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A complete guide to understanding the concept of App Store Optimization

It is not a surprise that mobile apps are blooming in the market like never before. With enhanced functionality, mobile apps empower commitment and strengthen the branding of businesses.

By offering a different value to the customer, apps facilitate usage and open the door to new business opportunities.

Although you add many functionalities in the app, users will not download it, if it is not serving their purpose.

Let’s say, creating a mobile app without positioning it is like building a mall in the middle of the ‘Sahara.’

However, building an app via an online app creator, like AppMySite, helps you position your app on app stores.

In this post, we will be discussing a few tips on how to launch a mobile app in the market and position it on the app stores.

First, understand the concept of App Store Optimization and how it works.

The process of positioning mobile apps in the app stores’ search results to achieve user conversion, is simply known as App Store Optimization. It involves constant monitoring that combines organic positioning and conversion rate optimization. In turn, it helps you convert app visitors into app users.

Similar to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), App Store Optimization takes multiple variables to make the app appear in the top positions of the specified category and to achieve a higher number of downloads.

While many app downloads are incurred through the web, that accounts for a significantly smaller proportion. However, 65% of downloads are carried out from mobile app stores. Hence, it is imperative to establish an ASO strategy.

Now, that you know about App Store Optimization, understand its advantages and objectives that you should follow:

  • If you don’t have a sizeable budget, ASO significantly reduces the cost of attracting new users.
  • With the breakdown of specific keywords, ASO generates free installations and helps you capture quality app users.
  • ASO positions your app in the app store rankings, which is upheld by the main keywords.
  • It simply brings profitable business for your brand.

Find out the most influential variables in the app store optimization

The number of app downloads: Speaking of a website, traffic is fundamental for positioning. In fact, it is the most important KPI for any website.

While positioning your app, you need to consider the factors of CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) in ASO. However, if the app is not yet positioned, how will you get downloads?

The first few app downloads are essential for the business to get things rolling. Here are a few ideas to obtain them, that is:

  • Run advertising campaigns on both social networks and AdWords
  • Collaborate with influencers and media as they refer you subscribers in exchange for a monetary reward
  • Launch your app in different app marketplaces

Keeping up the momentum of the level of downloads: Maintain the momentum to ensure the positioning of the app and achieve a certain level of performance.

In that sense, it’s essential to uphold a significant number of app downloads. This number of downloads will gradually increase and maintain the app’s position. If you are making a huge investment in advertising, it results in a spike in downloads. If you invest, you need to remove the ad later because of the app’s position, and the number of downloads immediately plunges.

Frequency and form of use: It is important to analyse the frequency of the utilization of app and the way it is used to achieve good App Store Optimization

For instance, if you determine the most popular features as well as features that are used least if worth eliminating, you focus on frequency.

Uninstalls: The number of uninstallations of the app is sometimes overlooked. If your mobile app has not been downloaded by users, it really impacts the business in contrast to new installations.

Moreover, if the number of app downloads decreases or uninstallation increases, it becomes important to detect any issues in the app that doesn’t comply with good user experience. Take necessary actions to retain users and conclude and work on the reasons that make people abandon your mobile app.

If you are looking for an app builder online to create your mobile app with these many variables, AppMySite has got you covered.

Are you launching an app? Here are the App Store Optimization best practices:

Determining app goals and ways to monetize the app

Defining your business and monetization model is essential when you are launching the mobile app. With this approach, you can measure the ROI for each acquisition channel. From fixed purchase model or app discovery, display ads, and social ads with CPM to CPC and CPI models, and everything in between should be accounted to obtain the expected ROI.

Additionally, you can apply these investment surpluses for the continuous improvement of the app and its organic positioning.

Learn about the different types of business models depending on the app’s objective and its monetization system:

Branding: Launching your app with the sole purpose of displaying products and enhancing brand image, gives your brand visibility in new channels.

Business models focusing on this strategy do not seek the sale of products or services directly from the App.

Leisure: With gamification methods and freemium applications, some businesses prefer to launch a leisure product in the form of an app game. With this type of app, these businesses can obtain various kinds of benefits, like:

  • Gamification: in-app sales of resources, features, and levels of the application.
  • Advertising: through numerous types of mobile banners.
  • Cross-Selling: selling of one’s own brand applications or those of partners.

Selling products and services: The introduction of an application opens a new retail channel that influences the purchase decision in the brand’s other sales channels.

Zalando is the best example of this type of application, which is monetized through in-app sales. Also, the desktop version of the application impacts on future purchases.

Create a product and sell it: Take an example of an application like Instagram. It was not created to serve the purpose of monetization. This application simply focused on creating a good entertainment product that is valued by many users. However, today, Instagram users eventually end up spending more time viewing photos on Instagram than on Facebook.

Solving a problem: Create a mobile application that serves as a tool for another app. For example, Analytics for Google Analytics. This mobile application allows users to analyse the metrics of their web and mobile applications. Also, it offers superior functionality to competitors.

Less than 10% of existing applications continue to exploit this monetization model as it is challenging to implement this model because of the intense competition today.

Generate quality databases: With monetization processes and strategies, some mobile apps have the goal of creating mega databases with all the relevant information about their users. These apps then use this information for advertising purposes or sometimes sell them to other companies.

These databases need to be well-segmented to make it valuable. Therefore, it is important to be clear about the objectives and the form of monetization to determine the real investment in promotion and development. That way, it influences merely the number of app downloads, which indirectly affects the App Store Optimization.

Define your target audience

Understand your target customers to whom your mobile app will be directed. It will also help you determine promotional actions, and the way value will be offered to your potential consumers.

Plan a strategy

Position your mobile app to serve the purpose of:

  • app features: its functions and categories
  • type of application: gaming app, social app, travel app, tourism apps, music apps, or Android or iOS
  • create keyword planner and editorial calendar

At this stage, you need to account for all the processes of app building, including pre-launch (development phase), launch (developed application), or re-launch (launch of previously developed apps) to follow.

App Store Marketing Strategy: How deadlines and sources of the promotion will be carried out 

If you are converting your WooCommerce website to a mobile app, you’ll need to take into account, specific requirements before launching an app.These requirements may depend on the platforms on which the app will be developed on (Android or iOS).

On iOS, for instance, modifications to the app are highly monitored. Also, if each time there is a change, the app should be re-reviewed.

This simply means that new updates to the application must be carried out with caution. However, it is not advisable to make changes too often. It’s important to chart out a plan, including everything, to avoid frequent changes. Keep frequency of changes to the app and inconveniences to your users to a minimum.

Factors influencing the App Store Optimization on Metadata

In this age of mobile apps, Google Play and App Store are crowded with mobile apps, and the level of competition goes higher rapidly. The volume of organic installations is not enough, and the cost of acquisition and user retention is probably insufficient and unsustainable in most cases. Therefore, it’s important to define a strategy that combines obtaining organic and non-organic installations.

Here are the factors influencing ASO on metadata:

App title: the given name of the app should match your offering.

App description or metadata of the app: The app description should be easy to understand for your users.

App category: Choose the most suitable category, wherein you can take organic users into account.

Keyword selection on App Stores: It’s important to find the right keywords for app stores to get your app ranks higher.

Ensure you include the appropriate keywords, so as you do not end up as spam.

Factors that do not influence app store optimization on-metadata, but if on the CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization):

App logo: Build a suitable app logo for your app that matches your business.

App screenshots: Add screenshots to your app that will give your users an idea of how your app looks.

Promotional or sample videos of the App: Creating a sample video helps you attract users.

Factors influencing app marketing actions are the following:

Advertising: creating ads in RRSS and Adwords (Youtube, Apps, Display Network, and Search Network) helps you generate the first app visitors and downloads.

Landing page: Creating a landing page works complimentary to the channel distribution

Social media integration: If you integrate app sign-ins with social media channels, it will work as another means of promotion. For instance, Google+.

Content: Writing apt content in the form of a blog or web content will help you create link-building campaigns. Also, that way, you can increase the authority of the app’s official website and the number of app visitors and downloads.

App ratings and reviews: Seeking as many reviews and positive comments as possible on your app to enhance the app’s ASO.

Manage loyalty and reduction of uninstalls: To retain app users, you’ll need to manage your loyalty program.

Search for new promotion channels: you can launch your mobile app in other marketplaces and web download platforms, and also in several languages for a wider reach.

App Store Optimization: Budget determination

App Store optimization

If you are considering a budget, sound planning is required to optimize your mobile app. It is crucial to know how much you will spend on the app launch and during the app’s other life cycle phases.

Plan the beginning and end of your paid campaigns for mobile app promotions, and stick to that plan, wisely.

As a general thumb rule, at least 50% of the amount you spent on mobile app development should be dedicated to promotion and ASO (App Store Optimization).

Well, app promotion is not-so-cheap, but you can save more if you implement and perform tasks for App Store Optimization.

Although a primary determinant of success in the mobile application sector is the volume of app downloads, you need to understand the business models of existing known apps in the market before your own app launch.

To make a mobile app profitable, you need to invest in advertising too. Also, app development should run continuously to increase app downloads.

Are you running a WordPress website? You can even convert your WordPress site to a mobile app via AppMySite that helps you reach your audience.

Hope, this information is useful and clarifies any possible confusion about the App Store Optimization strategy, as well as the most influential aspects of an app’s success.

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