5 Tips to Boost Your App Store Optimization (ASO) Ranking
When it comes to your mobile marketing efforts and making sure your potential consumers download your app, investing time and money in your ASO (app store optimization) marketing tactics is crucial. With 3.48 million apps available on Google Play and 2.2 million apps on the App Store, getting yours to stand out is crucial to your success. Taking into account that no matter where your visitors are coming from (be it an organic search once you’ve increased organic download, a paid campaign, a cross-promotion, or thanks to a social media post), they all end up at their app store (be it Android or iOS), making the decision whether to download and install your app or not. We’ve come up with 5 tips that will ensure you better your app store optimization and strategy methods and rank higher on the app stores so that your app gets more eyes on it and more downloads.
Tip #1:
Do your keyword research
Whether you’re presenting a new app to the world or have decided to improve an existing one, the best thing you can do to improve your ASO ranking is to hit the digital books and do some research. Investigate the most relevant expressions and keywords related to your app, look at other apps competing with yours under the same category, research online for businesses in the same field, read blogs, read through your user reviews and ratings and take their words to heart, and use keyword tools. The more expressions and words you can find, the better. Upload the expressions and keywords you’ve identified into an ASO keyword research tool and map out your best strategy from there. Keywords with the highest ratings aren’t necessarily the best to use, and you don’t want to use the same expression too many times or copy your competitors’ exact tactics.
Tip #2:
Localize and visualize
Make sure you use expressions that are localized to your specific target audience. Don’t forget about the differences between American and British English, for example (just ask J.K. Rowling who has two English versions of the Harry Potter series printed worldwide). Let’s say you have a real estate app and you’re trying to help users find a place to rent/buy, you’ll probably want to use one of the most prevalent expressions in the field in the United States: “apartment finder.” However, if you’re targeting the British market you’ll be surprised to find that that expression is not only completely unsuccessful but is practically irrelevant and that’s because the Brits use the term “flat” rather than “apartment.” Furthermore, if you are targeting people living in the United States you may want to consider adding a Spanish version to your app, seeing that 13% of the population speaks Spanish. As App marketers, you simply have to know about these nuances. The same goes for your visibility. If, for example, you’ve developed a dating app and decided to put happy, smiling people in your screenshots and in your videos, that’s great. You want to make sure your visuals appeal to the specific people you’re targeting, which means you should take into account which country you’re targeting as well. After all, you want people to look at a photo of someone they’d find attractive and download your app. If you’re still not convinced, just take a look at Tinder and you’ll automatically “happen to see” people you’ll most likely find attractive. You can rest assured that a user in Japan will look at a completely different face. Tip #3:
Find out who your direct competitors are
Often we’ll come across extremely frustrated app owners who think they’re doing their research properly but end up using the wrong types of metrics, which make them reach wrong conclusions. Look at your numbers: how many users do you have? What’s your workload like? In which countries are you operating? What’s your ultimate goal? Once you discover the league you’re actually playing in you can figure out who you’re direct competitors really are and use them to measure your own success. This is the only way you’ll be able to create a work plan that best suits your goals. Just don’t forget to be flexible with it since a new competing app can always appear from nowhere or an app that you were competing with may not be that intimidating anymore. You need to keep evaluating where you stand in order to make the best decisions. Tip #4:
Looks and content matter
Retention campaigns are all about re-engaging with your customers, giving them a reason to return for more and hopefully purchase your app. By consistently adding new services and products and promoting them your campaigns are bound to keep users interested and most importantly – loyal to your brand. With that being said, coming up with successful campaigns that will help boost your retention rate is no easy feat. Depending on the size of your audience, you will be needing a substantial budget and here too, your campaigns will require you to put part of your budget into attribution programs. When investing in top Google and Apple real estate, you want your “property” to look (and read) like it’s worth a million bucks. Not only do you need to invest in your visuals, but the content you promote has to represent your app and increase app downloads. Amp up your appearance with graphics (store description and screenshots, icons, feature graphics, poster frames, or videos) and make sure your font and logo can’t be ignored. Now that you’ve covered your aesthetic you have to make sure your message is coming across loud and clear and is relatable to your specific target audience. Don’t forget to write a description for Apple/Google stores and share your app’s story to make things more personal. Use keywords and expressions in strategic places, and use emojis and HTML codes on Google to make sure your consumers notice the content you meant to emphasize. Tip #5:
Don’t make any assumptions
Lastly, when it comes to app promotion and boosting your ASO ranking, make no assumptions. If you personally like the blue icon frame you decided to go with, don’t automatically assume your audience will like it too. Differentiate between your own opinion and that of the user. If you have an idea for a new logo or icon color, a new CTA, or any other idea that comes to mind – A/B test it to make sure you make decisions based on results. The bad news is, currently you can only test these types of elements with Google, but thankfully, Apple will soon be offering the same type of test so that you don’t miss out on any potential consumer along the way. When it comes down to it, using an app marketing expert, particularly an ASO expert, to help you boost your ASO ranking and app store growth is always the best way to save both time and money.
