App Store Optimization - SMX Munich - Emily Grossman
75
App Store Optimization
Transcript of App Store Optimization - SMX Munich - Emily Grossman
App Store Optimization
Growth in Smartphone Ownership
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/27/apple-q1-2015/
Hardware Sales
http://moz.com/blog/top-three-inbound-marketing-strategies-for-mobile-apps
Cumulative App Downloads from the Apple App Store in Billions (June ‘08 – ’14)
Smartphone Users FREQUENTLY Download Apps
Most Users Find
Apps in the App Stores
Most Users Find Apps in the App StoresMost Users Find
Apps in the App Stores
App Store Optimization vs. App Search Optimization
“What makes an app rank well in the App Store (iOS) or Google
Play Store (Android)?”
2 Components To App Store Optimization:
Meta Data
• Title
• Category
• Description (Google Play)
• Keywords (App Store)
[TEXT]
35%Performance & Engagement
• Downloads (Volume and Velocity)
• Star Ratings and Reviews
• Freshness
65%
APP TITLES
App Title
App Bundle DisplayName (“Label Attribute” on Android)
iTunes ConnectTitle (matchesApp Bundle Name)
Important Keywords in the App Title(App Store Especially)
Rankings Increase
with Keywords
in the Title
Kayak is installed on this device
Spotlight for iOS will Crawl App Titles - Even On Installed Apps -
Google’s New “Apps” Universal Highly Correlated with Exact Match Keywords in Title
Google Play Store Titles
App Store Titles
Be Descriptive
Don’t be Spammy
CATEGORIES
Categories Provide
Keyword Value
(Especially the Primary Category)
Pandora ranks #1 in the Music category, but only #8 in the US store.
Categories Provide A Less Competitive
Ranking Environment
With a Well
Chosen Category, We Get These
Users, Too
1. Identify Categories
2. Collect Data
3. Graph Results
4. Repeat
1. Identify Categories
2. Collect Data
3. Graph Results
4. Repeat
1. Identify Categories
2. Collect Data
3. Graph Results
4. Repeat
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1 2 3 4
Ove
rall
Sto
re R
ank
Category Rank
SocialNetworking
Music
Most competitive
Least competitive
1. Identify Categories
2. Collect Data
3. Graph Results
4. Repeat
Categories
1 category 2 categories:- 1 primary- 1 secondary
KEYWORDS (APP STORE ONLY)
Keyword Research
• Competitor Research (SensorTower, MobileDevHQ)
• Google Keyword Tool
• Your Google Analytics Data
• “Related searches” on iOS 8
• Translations (http://bit.ly/localized-keywords)
Picking Keywords: Traffic vs. Competition
Traffic vs. Competition
YES!
Traffic vs. Competition
YIKES!
Remember: On Mobile,
a Higher Ranking is
Even MORE Important
“The App Store equivalent to
the second page of Google is any
app ranked greater than 15”
-MobileDevHQ
Traffic vs. Competition
Keyword Research
• Competitor Research (SensorTower, MobileDevHQ)
• Google Keyword Tool
• Your Google Analytics Data
• “Related searches” on iOS 8
100 Characters of Comma-Separated Keywords
Don’t do this:
the, quick, brown, fox, jumped, over, the, lazy, dog
Do this:
the,quick,brown,fox,jumped,over,the,lazy,dog
Don’t…
…add extra spaces after commas
…repeat keywords in the Title
…repeat keywords in the Categories
…repeat keywords in the Developer Name
DESCRIPTIONS
Description crawled for keywords
Description NOT crawled for keywords in App Store search
Descriptions – App Store vs. Google Play
Descriptions ALSO
Crawled in Google Web
Search
Note that the descriptive title contributes to the App Store listing ranking in Google!
These are Web Pages, So Avoid Duplicate Content!
Include Google Search Terms in Description
• APP NAME
• APP DESCRIPTION
• iOS/ iPad/ iPhone
• Android/ Android Phone/ Android Tablet
• Relevant search terms
• Relevant brand variations
• List content in the app
+ “app” or “game”
DOWNLOAD VOLUME & VELOCITY
Apps With More
Downloads Rank Higher
Download Velocity
Use Paid + Organic Together to Drive Downloads
“For every 2 PAID downloads, your app will
generate on average 3 ORGANIC downloads.”
Ian Sefferman (@iseff)
Use Paid + Organic Together to Drive Downloads
“For every 2 PAID downloads, your app will
generate on average 3 ORGANIC downloads.”
Ian Sefferman (@iseff)
*
*downloads acquired from paid channels,not download bots or install farms
Don’t be Spammy
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
75% of the top 1000
apps have 4+ star rating
The higher you move
up the rankings
ladder, the more app
star ratings matter.
When Apple started factoring ratings & reviews in the search algorithm. High rated apps got a ranking boost, low rating apps suffered a ranking loss.
Volume of
Ratings/ Reviews
Also Important
Google’s New “Apps” Universal Highly Correlated with Star Ratings in App Stores
3.5 +
Start Getting More 5-Star Reviews!
Technical & UX Improvements
Tech/ User Experience Change Goes Live
App Changed Rank from 1,112 to 262 Very Quickly
App Moved into US Over-All Ranking Instead of Just Category Rankings
57
Asking for Reviews
Music App Day One App iTV App
If a user selects this option, Tinder does not ask them to review the app
Preventing Users from
Leaving Negative Reviews
Even BETTER: Let Unhappy Users Seek Help Anywhere BUT the App Store
Source: http://dancounsell.com/articles/prompting-for-app-reviews
Pick the Right Moment
• Never ask on launch
• Pick a moment when the user has completed their primary task with the app
• Pick a moment when the user feels accomplished
FRESHNESS
Update Apps Frequently to Maintain Your “Freshness” Booster
Update Apps Frequently to Maintain Your “Freshness” Booster
THE FUTURE OF APP SEARCH
App Store Optimization vs. App Search Optimization
Right now, Google is Pulling the App Meta Data for the Apps Universal
Google Play Store Titles
App Store Titles
Most Users Find Apps in the App StoresMost Users Find
Apps in the App Stores
Most Users Find
Apps in the App Storesin Google
Google is Indexing Android Apps(with Deep Linking)
And Google May Be Gearing up to Index iOS Apps with Deep Links Soon
Justin Briggs (@JustinRBriggs)
The Future of App Search May Look More Like a Mobile Web Search with Deep Links…
The Future of App Search May Look More Like a Mobile Web Search with Deep Links…
Best Plan for Success…
Optimize for App Stores
Optimize for Apps Universal
Optimize Mobile Web
Add Deep Linking
Today’s Talk
Store Titles & Ratings
Mobile SEO
bit.ly/app-indexed
Danke schön!
Emily Grossman, Mobile Marketing Specialist, MobileMoxieTwitter: @goutaste Email: [email protected]/mobilemoxie
