Dozens of new applications are added to the App Store and Google Play every day. With the App Stores growing this much, your concerns about highlighting your app may be increasing. Of course, this concern is very normal. However, your app will go missing in the stores when you do not take action on it, that is to say, when you do not constantly do App Store Optimization. After you learn App Store Optimization in general terms, the first thing you need to do is to learn the optimization methods specific to the stores. In this article, we are going to explain key success of App Store Optimization for iOS with examples. App Store, app store of iOS, and Google Play Store, the app store of phones with the android operating system, have the same purpose. Basically, it allows mobile users to download apps in different categories. Although these two platforms seem the same for the end user, their operating systems are quite different.

The Main Differences of the App Store for ASO:

The main difference of App Store is the one related to the application publishing steps. All app stores apply a preliminary review process to publish the appropriate app for their users. When you upload your app to app stores, the stores allow it to be published if it is approved after the preliminary review. In this process, Apple’s reviews take longer than the others. Accordingly, you can see that the content and strategies of your applications are reviewed more carefully by Apple. The second of the main differences of the App Store is the most known feature of ASO is related to keywords.

App Store has much more precise evaluations on keywords than other stores. Unlike other stores, it gives bad marks to keyword repetitions. App Store can get keywords from the category of your app, your competitors in the same category and your app descriptions. Therefore, pay attention to use every area you have for the promotion of your application in a different and effective way.

Evaluate your App's Growth Strategies Regularly!

All optimizations made in ASO are based on customer and market-centered thinking which is the most basic rule of marketing. The highest achievement in marketing come after doing dozens of tests. You should keep testing until you develop the most convenient growth strategy for your app. Philip Kotler, under the second head of his book Ten Deadly Marketing Sins, discusses the consequences when your company do not fully understand its target customers. Kotler explains that all companies that cannot evaluate the preferences and insights of the customers properly will remain in the first step of marketing. Keep testing against iOS's precise store optimization algorithms until you understand what your customers want.

Do not forget that App Store Optimization is a continuous process, ASO changes depending on the change of users and your category. The most important thing is your iOS users, and it can protect your growth process depending on the changes of App Store search algorithm.

Keyword Optimization for iOS

At the beginning of our article, we mentioned that the keyword review and highlighting process has been reviewed carefully by Apple. As a matter of fact, Apple started its optimization article for App Store with “Choose Accurate Keywords” topic. In fact, this approach is not different for app developers and publishers. When you talk to them about app growth and app store optimization, they will mention keywords first. So, how is keyword optimization for iOS done, which is that important for those who publish apps on both Apple and App Store?

There are basically four different sections where you can see keywords in the App Store, these are:

  1. App Title: It is where your app first meets its potential users. A unique title related to your app category and your content will increase your interactivity. The only limit set by the App Store in app title selection is the number of characters. App store allows you to set a title up to 30 characters. Remember that the app title, the first of the four sections where you can enter keywords, is the strongest variable in the ranking.
  2. Keyword Field: Keywords are words and phrases that users search on app stores to find your apps. Remember that every change you make on keywords will affect the reach process of your potential customers. There are some basic questions you can ask yourself to make sure you choose the accurate keywords. The first of these: If these users find you with this keyword, will they be able to reach the targeted content? If the answer is no, even if they find your app with this method, users will uninstall it in a short time. The second one: Does your app have too many competitors in this keyword? If the answer is yes, you may think a simple keyword in the right category. The third question: Is the keyword you think searched by users? If the answer is no, even if the keyword is compatible with your content, it cannot be found by users. Make sure that the keyword you choose has a search traffic.
  3. Subtitle: It is the part that users who view your app read the most after the app title. To prevent long app names, Apple has introduced character restrictions on app names and added subtitle part. You can think of the subtitle as the elevator pitch you do to your customers. Be assertive enough to keep your users curious and satisfied.
  4. In-App Purchases:The optimizations you do here will directly affect the purchases of your users. You should choose short, understandable, and visual-related words for your suggestion.There are some basic rules about these four sections where you can see keywords in the App Store. It is a quite dangerous method to generate traffic using the words of trademarks and companies in these areas. It can prevent your app from being installed, updated, or may cause your app to be deleted by Apple. Do not neglect to evaluate your app. Test and update your ASO at 1-1.5 month intervals.

Create an Attractive App Screenshots & App Previews

When the keyword optimization is successfully completed, your app starts to appear at the top on the users' screen. When users open your page to download your app, in general, they quickly scroll down and review your screenshots and videos. If you have visualized this stream, you might notice how important screenshots and videos are. To get successful results through screenshots, consider the following warnings:

  • Pay attention to describe your screenshots with a short and sweet title. An image that only includes your app screenshots is not enough for users.
  • Keep track of your competitors and the best apps in the matter of screenshot design. You will see that there are periodical trends among themes. For instance, connected panels-puzzle view is used too often at the moment.

Display the most important feature of your app in your first screenshot and rank them in order of importance.

The first warning about App Previews in App Store: Do not start before reading Apple’s preview recommendations! These recommendations enable you to create the most suitable video format for App Store. For your users, remember that the most important part in your video is the opening. If your video does not arouse curiosity in the opening, it will be turned off.
When you prepare fascinating screenshots and videos, be sure to check your legal rights about the content. As your videos appear before your screenshots, impress them on short notice and make the users wonder what is next.

Description: Introduce Your App to Users!

The app description is one of the parameters of the metadata in ASO, but the keywords in the description are not indexed in the App Store. We cannot infer here that it is nothing or not used by meta. The most important inference here is; it is an inefficient and wrong choice to add keywords in the section where we entered for the description of our app. You can consider the app description as a section where you can explain your product to your users longer.

Users who open your page usually review it by app name, subtitle, screenshots, and description order. It takes them shorter than you think. In this section, your users read the description in a way that they have an idea about your app. Therefore, prefer to use a fluent and simple wording. By itemizing your sentences, you can give the impression of a plainer text instead of a complex paragraph. A good description explains the most important features of the app to its users in an intriguing way; at the end of the article, it convinces the users to download the app.

Localization for Scalability

Apps are mostly products developed for end users. For this reason, with localization, you can expedite your growth tremendously in different countries you target. Localizing for the whole world can be a challenge as a man-month cost, but you can set a start with analyses. There are 2 basic steps to decide which country to localize for. The first of these is to analyze in which countries your product is used more. The second one is to analyze to which countries your competitors grow with localization.

App Reviews and Rating: Talk to Your Users, Be Up to Date!

Pay attention to user feedback to provide retention through your existing users and to increase your app downloads. While updating your application with the comments of your users, you can increase your positive comments by getting back to them. You can raise your app rankings with positive app ratings and comments. Update your application regularly, counting on the comments of users and the market status of your product. Considering the relationship between User-Market-Product, a regular app update schedule is the best.