With 9 million mobile apps on Google Play and 2.5 million on the App Store, it is imperative that businesses have a competent App Marketing and - specifically App Store Optimisation (ASO) strategy in place to get their apps to the top of the market.
what is ASO?
ASO is to apps what SEO is to websites. As the name suggests, ASO, or App Store Optimisation, is the process of optimising an app so that it appears among the first results when a user searches the app shops. The more visibility a mobile app has in the app stores, the more likely it is to be found by users and, therefore, the more likely it is to be downloaded.
ASO factors to consider
The more installs and the faster you get them, the better positioned your app will be. What is not so good is that the uninstall rate is high. It is an indicator that the product (app) is not as good as it should be. Therefore, it is important that you are clear about a few points before configuring your app:
- App name: The name of an app should contain the main keywords by which we want to be found and, in addition, be eye-catching.
- Description: The description of an app, in the case of Google Play, must include keywords (without reaching spam) and, in the case of Apple, it must be used as a marketing weapon to captivate users. The limit is 4000 characters, but the text must be brief and ordered, and always explaining the subject or utilities.
- Choice of keywords: Google Play does not have a "keywords" field, while Apple does. It is important to take this into account to speed up the search for our app.
- Developer's name : The developer's name including keywords is good, and the developer's seniority is also an important factor as they have more "strength" to rank.
- Icon: The icon does not directly affect the ASO, however, it is essential to attract the attention of users as it is usually the first thing they notice.
- Screenshots: As with the icon, the screenshots chosen for an app's page will not make it rank better, but a good selection of screenshots will make users "die" to install it.
Apart from these On-Site factors, we must always keep in mind some Off-Site factors, such as:
- The popularity of the app: This factor directly influences the success of an ASO strategy, since the higher the number of downloads, the better position an app will have in a shop.
- CTR (click through rate): A high click through rate (percentage of clicks between the number of impressions) has a positive influence on ASO. For clicks to translate into downloads, a good option may be to offer the app for free to increase the number of downloads - even if there are in-app purchases - and thus boost positioning.
- Reviews and ratings: Positive reviews directly affect the ASO of an app as they are important for the algorithms as well as generating trust in users, motivating them to download and try an app.
- Social networks: Wherever the traffic comes from, it helps to improve positioning so it is a factor that you should not neglect. Some social networks have specific advertising formats to promote applications (a good example is Twitter with its App Cards) and it may be interesting to explore them to get more downloads.
- Landing page: The landing page or landing page should have the mission of publicising the existence of the app and explaining the functionalities it offers in terms of benefits. Users should know how having the app can improve their lives, which is a decisive factor in whether or not they decide to download it to their phones.
do you want to know how to promote an app with inbound marketing and ASO? Here are 4 essential steps to carry out an inbound strategy for your app .
Advantages of using an ASO strategy
According to Apple, search plays a very important role in the way users discover apps, as search queries account for 65% of App Store downloads. Therefore, we can say that working ASO directly influences the success or failure of an app. That is why it is so important to use ASO techniques to position apps in app marketplaces.
As with SEO, anyone who applies this type of technique to their applications is rewarded with a series of advantages that undoubtedly make an app more competitive and receive many more downloads. The main advantages are:
- Increased visibility: the better you implement your ASO strategy, the more visibility you will get and, therefore, your chances of getting users to download your app will be greater.
- Organic downloads: an organic download is one generated directly from the app shops, without any external influence (Social Ads, Search Ads, Mobile Ads, etc.).
- Increase your revenue: usually, the most common way to generate revenue with apps is through PPC (pay per click advertising). The more visibility you get, the higher your chances of getting clicks.
- Less competition: it is a relatively new market and competition is still low, with far fewer apps developing ASO positioning than, for example, SEO positioning on web search engines.
- Low investment: as you will see below, carrying out an ASO positioning strategy is based on following a series of steps that do not require much cost or investment. We will have to pay for some tools, as in SEO positioning, but this type of strategy is within everyone's reach.
As you can see, improving the ASO strategy is necessary to improve positioning, improve your position within the search results in the app shops and start making money with apps. If we combine ASO positioning techniques with a functional, fast and well-designed app, success is assured.
This is a relatively new discipline (compared to others) within Digital Marketing, but few companies take it into account in their app marketing strategies. For this reason, carrying out a good ASO strategy will allow us to make a difference and differentiate ourselves from the competition.
