How To Improve Your App Store Optimization?

As per Statista, as of the first quarter of 2021, Android users have the luxury of choosing from 3.48 million apps making the Google Play store the largest app store. At the same time, the Apple App store has roughly 2.22 million apps for iOS users, making Apple Store the second-largest app store at present. In this ocean of apps, it is a herculean task to get your app noticed, and this is one of the chief concerns faced by app developers today. To help the app publisher deal with this situation, it becomes important to understand how App Store Optimization works.

Before understanding how the App Store Optimization Strategy functions, one needs to know more about what App Store Optimization is all about.

What is App Store Optimization (ASO)?

App Store Optimization is the process through which you improve the visibility of your app by ranking high on the search results of app stores, making it discoverable within the various app stores, and thereby compelling the potential customers to download the app on their mobile phones.

Currently, Google Play for Android users and Apple Store for iOS users are the major players in app stores. However, for better results in ASO, app name, app screenshots, app descriptions, app reviews, app title all play an important role. 

Often, ASO and SEO get compared, although some of the features of both ASO and SEO do overlap, like both use conversion optimization, keyword optimization, and backlinking. However, the difference between them is that ASO is actively used in app store search, whereas SEO is utilised for websites.

Ways to Improve App Store Optimization

To improve your app store optimization, you have to focus on certain essential factors for making your app noticeable and help it get converted as well. The app store optimization checklist that should be followed are:

Know Your Customers 

Understanding what your customers want and studying your competition is the first step in making the App Store Optimization Strategy successful. As an app publisher, you should keep yourself in the customer's shoes and think from their perspective. By doing customer research, you will be able to figure out the search queries that made the customer come to your app and the language they used to search; this will enable you to get those target keywords that will bring more traffic to your app.

Know Your Competition

Apart from understanding your customers, it is of utmost importance that you be aware of what your competition is doing to get some competitive advantage. By doing research or survey on your competition, you will be able to ascertain the keywords targeted by them to generate leads. Furthermore, you can evaluate whether the same set of keywords will work for you or target a separate and unique collection of keywords to bring traffic towards your app. 

Right App Name and App Title

Choosing the right name and title for your app is one of the many first things to do as a part of your app store optimization checklist. Having a unique name is not only for your branding, but it also helps in your ASO. Therefore, include primary keywords in your app name but at the same time keep the name short; hence, it is encouraged to give time for thinking about what you are going to write in the app title. In addition, it is advisable to use URL friendly characters as a part of your app name; using symbols or special characters will not help in the optimization.

Usage of Keywords

The App Optimization Guide says to use relevant keywords to maximise the traffic and higher conversion towards your app. Researching the most applicable keywords will help you incorporate them in your app description. While using the keywords for your app, you should watch out that the description or narrative has contextually relevant keywords. While writing the description, it would be helpful if you think from the customer's viewpoint, then you can edit it by placing the relevant keywords at appropriate places. Furthermore, write such a compelling description that it acts as a call-to-action for the person reading it.

Provide Screenshots and Videos

Uploading screenshots and videos of the app will give life to the app description provided in the app store. The Screenshots should show the customers the main features or the app's latest update. Avoid showing those elements that they will see every day while using the app. You should do some screenshot tests to know which screenshots help get more downloads.

Localise Your App Content

Localisation is crucial in mobile applications, and it helps give a better user experience, especially if the app is available globally. The app stores' algorithm is designed to provide the customers with useful and valuable results for their search. Therefore, localised app content as per the geographic market will help improve your app store ranking. App Store Optimization guide to localising the app content by incorporating the localisation factors such as the culture and lifestyle of the place, the proper translation, localised keywords, reviews by the locals, and knowing your competition in that market.

Ratings, Reviews and Feedbacks

The flow of good ratings, rave reviews and positive feedback shows the quality of the app and also aid in getting the highest rank in the app store. There is a direct correlation between ratings and rank; the better the ratings, the higher the rank. Therefore, encourage your app users to provide ratings and write reviews or feedback about your app in the App store to make your App Store Optimization Strategy work positively.

App Store Optimization enables to connect with genuine customers by exhibiting the app's USP. A good quality ASO involves regularly maintaining and updating the content. Therefore, the apps shown on the top search results reflect the users' feedback and the relevant changes done as per the feedback in their app and store descriptions. In a nutshell, a successful ASO strategy involves having a keen eye, regular and appropriate modifications and inclination towards the analytics to see positive results.