Many businesses thinking of getting a mobile app developed for their brand often tend to enquire about the success potential of mobile apps. There are several factors that influence an app’s success in app stores. But to keep things simple, many mobile app development companies suggest measuring app downloads and its rankings in order to determine the success of the app.
The more the downloads, the more the revenue. The number of downloads also influences the app’s ranking and vice versa. It’s a simple concept. However, accomplishing it is a big challenge.
That said, here are a few things you should know to get more downloads for your app and improve its rankings subsequently.
Invest in ASO (App Store Optimization)
The concept is quite similar to search engine optimization (SEO) for websites. A good majority of mobile users discover certain apps by browsing the app store. App Store Optimization is how your app’s visibility in app store can be boosted so it will be discovered and, hopefully, downloaded more. The app showing up at the top of app search results in stores also emphasizes the app’s credibility.
Factors contributing to ASO varies depending on the app store. So it’s a good idea to educate yourself on ASO factors that are exclusive to popular platform-specific app stores.
Naming the app
If you’ve already launched your app, your window for getting the name right is gone. For those with apps ready for launch, naming should be the primary focus. There will be a set of guidelines app owners should follow depending on the app store. For example, Google Play Store allows up to 50 characters in your title for listing the app. Apple App Store on the other hand allows only 30 characters.
It’s important to understand all parameters of the app store before getting the app listed in it. Repetitively using keywords in the app’s title to improve ASO is not encouraged by Google, and may result in the app getting suspended from the store. There are little things like this the app owner should be aware of before naming an app in an app store.
Keywords
Keywords are still relevant for ASO. However, using keywords liberally without referring the guidelines of the app store can have dire consequences. Keywords aren’t something that should be included in the app’s title in some way. You can still optimize your app for the store by including keywords in the app’s description.
The description should cover keywords that relate to the app’s purpose and features. However, when users browse the store, they won’t be seeing the full description of an app. It will just be the first few sentences. This is why it’s important to focus on the first few lines of the description where you should include keywords and develop an enticing introduction that will encourage users to read the rest of the description and possibly download the app.
Icons & screenshots
The app icon doesn’t directly contribute to app store optimization but it nevertheless is a very important factor app owners shouldn’t neglect. The icon could be the factor that entices people browsing the store to download and check out an app. The best icons are appealing with the right color combinations to catch users’ eyes. It should stand out from other apps’ icons when a user scrolls through the list. The icon should not lose its appeal in dark and light backgrounds.
If the icon attracts users, they will be tapping it to go into the app’s page in the store. This is where they can see the app’s description and is also where they can get their first glimpse of the app in the form of screenshots. Make this first impression count by going for the best quality screenshots that cover the most important aspects of the app.
For instance, using a login screen’s screenshot is not a good idea as it doesn’t present any value to users other than letting them know that the app requires users to login. You will want to showcase what the user can do with the app and the kind of value the app can give them. That should be what the screenshots should convey. Mind you that users also don’t see all the screenshots in the main app page. They will most likely go through only the first couple of screenshots to get an idea of how the app would look and how it functions.
Video demonstration
Preparing videos that demonstrate the app takes a lot more effort than taking screenshots obviously. But unlike screenshots, videos convert. Adding videos can increase app download rates by over 25%. Just check out the most downloaded apps in an app store. They are most likely to have video demonstrations of the app. With videos, you keep things to the point. Stuffing every feature of the app into one single demonstration video is not a good idea, however. The objective is to get the users interested in the app so they will most likely tap on the call-to-action prompt that you can include at the end of your app’s video.
Conclusion
Without proper App Store Optimization, chances are that your app will be overshadowed by its rivals. That’s one major challenge every enterprise-grade mobile app and enterprise mobile technologies have to overcome in today’s market to become successful. If you are willing to invest in optimizing for the app store, your app will end up getting ranked higher. Higher rank means bigger chances of the app getting downloaded i.e. more downloads.
It can also go another way where your app becomes easily discoverable in the app store leading to more downloads and subsequently higher app rankings.
Let us know what you think.
