Have you ever wondered why your app does not get ranked well in App Store search results? The mobile app industry is growing at an unparalleled speed. Thousands of apps are being uploaded to the App store daily, creating stiff competition. Thus, it gets harder to get noticed and improve sales on mobile platforms.
But you might wonder how a few apps can cut through the clutter and achieve top rankings in mobile app search results. Want to know how? Then this blog is for you.
Having a mobile application is not the only thing that would help you in getting more business. There would be no business without making the people notice your mobile app. Thus, creating a strong presence in the app store is a requisite. To create such a strong presence, proper optimization of your mobile application is a must after creating it.
Why is mobile optimization key to winning the business?
Google Play Store and App store ranks mobile apps based on their downloads and engagement. When a potential user reaches your app page, the page should have your app description, screenshots, videos, and other data that is appealing, engaging, and convincing for the users to download your app.
This is where mobile app optimization comes into play. Mobile app optimization helps in luring the potential users to install your app, which in turn will help your app get recognized by app stores and boost your rankings in-app search results.
Mobile App Optimization Strategies
1. Mobile App Store Optimization (ASO)
While SEO is all about optimizing the website for search engines, mobile ASO helps in optimizing the app to an app store.
So, what is App Store Optimization?
ASO is the process of optimizing mobile applications to make them rank higher in the app store search results. The eight ground rules of App Store Optimization are listed below
- Application title – Make the title clear and comprehensible
- Descriptions – Write a compelling, keyword-rich description
- Keywords – Choose the right keywords that can help you get more traffic
- Icon – Create an elegant icon for your app
- Add screenshots and videos – Add these to convince your users to download your app
- Work on ratings and reviews – Get fresh, positive reviews to influence the app position in search results
- Category – Choose the most relevant category for your app
- Regular update – Keep updating your app data constantly to create a positive brand image among your potential users
2. App Indexing
This lets Google index your app just like any other website. App indexing can be done through deep linking, allowing users to land exactly on the right page within your app. App indexing is created by building a relationship between the content on the web pages and deep linking it to the content within your app.
The first step for app indexing is to specify intent filters that will define how to reach the content within your app. Secondly, you must connect your app to your website. Thirdly, implement the deep links.
You can get the help of your mobile app development company to implement deep linking in your app.
3. In-App Optimization
Your success does not stop with making the target audience download your app. You should keep the people engaged to boost your performance and productivity. A recent report states that after 30 days of installing an app, only 3.3% of Android apps and 3.2% of iOS apps are still using it.
If you don’t keep your users engaged, they will be more unlikely to use your app for a long time. You should follow a few of the In-App Optimization Strategies to increase the retention rate of your app.
You need to equip yourself with data that you need to maximize the value of your app. You should determine the key factors you need to optimize through testing. For example, to find out the Daily Active Users (DAU), you need to test the engagement levels and retention. To improve the DAU’s, you can change the UX design and features of your app.
4. Competitor Analysis
It is more important to have a better understanding of your competitors to know marketing efforts are needed for your app to get noticed. To analyze your competitors’, ask yourself the following questions
- What are they up to?
- What makes their app stand ahead from my app?
- What marketing strategies they are using?
- What competitors’ strategies can be enhanced and used to make my app successful?
You don’t have to exactly copy their strategy, but you need to know what is keeping them at the top. You also need to analyze their weaknesses, to ensure that you don’t practice the same mistakes.
5. Mobile App Performance Optimization
Your mobile app optimization strategy does not stop with just the launch and deployment of your app. Monitoring the performance of your app is more important to define your app success. Here are a few Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that can help you monitor and enhance the performance of your app.
- App downloads – Your app downloads should be improving consistently.
- Active users – The increase in the number of active users notifies the degree of interest in your app.
- Retention – This indicates the number of users who frequently visit your app after downloading.
- Churn rate – This shows the number of users who have uninstalled your app or stopped using your app.
Your Mobile app performance has a direct impact on conversions and your revenue. Try to exceed or meet your users’ performance expectations, to create trust among users and enhance your brand image.
Here are a few quick ways to enhance your mobile app performance
- Focus on the navigation and browsability of your app
- Cache your images, files, etc…
- Use fewer HTTP requests to simplify things for your app
- Provide an offline mode option for the users
- Use high-quality images
6. Listen To Your Users
You need to pay much attention to what your app users have to say. As per a recent study on app usage, the main reasons for app users to stop using an app is found to be a lack of interest or the app loses value as time goes by. Thus, it is always important to listen to your user’s views about your app.
You can get connected with your users in two ways – Social media and Push notifications
Social Media – You can post promotional posts with a trending hashtag or run live campaign videos on the installation of your app on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It can increase the downloads and engagement of your app.
Push Notifications – Push notifications play a huge role in product promotion. They are the ones that are more opened by the users. To make your push notification more appealing to the users, ensure that it is brief, captivating, and categorized according to the users.
Your social media integration and push notifications should be modeled in a way to get opinions from app users that could help enhance your mobile app performance.
Final Thoughts
As mobile phone usage continues to boom, the opportunities for app developers are endless. However, without using proper mobile app optimization strategies, your app goes unnoticed, even if it is a wonderful app. You can follow these strategies to drive more business through your mobile app.
