http://appfollow.io/aso App Store Optimization (ASO) for App Store and Google Play Best Practices 2015 by AppFollow

1. AppFollow.io
ASO: Best Practices 2015
Anatoly Sharifulin
CEO & Co-founder, AppFollow

2. Anatoly
Sharifulin
AppFollow.io
ASO Expert & Analyst,
Mobile Evangelist
2

3. 3
ASOAppstore Search Optimization
What?

4. 4
ASOSEO for mobile apps
What?

5. No analytical tools
5
However

6. ‘Would you be so kindly
to clarify then, what exact
position would we take? Because
better is not very certain…’
6
Question

7. ASO is free app promotion
7
free
What for?

8. 8
One change can lead to a 4–5x time growth of installations
and marketing budget savings

9. 9
Question
‘I would like to know
the approximate order of numbers,
will the costs pay off or not?’

10. 10
When?
• A new app (before the first release)
• An app with a small amount of downloads
per day
• A leader-app (almost a leader,
a top-20 of category)
MAY
MUST
SHOULD

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ASO recommendations:
siliconrus.com/2014/07/aso-ostrovok/
siliconrus.com/2014/10/aso-ostrovok-2/
siliconrus.com/2015/04/aso-3/
How?
Russian articles

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• Expanding the visibility of an app due
to new keywords
• Improving positions in search results
• Increase view conversion in app installation
How?
Three optimization strategies:

13. ASO — is a complex and
permanent work on app
optimization
13
permanent
How?

14. First step:
Basic optimization
Working in all areas major changes in the meta-data, everything that
can dramatically improve the situation
14
How?

15. 1. App ASO analysis
• It is necessary to identify bottlenecks, all the possible errors in the meta settings:
• Wrong chosen keywords, singular vs. plural, word declension
• Word repetitions in the title and keywords
• Poorly drafted title
• Unsuccessful screenshots and an icon
• ‘Video is in Russian and the app is used in other countries as well’
• App category
15
Basic optimization

16. 2. ASO analysis of competitors
• Competitors always exist, even if they are indirect, these apps take over
the search traffic
16
Basic optimization

17. 17
A list off apps
competitors
in taxi category

18. • Competitors always exist, even if they are indirect, these apps take over
the search traffic
• Every app’s analysis (see point 1):
• ‘Everyone has blue icons and one app has a red one’
•
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2. ASO analysis of competitors
Basic optimization

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Due to the app icon
stand out in the search results

20. • Competitors always exist, even if they are indirect, these apps take over
the search traffic
• Every app’s analysis (see point 1):
• ‘Everyone has blue icons and one app has a red one’
• ASO changing history (title, description, screenshots, video, icon). It is important to
understand the motivations of these exact changes
20
2. ASO analysis of competitors
Basic optimization

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ASO changes history

22. • Competitors always exist, even if they are indirect, these apps take over
the search traffic
• Every app’s analysis (see point 1):
• ‘Everyone has blue icons and one app has a red one’
• ASO changing history (title, description, screenshots, video, icon). It is important to
understand the motivations of these exact changes
• Competitors prompt the possible categories
which may be more organic
22
2. ASO analysis of competitors
Basic optimization

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Categories in which
competitors’ apps are placed

24. • Competitors always exist, even if they are indirect, these apps take over
the search traffic
• Every app’s analysis (see point 1):
• ‘Everyone has blue icons and one app has a red one’
• ASO changing history (title, description, screenshots, video, icon). It is important to
understand the motivations of these exact changes
• Competitors prompt the possible categories
which may be more organic
• SERPs research for each app
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2. ASO analysis of competitors
Basic optimization

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Easy Taxi #3
when you
search ‘uber’

26. 3. Creating the semantic core
• How to create a core of searches for the app:
• Common sense
• Words from competitors’ app titles
• Yandex Wordstat and Adwords Keywords only to select new words
• Related keywords (for US locale)
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Basic optimization

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Related keywords

28. • How to create a core of searches for the app:
• Common sense
• Words from competitors’ app titles
• Yandex Wordstat and Adwords Keywords only to select new words
• Related keywords (for US locale)
• Competitors’ titles usage in transcription :-)
28
3. Creating the semantic core
Basic optimization

29. 29

30. • How to create a core of searches for the app:
• Common sense
• Words from competitors’ app titles
• Yandex Wordstat and Adwords Keywords only to select new words
• Related keywords (for US locale)
• Competitors’ titles usage in transcription :-)
• Search of target audience’s phrases and dialect in reviews on the apps of competitors
• Suggest from App Store and Google Play for prioritization and ranking!
30
3. Creating the semantic core
Basic optimization

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Semantic core example

32. Semantic core selection is the
most important part of ASO
optimization
32
Basic optimization
most important

33. 4. Generation of titles, keywords, descriptions and phrases
for screenshots
• Title:
• Length is limited
• Elaborate visible part of the title
• Transfer popular keywords into the title
• Several variations of titles (esp. for Google Play)
• NB! Some may be rejected (point 3.1 and point 3.4 in App Store Review Guidelines)
•
33
Basic optimization

34. While changing the title it is
necessary to change keywords
so that total coverage from
semantic core stayed preserved!
34
Important

35. • Title:
• Length is limited
• Elaborate visible part of the title
• Transfer popular keywords into the title
• Several variations of titles (esp. for Google Play)
• NB! Some may be rejected (point 3.1 and point 3.4 in App Store Review Guidelines)
• You can get keywords of competitors’ apps
35
4. Generation of titles, keywords, descriptions and phrases
for screenshots
Basic optimization

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Research matrix
of competitors’ apps

37. • Title:
• Length is limited
• Elaborate visible part of the title
• Transfer popular keywords into the title
• Several variations of titles (esp. for Google Play)
• NB! Some may be rejected (point 3.1 and point 3.4 in App Store Review Guidelines)
• You can get keywords of competitors’ apps
• Increased keywords through the use of secondary locales (English UK for RU, Spanish for US)
37
4. Generation of titles, keywords, descriptions and phrases
for screenshots
Basic optimization

38. 4. Generation of titles, keywords, descriptions and phrases
for screenshots
• Description:
• Pay attention to the first sentences in the description of the app
• UTF-8 symbols: ▶ • ✓
• You can use the HTML markup for Google Play
• Elaborate 5-8 short phrases for screenshots and other marketing activities, you will come back
to them plenty of times
• Obligatorily:
• Advantages of the new title’s, keywords’ and descriptions’ version over the current version
• What are the expectations from the SERPs’ change?
38
Basic optimization

39. 5. Screenshots, video, promo banners, icon
• Custom screenshots with short phrases:
• Contrast background, large text
• All sizes
• Video:
• The easiest way to make a video of how the app works is via Quick Time or AndroidTool
• Promotional banners:
• You can elaborate a text using popular words from semantic core
• The icon must accurately reflect the essence of the application.
Either way it will be better to make a lettering
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Basic optimization

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Question
‘Do custom screenshots and
ASO have any impact
on getting into featuring?’

44. Create two ASO documents:
researches and changes
44
Important

45. 45

46. Second step:
Additional optimizations
Further optimization of at least 3-4 iteration changes,
testing the change only of keywords, screenshots, video, or category.
Aim: To understand what influences and what does not influence on the organic traffic
46
How?

47. 47

48. It is recommended to release
ASO of apps in the App Store
regardless the product plan
48
Important

49. 1. What influences search results?
• Downloading apps from search results
• It is important to keep track of everything that happens with your app and competitors’ apps:
• Rating and number of reviews, how fast an application is gaining ratings?
• ”Similar” section
49
Additional optimizations

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From
the ‘Similar’
section

51. 51
From
the ‘Similar’
section

52. • Downloading apps from search results
• It is important to keep track of everything that happens with your app and competitors’ apps:
• Rating and number of reviews, how fast an application is gaining ratings?
• ”Similar” section
• Reviews’ texts
52
1. What influences search results?
Additional optimizations

53. 53
There are mentions
in some reviews

54. • Downloading apps from search results
• It is important to keep track of everything that happens with your app and competitors’ apps:
• Rating and number of reviews, how fast an application is gaining ratings?
• ”Similar” section
• Reviews’ texts
• References and links to application
• Video views and Google +1
• Internal metrics: launches, removals, and others
54
1. What influences search results?
Additional optimizations

55. • Add an iPad version of the app
• The app doesn’t show in iPad search results, but it may be shown in Top Apps
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2. What else can be done?
Additional optimizations

56. 56
Search matrix
for taxi apps on for iPad

57. • Add an iPad version of the app
• The app doesn’t show in iPad search results, but it may be shown in Top Apps
• Competitors take on the whole search traffic, even on your own keywords
• App unbundling is creating multiple apps from a single one. Examples:
• Sports.ru: flagship, football / hockey, leagues, teams (200+)
57
2. What else can be done?
Additional optimizations

58. 58

59. • Add an iPad version of the app
• The app doesn’t show in iPad search results, but it may be shown in Top Apps
• Competitors take on the whole search traffic, even on your own keywords
• App unbundling is creating multiple apps from a single one. Examples:
• Sports.ru: flagship, football / hockey, leagues, teams (200+)
• Guides and offline maps: main parts and cities
59
2. What else can be done?
Additional optimizations

60. 60

61. • Add an iPad version of the app
• The app doesn’t show in iPad search results, but it may be shown in Top Apps
• Competitors take on the whole search traffic, even on your own keywords
• App unbundling is creating multiple apps from a single one. Examples:
• Sports.ru: flagship, football / hockey, leagues, teams (200+)
• Guides and offline maps: main parts and cities
• Apps clones
61
2. What else can be done?
Additional optimizations

62. 62

63. You can check product
hypothesis without writing the
code using ASO :-)
63
Hack

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So how do we measure?
• If there is no promotional activity, we do it via Crashlytics
(but the first run does not mean the installation was during this
period)
• App Analytics: views, installations, launches (data do not
reflect the whole picture, but you can test changes from one
version to version another)
• Dev Console Google Play: integrated A/B testing
• A/B testing of changes of individual advertising campaigns

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B*TCH!ANALYZE IT,

68. AppFollow.io
Thank you!
Questions?
68
Anatoly Sharifulin
hi@appfollow.io