Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Get Started with ASO (App Store Optimization) By Dot Com Infoway Make your apps discoverable

App Stores An online marketplace where users of smartphones and other mobile devices can browse, purchase, and download applications, or "apps", that augment the capabilities of their devices. While Apple, Inc. created the original "App Store" for iPhone apps, and claims copyright to the term, online stores selling mobile apps for other platforms are also referred to as "app stores". List of top mobile app distribution platforms (App Stores)  iOS App Store  Google Play Store  BlackBerry World  Windows Phone Store  Amazon Appstore

Apps published on various platforms On an average, 2371 New Apps are published every day.  Android – 47%  iOS – 41%  Windows Mobile – 12% 90 New developers publish an App on iOS each day, versus 75 on Google Play. “ It is easy for your App to get lost in the competition”

What is App Store Optimization? App Store optimization, (ASO) is altering the app store title and it’s keywords to gain a higher ranking in search results on the App Store. App store optimization (ASO) is the process of improving the visibility of a mobile app (such as an iPhone, iPad, Android, or Windows Phone app) in an app store (such as iTunes or Google Play for Android). App store optimization is closely related to search engine optimization. Specifically, app store optimization includes the process of ranking highly in an app store's search results and top charts rankings. — Wikipedia

Why App Store Search Matters? With over 2 million mobile apps in the major app stores, getting your app discovered is one of the biggest issues facing mobile app publishers today. More apps are discovered through search than any other method

Why App Store Search Matters? “For an average app, search actually makes up the vast majority of installs” 12 percent of daily active users (DAU) search for apps daily, 50 percent of DAU search for apps weekly and Google sees six million unique phrases searched monthly in Google Play Store - Ankit Jain, Head of Search and Discovery – Google Play

Why App Store Search Matters? The higher your app ranks in an app store’s search results, the more visible it is to potential customers. That increased visibility tends to translate into more traffic to your app’s page in the app store. The goal of ASO is to drive more traffic to your app’s page in the app store, so searchers can take a specific action: downloading your app.

Meta Data App Title App Description App Icon App Screenshot Category Keywords Google Play only  App Type  App YouTube Demo

Other Factors App Reviews App Ratings App Downloads

App Title Branding is the Key Include keyword in your title. Based on the top 25 ranking positions, it was calculated that an app which includes keyword in its title is ranked 10.3% higher than the ones that do no have keywords. (Source: MobileDevHQ) Almost 50% of apps now contain some sort of keyword in their title. Bigger brands too optimize the title  Gmail – from Google  Skype - free IM & video calls App name in Apple App store can be up to 255 characters long but the user can see only upto 35 characters in their iPhone. For Android, the maximum character for app title is 30

App Title – Business Card Reader App

App Description The intro lines are what’s shown to users before they click “More” to expand the description at the fold. Show your best writing skills in the initial paragraph with marketing appeal.  USP Statement  Your app is “ideal for” declaration  A short snippet from the app review from popular sites : “A must have for travellers!” – TechCrunch  Reasons to download: “Free upgrades for life!”  Numbers of downloads or users (if it’s large)  Other apps you’ve created: “From the creators of _______” There is a 4000 character limit on descriptions for both Apple App store and Google Play store. It’s important to localize your description for important territories.

App Description – Example 1

App Description – Example 2

App Icon Your product icon can make or break your success Make sure your icon or logo clearly and creatively expresses your app.  Don’t include words  Don’t standard gloss  Simple is good. Simple is clear.  Stand out from the crowd  Icon/App consistency For business apps, keep the icon consistent with the rest of your business logos, colors and style. For games, make sure your icon reflects a key element of your game. It’s also helpful if the icon conveys the gameplay to let users know if they will be interested in it.

App Icon Example App Icon For Pizza ShopApp Icon For Travel plans

App Screenshot  Display some eye-catching screenshots of your app in action.  Give clear and detailed screenshots of your app and highlight all the best parts of your app with multiple screen shots.  The App Store allows you to upload five screenshots of your app. Be sure to use every single one!  You can add some simple text or additional graphics to your screenshots to drive home the benefits of your app.

App Screenshot – Pizza Hut

App Screenshot – Card Reader App

App Screenshot – Car Racing App

App Keywords The Keyword Field in iOS is a 100 character field which you can use to tell iTunes search for which keywords you should show up Focus on relevancy, search volume, and difficulty. Don't use multiple word phrases; break out to individual words Don't repeat keywords that are already in your title Separate your keywords by commas but do not use spaces – you should use “keyword1,keyword2″ instead of “keyword1, keyword2″. Use ASO Tools In Google Play, the app description has to be optimized.

Keyword Tools Brain Storming Google Keyword Planer SearchMan MobileDevHQ Sensor Tower

Google Keyword Planner – Step 1 Sign-in with your account

Google Keyword Planner – Step 2 Search for new keywords

Google Keyword Planner – Step 3

Search Man – Step 1

Search Man – Step 2 Search similar/competitor apps

Search Man – Step 3 Analyze competitor keywords

Sensor Tower – Step 1

Sensor Tower – Step 2 Enter your App’s name

Sensor Tower – Step 3 Then Click “Keyword Suggestions” in left sidebar menu,

Google Play only App Type - Google categorizes apps into two main “types.” They are “applications” and “games.” Mark your app appropriately. App YouTube Demo – Upload a YouTube video that highlights all the best parts of your app. Leverage Google Plus - All apps have a Google Plus plugin. The more pluses your app gets, the more visible it will be in the Play Store.

App Reviews, Ratings The more favorable reviews your app receives, the higher the conversion rate.

App Reviews, Ratings Use app reviews as a feedback to continuously improve your app.

App Reviews, Ratings  Make sure your app has a sufficient amount of detailed and genuine reviews.

App Reviews, Ratings Ratings are also a direct reflection of your app’s performance People will almost always download an app that has a high percentage of positive ratings.

Conclusion To reap the rewards of ASO, you need to invest time and effort. If you do, you’ll have a consistent channel driving traffic to your app. ASO is a useful set of techniques used to increase discoverability through keywords, complementary screenshots and –most importantly– understanding how users are looking for apps. ASO is just one of many approaches to attract attention in a crowded app store, the main one being: having a great app that’s worth discovering in the first place.

Sources Kissmetrics.com Searchenginejournal.com Marketingland.com Venturebeat.com Searchenginewatch.com Copyhackers.com