Mobile, Mobile, Mobile: Why You Should Be Optimizing In The App Store

July 30th, 2014 by Search Influence

Who are we kidding? Mobile is already here and it is here to stay. With the shift from desktop to mobile for everything you can imagine, and the continued growth of app creation, it has become extremely important for creators to optimize their apps for in-app store rankings.

App Store Optimization (or ASO, as it is known) is basically SEO for the app store search ecosystem. Much like major goals in SEO, the main goal of ASO is to drive more traffic to your app page in order to gain more downloads. In order to effectively optimize your app page, you must first understand your audience and what your target consumers would search for to find you.

Research firms, such as Forrester, have released studies in the past showing that most applications are discovered through general browsing and searching of the app store. From a user standpoint, when I am looking for a new app I first look for things that are relevant to my search terms and then weigh the options based on the number of downloads and ratings/reviews. This is much like the user experience when looking for local businesses online.

This means that the best thing you can do for your app is provide relevant keywords in the title of your app. The other two determining factors (downloads and ratings) will come naturally once you improve your App Store Optimization. Keep in mind, however, that is not just the number of ratings, but the quality of ratings that really matters. Providing consumers with in-app support for encountered issues is a great way to help garner primarily positive reviews in the app store.

Back in January 2013, Moz published the Top Three Inbound Marketing Strategies for Mobile Apps, a great resource for those looking to improve their ASO and app store rankings.