ride for Pokémon GO. The hit augmented reality game
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Pokémon Go - Why the Hit App Needs ASO
Posted on August 12th, 2016
Pokémon Go - It seems like all anyone can talk about lately. And why not? It became the top grossing app in the US within 13 hours, raising Nintendo’s market value by $9 billion in five days. 21 million users play the game daily. Between four and five million more download it each day. And with well over $1 million daily setting the app above competitors like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans, it seems like The Pokémon Company and Niantic are on top of the world. It might come as a shock, then, that Pokémon Go is in desperate need of ASO. Beneath the sheen of the Pokémon brand, surprisingly little has been done to market Pokémon Go to mobile users. And while brand recognition and online chatter have contributed significantly to make the app number one on the charts, those factors can only take a game so far. As of now, when the social media masses move on to the next big craze, Pokémon Go won’t have a leg to stand on. Let’s start with the app’s most crippling weakness - its keyword rankings. As expected, Pokémon Go ranks for multiple Pokémon-related terms, such as “pokémon games free” and “pokémon RPG”. However, many of these rankings fall well below what you might expect. For instance, as of this writing the app is only rank 8 for “pokémon games free” and a whopping rank 600 for “pokémon RPG”, a shocking figure given that Pokémon Go is, for all intents and purposes, the biggest Pokémon role-playing game of all time. The rankings only get worse from there. A series of surprising oversights means that users who may connect with Pokémon Go will likely never find it through search. For example, the app does not rank at all for Nintendo, a brand closely associated with the Pokémon legacy. Similarly, the app doesn’t register for its world-famous mascot, Pikachu. Nor does it rank for other famous creatures like Mew, Mewtwo, Squirtle, Charmander or Bulbasaur. Even generic phrases are missing from Pokémon Go’s keyword rankings. Core words and phrases that are extremely relevant and could help the app grow by leaps and bounds are outright missing, such as: