App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of optimizing the store pages of your app in the mobile stores to increase your app’s visibility and improve user conversion. A correct approach to App Store Optimization (ASO) will decide whether your organic traffic will scale or not.
Let’s walk you through the main common mistakes that many brands and popular apps tend to make with this easy-to-follow tutorial to understand what you need to do to make your organic traffic scalable.
Mistake 1. Not Adapting Your App Strategy To Each Country – App Localization
Your main markets are the core of your business, where you get most installs from. Having an optimized user journey is therefore, key for app growth. By localizing your app, the most common mistake is to use a strategy generated for one specific country and apply it to other localizations.
For example, a very common mistake is to apply the same graphs (screenshots, icon) in the US to the rest of the English speaking countries (UK, IN). By not differentiating the localization strategy for each country, you are not taking into account the multiple factors that may fall into a different user segmentation as we do have different search traffic, competitors, market trends, designs and other country specifics with a different impact on the visibility and conversion of an app for each market.
Mistake 2. Implementing The Same Strategy For The Google Play And the iOS App Store
It is also usual, when creating the store texts and visuals of an app, to apply the same global strategy for Google Play and the iOS App Store without developing separate plans and producing store pages for each one of them. This is a mistake you should try to avoid, as each store has a different set of characteristics and app store optimization factors as well as a diverse audience.
Your app analytics will help you better understand your app’s benchmarks to be able to assess and plan a separate App Store Optimization strategy for each store.
Mistake 3. Not Adapting Your App Concepts To Your Target Audience
First and foremost, it is very important to properly identify your audience. This idea is linked to your app localization strategy: You always need to adapt your ASO to reach the type of user you are targeting. For example, if your core audience are young adults you might decide to showcase “soft” designs into your screenshots.
You will need to focus on the keywords that best represent your app, the most relevant ones. You will also need to consider seasonalities such as Christmas, Halloween, etc. and also restrictions that may exist in different verticals like gambling, sugar industry or health, and adapt your strategy in order to reach your target audience persona. Keep in mind that there are always several audience groups you can target with your app but unfortunately we have only one main store page. Thus, try to create a balance between your target audience and the audience that will provide you with the most value.
Mistake 4. Wrong Keyword Optimization Strategy
Using the store page fields correctly is essential when working on your ASO strategy. If you don’t optimize as many fields as possible, you will miss out on multiple ways to impact your target audience. Optimizing not only with relevant keywords the title but also the rest of the fields will maximize your app performance.
It is very important to optimize all fields and know their relevance for both platforms (App Store and Google Play). For example, the title or subtitle have a greater impact on ASO in iOS, while in Google Play, the long description is more relevant for the app’s visibility. Looking specifically into each mobile store:
Common ASO mistakes on iOS App Store
- Combinations between keywords and long tail keywords have not been taken into account
- The keywords selected aren’t very relevant to the app’s core business
- Keywords are repeated in the different fields
- There are unused characters in the fields that could be optimized. Using the 100 slots available in the keyword field will also help you expand your visibility.
Usual mistakes on Google Play Store are:
- Using copyright and trademarks words as well as penalized words in the short description (like free, kids) might harm your app performance
- Keyword stuffing: Google Play might penalize you for keyword spamming and adding too many times the same word in your store page
- Not localizing the keywords appropriately
Mistake 5. Thinking That Visual Elements Do Not Influence ASO
A good ASO strategy brings an increase in traffic and conversion. Not optimizing your visual assets will determine your prospects not to install your app. Having a higher user conversion VS your competitors is a way to get a valuable advantage in the app market.
There are thousands of apps, in either store, that compete with each other for the same keywords. In order for your app to stand out from the masses, you need to optimize your app’s creative assets – the icon, screenshots, feature graphs and videos as they have a huge influence on user behavior.
Mistake 6. Not Optimizing Your ASO Strategy
ASO is not a one time thing about adding the store assets you need to get ready to launch your app and then forget about it. It is a long term race, where researching, testing and analyzing and iterating multiple factors is key to improve the visibility and increase the downloads of your app.
A common mistake is to think that the strategy and optimization that was used 3 months ago still works today. In the volatile mobile ecosystem, the strategy that works for you today may need to change tomorrow.
Imagine there’s a new competitor popping into the market strongly, wouldn’t this new app have an impact on your audience? Probably yes. Or, for example, don’t you expect a higher outreach during the Christmas season? If so, you need to plan ahead your store page to adapt your message to each period of time and maximize app efficiency.
These are some common mistakes made by the developers and brands we work for in the past. These mistakes, such as not identifying your target audience, will not only reduce the visibility of your app, but will also cause you a push down in your business.
If you have any questions in this regard feel free to reach us out – we’re happy to revise your ASO Strategy
