For businesses out there who have apps that support your product or service, or whose product or service revolves around an app, an often overlooked optimization technique is App Store Optimization, or ASO. Just as properly optimizing your website for SEO can lead to higher search engine rankings, the proper optimization of your mobile app page can lead to higher visibility in the app markets, and in turn – an increase in the number of downloads your app attains.
The primary factors towards building your app store rankings include the familiar standbys – title and the utilization of keywords, but also include additional factors including ratings and reviews, and total number of downloads. Kissmetrics provides some interesting graphs and figures that chart how each of these metrics correlates to app store rankings and app downloads.
Since you have less control over the number of downloads and ratings that your app receives, the most actionable items include optimization of your app title and description with the appropriate keywords. Keyword research in this regard is very similar to that done for SEO, however since we are dealing with a completely different market and set of search results, you need the proper tools to cull your data.
There are a variety of services that can assist you with ASO, one of the most touted is MobileDevHQ. This service helps mobile developers optimize their app store listings and get their app discovered, and it has recently made its basic toolbox free to those engaged in app marketing. They also provide a premium service with an advanced set of tools, as well as an API for enterprise service.
App store optimization is it’s own animal, and although related to SEO in concept, it utilizes different metrics and speaks to a different, although often overlapping audience. Take these factors into consideration when you are optimizing your app page.
