The present-day digital population is engaging with every entity that simplifies their efforts.
Be it an accounting software or simply a ledger app, the key to successful engagement is providing ease of use to the user.
Along with educating the users about the purpose it serves.
Businesses that realize this transition are leveraging their consumers through personalized experiences.
Since more than half of the world’s population has access to mobile devices, these personalized apps are proving to be a measure of a brand’s authority.
However, the growing number of apps in app stores and increasing awareness amongst the users has also increased the competition for higher visibility within the store.
And just to help with that, App Store Optimization (ASO) comes into play.
But, What is App Store Optimization?
The process of optimizing an app for higher visibility in the app stores like iTunes and Google Play for relevant keywords is known as App Store Optimization.
Since the majority of downloads for any app comes from organic results through app store searches, optimizing for relevant keywords cannot be ignored.
Interestingly, ASO overlaps with SEO in a variety of other practices, as well.
For example, backlinks and impressions are crucial to ASO as well as SEO. (We shall discuss it later in this piece.)
But for now, optimizing for keywords alone is inadequate for improving an app’s visibility in search results.
Depending upon the various reasons to opt for app store optimization, an effective strategy can be designed.
So, before moving on any further, it is necessary to learn the reasons behind ASO.
The goals it wishes to achieve
At this point, it is necessary to make a note of the goals that ASO can help achieve:
- The first and foremost objective is to improve visibility
- ASO also helps compete against similar businesses
- Improvement in rankings is yet another goal
- Ranking for semantic searches with the help of relevant backlinks
- Optimization of app store assets such as screenshots, icons, promo videos, etc. to enhance download conversion rate.
In case you are new to app store optimization, some of these terms may bother you.
However, once accustomed to these terms, you can relate ASO to be a better marketing asset for your business.
The reason being, app impressions are more valuable and distinctive as compared to the data accumulated from a website.
However, regardless of the objectives you wish to achieve through ASO, there are certain things that you can do to improve your app’s performance in the app store.
So…What are the Steps Involved?
Unlike websites, ranking apps in the app stores is a relatively easier task.
Depending upon the purpose it serves and the target audience, the strategy may differ.
However, there are a few core considerations that hold the paramount importance for all.
“It is noteworthy that not all practices are the same. ASO practices can be either white-hat or black-hat.
The practices that are condoned by the app stores are known as white-hat, otherwise black-hat.”
So, without dragging this any further, let’s list down these steps for you.
Step1. Optimize In-App Elements
The overall optimization for your app begins with your app itself.
Simply put, you need to optimize your mobile app first before you can expect any improvement in its ranking or visibility.
Here’s how you can optimize in-app elements.
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Improve App Development Process
Your business’s peer-to-peer experience with your patrons begins with how satisfactorily it engages them.
For this, you can improve the development process for your app.
According to this article, https://sunlightmedia.org/improve-app-development-process/, optimizing the user interface to be friendly helps improve the user’s experience.
The more users feel comfortable using your app, the more downloads it receives.
Since downloads are a measure of the popularity of your app in the app store, it surely helps improve visibility.
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Optimize MetaData for Relevant Keywords
Since app stores have limitations to the content that you can publish, you need to outsmart the internal search engines. Metadata optimization is the way out.
So, when you are preparing your metadata, try including the most voluminous keywords for your app.
The crawlers index metadata rather than the actual data of your app, to rank it in the search results.
So, when you optimize your metadata for the relevant keywords, you improve your app’s chances to be found by your target audience.
Step2. Maintain Freshness (App Updates)
If you consider the top ranking apps in any search, you may find it surprising that those apps are constantly offering improvements.
Since mobile apps can counter bugs and issues, updating the firmware and data to resolve these issues becomes necessary.
But at the same time, updating these improvements in your app store assets is also important.
So, constantly evolving and offering fresh updates to your users are sure to enhance their engagement and drive more downloads.
Thus, improving your app ranking in the search results.
Step3. Improve Your Users’ Trust on You
A significant signal for users and search engines alike is the reviews and ratings your app receives.
In this context, your website plays an effective role. You can redirect the traffic from your website to the download page for your app.
Furthermore, you can ask your existing customers to give feedback and rate your app.
Since most users prefer to go through the reviews and ratings before downloading an app from the store, these impressions can help you earn the trust from new patrons.
Step4. Backlinks Matter for ASO as well
Yes, you read that correctly. Backlinks are important for promoting your app in app stores, as they are important for promoting your website in SERPs.
But, the difference lies with the type of links that matter. While niche relevance and contextual links matter for websites, it is the shares and likes that your app-links receive on social platforms and forum discussions that are beneficial.
So, you can seek promotions for your app through shares across WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and similarly, contextual links in relevant discussions, especially on renowned forums.
App store optimization is, in many ways, similar to SEO. The only difference being the search algorithms consider the user experience and their preferences over any other signal.
So, when you are considering mobile apps for your business, your primary focus should be around offering an easy medium to your consumers to interact with your brand.
Rest assured, your app will only improve if you can follow these aforementioned tips.