What is App Store Optimization? How can it help my business? How should it be done? How to track and improve it?
In this blog, you can find everything related to ASO for 2020: guides for iOS and Android, best practices, first steps, case studies and much more. Are you ready to conquer Search & Browse / Explore?
What is ASO?
App Store Optimization also known as ASO or App Store SEO is the process of optimizing a game or application in order to maximize its visibility in the stores in Search (when users search) and Explore (when users browse), increase traffic to listing and improve conversion rate to generate the maximum volume of organic downloads.
It brings free high-quality users for Android and iOS app, helps reducing UA (User Acquisition) costs, and is the base of any Mobile Growth strategy.
ASO = Traffic + Conversion.
This process requires a critical understanding of how the stores work, the target user base, and the most relevant keywords potential users are typing or speaking to find apps or discover new ones.
Also, as stores are continuously evolving, nowadays it is very relevant to make apps visible in the Explore / Browse; this is Similar Apps (related), Featured, App Rankings… So, ASO evolves too.
Don’t get confused: App Store Optimization is not only about search. It never has been.
Mechanics of ASO – How does it work?
There are some known factors that influence the app optimization for iOS & Android applications. Let’s start by breaking them down:
On-metadata factors
On-metadata factors are those elements of the product page or listing that can be modified within App Store Connect or Google Play Console in order to improve app store keywords rankings, explore visibility and conversion rate to download, one of the most crucial KPIs.
These elements, that are 100% under our control are: URL / Package, Developer name (only Google Play), App Name / Title, description, short description, subtitle, promo text and keywords field (only Apple), category, icon, screenshots and video.
Optimizing on-metadata will help you rank higher in Search and Explore.
Off-metadata factors
As it happens in SEO (Search Engine Optimization from web marketing world) and off-page factors, Off-metadata factors are those external factors that are not under the control of the developer.
The elements that are not 100% under our control are: volume and speed of installs, ratings + reviews and, maybe, user engagement…
App Store Optimization (ASO) = on-metadata + off-metadata
Why App Store Optimization is important?
Search plays a huge role in how users discover apps, with search queries accounting for 65% of downloads from the App Store.
App Store Optimization strategies
You know you have to optimize your mobile application and that stuff is cool but… how to do it? How to do App Store SEO the right way to improve visibility and increase downloads? Let’s take a look at the process of your ASO marketing strategy :
1. Keyword research / market research
Picking the right keywords is crucial for app store search success. You should target those with high relevance (related to your business), high traffic and low difficulty or competition.
App store keyword research strategies are different for each app. For example, for new apps, it’s better to use mid and long-tail low competition keywords to gradually change them with some with more traffic and competition.
In order to get the maximum visibility, your app or game should be global (available worldwide) with all languages optimized.
It’s time to optimize: Learn how to do a Keyword Research
2. Optimize for Visibility (Search + Browse) & Conversion
It’s all about app optimization when it comes to improve visibility and Conversion Rate.
Apple App Store
Add keywords in the App Name (30 characters), Subtitle (30 char) and keywords field (100 characters). So, a total of 160 characters, although there is a “hack” that allows using much more than 100 characters in the that special field…
Google Play Store
Add keywords in the title (30 char), short description (80 char), description (4,000 char). Unlike Apple, Google indexes almost all text that appears in the store listing. Google Play, when it comes to Search, is much more similar to SEO.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
A/B test listing elements like icon (to increase CTR in lists), feature image or screenshots to boost conversion rate and get more installs with the same traffic.
Is your product page ready? Learn how to improve your conversion rate.
3. Track / monitor main KPIs
Track all KPIs: keywords, competitors, Top Charts, organic installs (by country), Similar Apps visibility, conversion rate to install, revenue from organic installs (IAP, advertising…), and competitors’ updates / changes in listings (on-metadata).
Are you monitoring the right data? Learn how to track and optimize the main ASO KPIs
App Store Optimization Guides & Tutorials (Updated 2020)
IMPORTANT: iOS App Store Optimization is not the same as for Google Play Store. Take a look at our ultimate step by step ASO guides and learn how to do it the right way:
How to Do ASO for Android Apps on Google Play Store – Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide for 2020
In this guide we will dive deep into ASO (AKA App Store SEO or App Store Optimization) for Android apps on Google Play Store. We have written a complete guide on how to optimize every element of listing in order to improve the visibility and boost organic downloads in the year 2020.
Are you launching on Google Play Store? Are you choosing your first keywords? Sure you have a lot of questions and, maybe, need some help. Our play store optimization guide will show you what to do and how to do it. There are currently, more or less, around 5 million mobile apps and games on the biggest stores: Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The stores keep on growing exponentially and getting more competitive, so achieving good visibility on the stores has become the biggest challenge for developers and marketers.
App Store Optimization is an essential strategy for mobile iOS & Android businesses, and a great solution to maximize visibility, improve search rankings, increase the conversion rate and drive more organic installs.
Don’t forget to check out our complete App Store ASO guide.
Quick App Store Optimization definition
ASO, App Store SEO or App Store Optimization, is the process of optimizing mobile apps and games to maximize visibility and improve the conversion rate to install. It is sometimes called an “App Store SEO” because of its similarity with Search Engine Optimization, but technically, it is not only about visibility in search, but also about conversion rate optimisation (CRO).
It’s important to remark that App Store Optimization is not “SEO”. SEO for Google Play exists, but although it’s related, it’s not the same thing.
App Store SEO Strategy 101
The strategy consists of 3 main processes:
- Market Research & Keyword Optimization
- Google Play Store optimization & A/B testing
- Tracking/monitoring… and repeating the whole process 🙂
1. Market research & Keyword Optimization
Search optimization starts with market and keyword research.
Market research, paired with Keyword Research and Optimization, is the first step to do when implementing an ASO strategy. Knowing your niche on the market, who are your competitors and what tactics do they use, is extremely important in order to learn how to outrank competition and get more downloads. For the new applications, though, it can be quite challenging to fight for top search rankings for popular search terms, so the best strategy for keyword optimization is to choose the right keywords.
In the beginning it is most recommendable to go for mid- and long-tail keywords, that are a combination for a more specific search. Around 70% of search queries are long-tail, and the conversion on these terms is usually higher, because of the higher probability that the user will find exactly what he was looking for, using a specific search.
Long-tail keywords have less volume of traffic and less competition, so you should try to target as many different combinations of long-tail keywords as possible, and cover a big area of possible search queries related to your product. This way, you will expand your outreach and maximize your visibility in search.
2. Google Play Store optimization & A/B testing
When talking about implementing an App Store Optimization strategy for Google Play, we should keep in mind two factors: on-metadata and off-metadata:
- On-metadata are the factors or elements that are 100% under the control of the developer: title, developer name, short and long description, icon, screenshots.
- Off-metadata factors are not controlled completely by a developer, but can be influenced, for example: installs volume, ratings, and user reviews.
View more App Store Optimization Tips.
Some of these factors affect Search on Google Play, some can influence the Conversion Rate, and some of them can have an effect on both (such as description).
Later in this post we will take a look at how the optimized elements of listing on Google Play Store would look like.
It doesn’t really matter if your Android application is already published on Play Store or you are just preparing its launch: you need to to work on your strategy and correctly implement it.
But the results are not always going to be the same as you expect. You can have what seems to be a great icon and feature graphic, but if they are not converting your visitors to installs, they don’t really work. And the same strategy doesn’t work for 2 apps – every app is different, and so is the App Store SEO. So stop guessing… and start A/B testing.
A/B testing is a comparison of two different versions of store listing against each other to identify which version has better conversion (clicks or installs). During the experiment, you drive the half of your traffic to the option A, and the other half to the option B, comparing them to see which one has the best performance.
Read more about these common A/B testing mistakes written by our friends from Splitmetrics, and don’t make the same errors 😛
Google has its own A/B testing tool integrated with the Google Play Developer Console – check their guidelines on how to perform better A/B testing and start experimenting.
3. Tracking and monitoring
Mobile business is ever-changing, and Google Play Stores changes as well, so your app should be always ready and so does your ASO 🙂
The best practice is to keep track of the most important KPIs weekly (ideally, daily): the volume of installs (organic + non organic), keywords rankings, top charts (overall, category, etc.), ratings and reviews. Revamp your keywords and remove the ones that don’t perform anymore, try experimenting more with the graphic elements and keep on A/B testing until you find the best-converting combination of the elements of your listing on Google Play Store.
Take care of your users, try to provide the best user experience, and keep up with user reviews. Google Play offers a possibility to interact with users, reply to their reviews and even convert negative reviews into positive. A strong positive user sentiment is an important factor, that favor both search app store optimization (Google ranks the applications with more and better reviews higher), and Conversion Rate of your listing (convincing users of the high quality of the app). You can read more about handling user ratings & reviews and become an engagement pro.
And remember – the key to success is, above all, a great product.
Implementing ASO for Your Store Listing
Optimizing a listing for Google Play Store can improve rankings in search, conversion rate to install and drive more organic downloads – so if you haven’t done it already, now is a great time to start.
Having an ASO-optimized Google Play Store listing can help you not only to boost visibility in the store, but also in Google Web Search and App Packs. Read more about SEO and App Packs.
Let’s break down a perfectly optimized Google Play Store listing by elements:
Title
Title is the first and one of the most important ASO on-metadata factors, because it has an effect on both search results and conversion rate to install.
Since June 2017, Google permits to include up to 50 characters in the Title (while Apple has shortened the App Name, instead, from 50 to 30 characters). To maximize the use of this space for your optimization and improve keywords rankings, add some of your most powerful ones to your Title alongside brand name.
Keep your brand name short, clear and easy to spell for your potential users, and try to add emoji to instantly grab users’ attention when they are browsing on the Google Play Store.
A few examples of an optimized Title:
- Brand name – Keyword(s)
- Brand name: Keyword(s)
- Keyword(s) – Brand name
- Keyword(s): Brand name
Don’t ignore localizing your store listing – you can add one Title for each language where you wish to localize your app. Mobile world is global, and having a localized app can help you understand where is the demand for your product coming from (and the results can surprise you)
Below you can find a few examples of a great, ASO optimized Titles:
Read more on how to optimize Title in this post.
URL / package
Curiously, the URL (package) can be a very strong ranking factor for search if you include some keywords there. Check the Google Play Store package URL before publishing, because once it is set, you can’t modify it later.
Read the case study from Daniel Peris about URL / Package as a Search Ranking Factor in Google Play Store. It is incredible how with a boost of installs, Nintendo’s hit Super Mario Run game that had a keyword “zara” in the URL, started ranking for this really competitive keyword.
So, why not include some keyword in your Google Play Store URL?
Developer Name
Developer Name is another important on-metadata factor that has an effect on search rankings. Apart from this, Google keeps a record of developer history, and the apps with positive developer history tend to be ranked higher in Google Play search.
Your search rankings will certainly benefit if you add a few keywords in your developer name, like this:
- Developer Name: Keyword1, Keyword2
Short Description
A short description on Google Play Store affects search and conversion rate.
You can include up to 80 characters in the short description field, and it is very important to keep the balance and provide a clear description, including some of your main keywords that you want to rank for.
A well-composed short description provides a highlight about the virtues or a purpose of your app, clearly delivers a message about its value and catches attention so the user can expand it and go to see the full description. Just like it is true for the Title, adding some emoji to Short Description will definitely help 😉
Bonus: With this Chrome extension you can check short description of any app on Google Play from your desktop browser (and spy on your competitors)
Description
Description is an extremely important factor, affecting both Search and Conversion.
Google’s search engine is crawling through the descriptions, and uses the keywords that it has found (mainly in the first and last 5 lines of text). This is why, your Long Description, should, first of all, be searchable.
You have up to 4.000 characters (use as much as possible) to include as many keywords and keyword combinations as possible. Use your most important ones a few times, especially in the first and the last lines of text, but please – no keyword stuffing. It is not only penalized by Google, but will also have a negative effect on the users and discourage them from trying your app.
Secondly, the description must be organized and well-structured, containing clearly all the information valuable for the user and convincing him to install (convert into your user) with a powerful call-to-action, so your Long Description has to be actionable.
Here is a great example of a nicely structured and ASO optimized Long Description for Android app:
Tips for a great and optimized description on Google Play:
- Use as much space provided for a Long Description as possible (at least 3.000-3.500 characters).
- Localize your description to all possible languages. Preferably, use a help of professional instead of a blind translation.
- Describe the virtues and all the best features of your app – it is okay to brag.
- Find mid and long-tail keywords (keyword combinations) to add to your description.
- Use bullet points or Unicode symbols like ✔❖➜ (get them here) for a clear and visual organization.
- Don’t overload your description with a lot of text – write in short paragraphs.
- Include emoji 🔥 or use HTML and Rich Formatting (read our guide for more tips on that.).
- Mention your awards or contests to encourage your users to give it a shot.
- Include a powerful call-to-action, containing a sense of urgency (e.g. “Download and start saving money today”)
- Mention your social media profiles or user communities.
- Check Google requirements and learn what NOT to do 😉
Icon
Icon is the first visual element that the users see when they come across it in the search results page or Top Charts. Therefore, an icon plays directly affects click-through rate (how many users visit your listing after seeing a preview in Search / Top Charts), and of course, conversion rate (how many users will download the application after visiting listing).
There is no doubt that the icon is an element that has the most influence on user decision whether to take a look and install or not. So, icon is an on-metadata factor responsible for Conversion.
Here you can see the view that the users get in the Google Play Top Charts and search results. A striking, distinctive icon is what can really influence the users to try out your product.
For publishing a store listing on Google Play Store, you need a high-resolution image for your icon. These are Google’s requirements for icon:
- 32-bit PNG (with alpha)
- Dimensions: 512px by 512px
- Maximum file size: 1024KB
A few tips on how to optimize your icon:
- Make sure your icon is clearly reflecting the main purpose of your app – don’t confuse the users unless you already have a strong brand.
- Find your “style” – colours, typography, etc – and stick to it, so you icon goes in alliance with the other elements of your app.
- Take a look at your competitors and make something different.
- Use vibrant and harmonizing colors and clear shapes, don’t overload your icon with too many elements.
- Avoid having text in your icon.
- Try adding borders to the icon to make it more eye-catching.
- Innovate and follow the design trends – remember when everyone got crazy about flat design? 🙂
- Don’t try to guess what icon your users will choose – use A/B testing tools to know exactly what icon performs best.
Read more about how to pick the best icon in this case study by Incipia, and get some more inspiration on amazing icon designs at Creative Bloq.
Video
You can also create a YouTube video about your Android app or game. In this case the video preview thumbnail will become a feature graphic. This is how it looks like on the listing and in search results:
Video is a very simple to use, yet very powerful tool. To add a video, just paste the YouTube URL in the “Promo video” field on your Google Play Store listing. Keep in mind these requirements:
- Make sure to use an individual video’s YouTube URL, not a YouTube playlist or channel URL
- Don’t use an age-restricted video as your promo video
You can localize your video in all the languages that your app is available for. Upload one video for each language, or just use transcripts in different languages, which Google will automatically show depending on user location or device settings.
One of the coolest things about adding a video to your store listing is that the views from Play Store count as YouTube views. This gives you higher YouTube rankings, and therefore, higher positions in Google web search results.
Be sure to check out Apptamin’s guide to video marketing and remember that you can also make A/B testing experiments on your Google Play Store video to identify the top-performing one.
Screenshots
Like other graphic elements of listing, screenshots are the on-metadata elements that are responsible for Conversion Rate. They don’t have such a huge visibility on Google Play (comparing with App Store), because the user has to scroll through listing to get to see them. But still, the screenshots remain to be essential for the users to see how does the app look like from inside.
Just taking a glance at the screenshots, users will already decide if they want to try the application or not, so it is extremely important to make a great first impression on the users. Make sure you showcase your best features on the first two screenshots.
Check out the 10 Best Tools to Design Mobile Screenshots.
On Google Play Store you can add up to 8 screenshots, with a minimum of 2 (but never stop on 2 screenshots) and has the following requirements:
- JPEG or 24-bit PNG (no alpha)
- Minimum dimension: 320px
- Maximum dimension: 3840px
- The maximum dimension of your screenshot can’t be more than twice as long as the minimum dimension
Follow these tips to rock your screenshots:
- Put your best features or the most important messages to the first 2 screenshot slots.
- Use all available screenshot slots, don’t stop on the 2 minimum required ones.
- Use text to explain the information on the images to the users.
- Follow your app’s general style and theme, experiment with creating storylines.
- Provide a challenging copy to encourage users to install.
- Show special offers or discounts to give them more visibility.
- Localize screenshots 🌍
- And never forget to A/B test them to find the best ones for your product.
Final thoughts
Your Google Play Store page is a great scope for optimization and experimenting with different elements in order to find a perfect combination that will increase Search and Top Charts positions, and at the same time convince users to download your Android app and thus, improve your Conversion Rate to install. Also, if you do App Store Optimization, you are optimizing your play store listing for SEO.
There is always room for more optimisation, so never stop doing App Store SEO 🙌
ASO guide for Google Play on SlideShare
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An Ultimate ASO Guide for Apple App Store – iPhone & iPad (iOS 12)
ASO as you all might already know, is an essential strategy for mobile businesses to achieve maximum visibility on the stores, improve their positions in search, conversion rate and drive organic installs.
IMPORTANT: Maybe this App Store Connect guide may help you.
In order to stay up-to-date with rapidly evolving app stores and the changes in their algorithms, we have decided to create the most updated guides to App Store Optimization strategy for the biggest markets: ASO Guide for Google Play Store and this Guide for Apple App Store for 2020 (iPhone & iPad), that we are now proudly offering for you.
We have collected everything you need to know about App Store Optimization for App Store in this guide. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
First, let’s quickly go over the main concepts. Before reading this guide, make sure you have a clear idea about ASO reading our blog and contents.
The ASO process:
Generally, App Store Optimization consists of these 3 main processes:
- Keyword Research
- Listing optimization & A/B testing
- Monitoring the results and again – optimizing.
1. Keyword Research
Keyword research is the first essential step of ASO strategy. But the search algorithms of Apple App Store and Google Play Store are quite different. So, for ranking in search results, the stores are taking into account different factors.
How to select the right keywords?
In order to optimize your listing for a search on the App Store, the first thing you need to think of is ALL the possible search queries that one can use to find your product on the store. It’s all about the ASO keywords.
Brainstorm the initial list of all the keywords related to your project – including the tasks that your application performs, its main features, what kind of IAP do you use, and in case of games – even mention characters and gameplay. Think about what value does your product bring to the users, what need does it solve? All of these will form the base of the keywords list.
Next step is easier: Amplify your keywords list with suggestions.
Where to find suggested keywords?
This can be as simple as checking the suggestions in the search bar, or to use more specific tools for keyword research, like ours 😉
Just add the first bunch of keywords to TheTool and use keyword suggestion feature to find related keywords (you can also distinguish TheTool suggestions from ASA suggestions now, isn’t that great?):
Another way to find new keywords is to spy on your competitors…
How to identify the best keywords?
Once you’ve created a list of keywords to work on, it is time to analyze them and see which ones are worth targeting in order to improve Search ASO.
The best practice, at least in the beginning, is to target mid- and long-tail keywords – keyword combinations that have high enough traffic size (amount of search requests), and lower competition. This information is usually provided in keyword research tools, including TheTool.
Where to put keywords on App Store?
On the App Store, unlike Google Play, not all text fields are indexed by search engine. There are 5 text fields that impact search:
- App Name
- Subtitle
- Keywords field
- Developer name
- IAP
As the description doesn’t have any effect on search algorithms, the main elements to optimize for search are App Name, Subtitle and keywords field. Apple has made a dedicated 100-character field for developers to place the keywords they want to rank for.
The place is limited, so follow these best practices to make the most out of it:
- Don’t include plural word forms if you have already included singular.
- Separate words with commas and don’t use spaces – Apple’s algorithm will already “mix and match” your keywords, creating various keyword combinations to rank your app.
- Don’t include the same keywords that you already have included in your App Name (it already has the biggest weight for Search rankings).
This is how to edit the keywords field on App Store Connect:
2. Product page optimization & A/B testing
The next important step of ASO is to work directly on your product page (which we will talk about later in more detail).
This means working on your on-metadata (those are the elements that fall under the direct control of developers and can be easily changed and optimized), and off-metadata factors, that are not under developer’s control, but can be influenced.
Off-metadata factors include downloads volume and velocity, user engagement, ratings (average rating and number of ratings received), and reviews.
Ratings and reviews
In the App Store, the role of ratings and reviews has been seriously elevated lately. The all-time ratings are displayed right below the icon. In contrast, the average rating of the current version and the accumulated rating of all versions aren’t shown.
User reviews also have got a more prominent position on the product page, together with developer’s answers if those are provided.
Moreover, apps appear on search results with ratings, which created foremost importance for developers to take care of their user experience and ensure positive feedback from their users.
A/B testing
To make sure that the optimizations of your product page are optimal, you need to see a consequent improvement in conversion rate (a number of visitors who end up installing).
The great way to measure it is with A/B testing. A/B test is an experiment, during which one element of a product page is changed and the traffic is driven to both versions to determine which one is performing best in terms of conversion rate.
A/B testing is a vital part of App Store SEO, as it is the only way to find out if the icons, screenshots and previews would really work to attract and convince the users. Stop guessing and start A/B testing.
Check some great tools for A/B testing here.
3. Monitoring the results
After making all the improvements, it is time to track and monitor the results of optimization, in terms of KPIs such as keywords rankings, app store rankings, conversion rate, the volume of organic downloads, reviews, and ratings. You can use TheTool for this, of course.
Don’t forget that a key to success is, first of all, a great product 🙂
Implementing ASO for App Store product page
The App Store received a great redesign after iOS 11 update, which affected the process of app discovery (changes in Categories, the introduction of editorial picks – Today section). iOS 12 has worked based on the redesign of iOS 11, aiming to give users a better experience.
This is how the App Store looks like:
Let’s break it down by elements:
App Name
It is one of the strongest ranking factors, that is responsible for both search results rankings and conversion rate.
The length of App Name is 30 characters and can be changed only when submitting a new version. This is quite a big reduction, as it started as 255 (later, 50) characters that we had just a couple of years ago, and even smaller than the space for the Title on Google Play – 50 char. To compensate for so little available space, there’s a Subtitle field complementing it in order to add a brief description.
Studies have proven that the keywords included in the App Name, are performing twice as good as those included in the keywords field. Read more about it in this post.
The best advice is to keep a brand name short and memorable for the users and use the rest of the space to include some of your core keywords. Later we will talk about other benefits of having keywords there.
Two great examples:
We strongly recommend to localize your product page – you can publish it in each language where you have made your app available. Read more on how to manage localizations in Apple’s guidelines.
Subtitle
Subtitle is a 30-character field that was introduced with iOS 11, it is located right below App Name. It is primarily meant to summarize a product in an additional sentence and highlight the best features of your product.
It was confirmed that Subtitle affects keyword rankings, so this field can be used for adding some more keywords.
It will also appear on Top Charts, and will have an effect on the click-through rate, turning the users who found your app in search results or Top Charts into visitors of your product page.
Consequently, it will affect the conversion rate. Apple recommends to test different versions, related, for example, to the release of new features, or important update, in order to find a copy that is most engaging and compelling for the users. Same as App Name, a Subtitle can be updated only with submitting a new version.
An example of how will this field look on the product page:
Description
The description is fixed and developers can’t change it without submitting a new version. If you want to announce updates or special offers more frequently than updating your app, better use a Promotional Text field, that we will talk about later on.
In the previous version of the Store, the description didn’t affect keywords rankings. However, the Description field has an effect on SEO. But this is another story…
The description is a 4.000-character field, but the most important part of it is the first sentence (the first 3 lines), because this is the part which the users can see without having to tap to read more (so it affects the Conversion Rate).
A few tips for a perfect description from Apple:
- Highlight the key features of your product, focus on its uniqueness.
- Be clear and concise, transmit the core value to the users.
- Use your brand tone to communicate with your target audience.li
- Mention your awards (or even keep it for Promotional Text for more highlight)
- Don’t do keyword stuffing (it will not even help).
- Avoid mentioning prices – they may not be accurate for all countries.
- Localize your description
Promotional Text
Promotional Text is a 170-character field that is likely to appear on top of the Description and can be updated any time in between the submissions of new versions.
Promo Text does not affect keyword rankings, but a well-written copy can definitely improve the conversion rate. Use it to include any special offers, promotions, share the latest news or upcoming features.
In-App Purchases (IAP)
IAP can appear in App Store search results and can be featured on the Today, Games or Apps tabs. You can showcase up to 20 elements for both In-App Purchases and Subscriptions, each one having its name, description and icon:
Read more about Indexing In-App Purchases in Search Results in this article.
Developer
On App Store the developer name is located below the fold (below description), so the users need to scroll to get to see it. So, developer name has hardly any effect on conversion rate.
However, a positive historic record of the developer can have a great effect on rankings and can help your app to get featured on Today, Apps or Games tabs.
Developer name can appear in search results, and thus, affect Search.
Icon
Icon is one of the most prominent elements of on-metadata – the first element that users see when they find the app in search, or Top Charts (Games or Apps tabs). So, the icon has a very strong effect on click-through rate and conversion rate.
Apple requires every developer to supply icons in small and large size. Small ones are used on the Home screen and throughout the system when the app is installed on iOS devices, and large one is used in the App Store.
In addition to that, an app needs to provide smaller icons to be used in Spotlight, Settings, and Notifications.
App Store Icon Sizes
iPhone: 180px × 180px (60pt × 60pt @3x) / 120px × 120px (60pt × 60pt @2x)
iPad Pro: 167px × 167px (83.5pt × 83.5pt @2x)
iPad, iPad mini: 152px × 152px (76pt × 76pt @2x)
App Store: 1024px × 1024px (1024pt × 1024pt @1x)
A few tips on how to optimize (or create) your icon:
- Make it simple and recognizable – the icon should give the users a clear idea what your product is about.
- Work with simple forms and harmonizing colors, don’t overload it with too many details.
- Think of scalability: your icon should be visible in any size.
- Stay consistent to the overall style of your app.
- Match your icons: don’t create a confusion with your icon being different on the App Store and on the user iOS devices.
- Avoid text.
- Test and identify the best performing icon with A/B testing tools.
- Test against different backgrounds – make sure your icon will be clear and visible against any wallpaper.
Previews (Video)
A video preview that is located before the first screenshot. The developers can add up to 3 video previews to engage with potential users when they come across the app in search results or visit a product page.
Previews autoplay on mute both on the product page and in search, which makes these video previews a strong on-metadata factor responsible for Conversion. They can be up to 30 seconds long and use footage of an app experience captured from a device.
To convince the users to install your application in just 30 seconds, the video previews have to be really compelling and attractive and provide a clear visual explanation of content and features.
Here are some tips on how to create a great app preview:
- Show real experience – use footage captured on the device, and avoid overproducing the video. Eventually, what the users want to know is what to expect from your app.
- Learn how to capture app footage and check Apple’s format requirements for previews on this page.
- Focus on the first video: the additional previews will be shown only to the users who already have iOS 12, the rest will only see the first one.
- Make the first seconds of your video really compelling – try to catch user attention and convince them to watch the full preview.
- Get your audience excited – showcase 3-5 best features.
- Use copy to drive interest and provide explanation since your preview will be auto played on mute.
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Don’t forget about localization – provide narration and copy for your previews on different languages
Screenshots
The screenshots are another important on-metadata of your store listing. And, just like the previews, screenshots don’t affect directly the Search, but they certainly have a strong effect on CTR and conversion rate.
Apple allows the developers to provide up to 10 screenshots. Displayed right after the video preview, they are meant to highlight the main features and provide additional details about the product.
Screenshots are visible in search results and become the second visual element, after icon, that the users find in their app discovery process, and thus, screenshots are aimed to convince the users to download.
Screenshots are hi-res images with portrait or landscape orientation, with the following requirements:
- 72 dpi, RGB, flattened, no transparency
- High-quality JPEG or PNG image file format
The sizes can vary depending on devices. However, you can submit the highest resolution image for each device type (iPhone or iPad), and the screenshots will be scaled appropriately for other device sizes. Read more about Apple’s requirements for screenshots sizes.
Localizing the screenshots is very important when you make your product available in different countries. And a good localization is not a blind translation, but the adaptation of all the content (including maps, currencies, signs, etc) to the culture of the country.
This is a great example of Uber US and chinese screenshots:
Follow these tips to create striking screenshots:
- Display the best features on the first 2 screenshots.
- Preferably, work with portrait orientation – this way the users will see two screenshots in search results. page instead of just one.
- Use all the screenshot slots to create an interesting storyline.
- Follow the style of your app, stay consistent and provide explanations on captions.
- Work on a challenging copy to encourage users to install.
- Showcase special offers and promotions to motivate your users.
- If you have any awards, brag about them
- Don’t forget to A/B test your screenshots to find the top-performing ones.
Related | App Store screenshot sizes
Final thoughts
The iPhone / iPad App Store has gone through many changes throughout the last years. However, having in mind all the iOS 12 elements and how to optimize them, we can start thinking of the new strategies to improve rankings, convince users to download your great product and drive more organic installs.
Happy optimizing 🙂
