With millions of mobile applications in the main Apps stores, giving visibility to yours is the main problem you will encounter when you start in the sector. If you are thinking of creating an application or want to increase downloads, then you need to know the main technique that will help you achieve it: the ASO (App Store Optimization) positioning, that is, the optimization in the different App Stores, whether App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.
The questions most
app development companies ask after the creation of an application are: And now how do I get to be on the App Store charts? What are the main Apps doing that I am not doing? Is it just luck?
The fact that you have developed a mobile app does not determine your spot in the top positions of the apps stores. It does not work like that. Achieving this is no mean feat and you must make use of tools that market the app you developed, and also, you must be cognizant of the ASO of your app.
Let's start at the beginning: What is ASO?
App Store Optimization is the process of making an application more visible in the application stores (iOS App Store, Google Play, etc.), with the aim of achieving a higher ranking in the search results and also high rankings.
In this sense, App Store Optimization is similar to
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but applied to app stores. The goal of the ASO is to attract more traffic to the page of your application in the App Store so that a specific action occurs: the download of the application.
There are lots of applications in each of the stores, competing to be on top of each other. The reality surprisingly is that most companies are not investing in ASO optimization.
How to create an ASO strategy on Google Play?
To begin your ASO positioning strategy, you must prepare a complete plan with the main and secondary factors that will affect the optimization of your App. The functioning of these factors depends on the store where your application is located: Google Play (Android) or App Store (Apple).
Google Play is perhaps the best-known store for SEO expert companies. In the next 5 years could even gain ground to Apple. Because it is a Google product, the store has access to all the search indexes collected by the main search engine. If you have decided to create a mobile application for the
Google Play store, take note of the strategy you must start to follow to optimize your App:
On-Page Optimization:
Title of the App: title selection is important for positioning your app in Google Play search results. Think of the words used in the auto-suggest and make sure to choose a short name because typing on the keyboard of a smartphone is more complicated than on a computer keyboard.
- Description of the App: Clarity and efficiency to explain what your application is, what it does, and what its benefits are. Keep in mind that there is no website or a wider site to promote your App, the content of the description will be the first contact with the user once you are on Google Play. Hire a freelance copywriter or content mill iOS app agency if necessary, the limit of characters in these descriptions is 4000. You have to use it intelligently and with the necessary keywords.
- Keywords: These are the words that will make you appear in the results. It is the key to the entire ASO positioning process. If you can find the right keywords, you will be able to visit the landing or the description of your App, download the application and, finally, get income. As for the relevant keywords, you can ask yourself: "When a user searches for my product, what kind of keywords will he use? " Often this is not enough to reach a relevant search term. You have to prove what kind of words your target audience associates with the service.
- Icon of the App: You must explain your application clearly and, above all, creatively. It must be attractive and original, without resembling any other icon of any App. Difficult yes ... But not impossible!
- App type: In the case of Google Play there are only two options: Applications and Games. Easy.
- Screenshots: Most of the decisions that are made in a store are thanks to the visual sensations. Use this advantage and show eye-catching screenshots of your application from within.
- Category: Define your product correctly for a specific category. It can also happen that belongs to several categories, try to choose the most appropriate.
Off-Page Optimization:
- Valuations and votes in the application: This is a very important factor for the ASO in Google Play, and above all, for the conversion of your App. If a user finds an application that has 1000 ratings of 5 stars, it is assumed that must be a great application. The position on the first page of Google Play will undoubtedly be a combination of opinions, ratings, downloads and +1 on Google Plus.
- User comments: Like the votes of the users, the comments will be very important for the positioning and conversion of your App. Use the negative comments always to improve, and correct possible errors.
- Number of downloads: Obviously, the more people that install your application, the more visibility you will gain in Google Play.
- Comments: The words used in the comments also have an influence in the positioning of a card in the Google Play.
- JAVA package name: This is a minimal optimization, but the package name when developing the application allows you to include a keyword in the application form URL because is the name of the package that serves as the identifier in the URL.
Do I need to be an expert in ASO positioning?
In principle, if you want to
increase downloads of your App as soon as possible, the answer is clearly affirmative. There are only two options when it comes to positioning and optimization techniques:
- Learn on your own and become little by little an expert in ASO.
- Or lean on the best optimization companies to position your App.
The choice is simply yours. Anyone who proposes it can learn all about ASO positioning, provided that they are willing to invest time in training and trying to find the key to putting their app in the top position of ASO.