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Toward the end of September 2016, Apple reduced the character limit allowed for app names, which caused a frenzy among developers focused on App Store Optimization. It pressured many developers to restructure their app’s title tags since keywords in title tags that exceeded 50 characters on the App Store would no longer be ranked.
While many developers have followed ASO best practices and improved their app’s metadata (title, description and screenshots), not many focus on the app’s preview video. The preview video is in place to improve conversion rates by engaging the audience and showing users the app’s core features. Unfortunately, it’s a forgotten part of the app’s metadata. Developers need to optimize their preview video with ASO to increase their odds of converting users and encourage them to tap “GET.” What’s a Preview Video? Preview videos are one of the first visual representations of your app that users will see when searching in the app stores. On an Android device, the video appears at the very top of the listing, encouraging users to interact with the gameplay and see how to use the app before scrolling down to read the description. For iOS, the preview video can take the place of a screenshot and is always listed first in the sequence. A preview video is supposed to be rich in content and deliver the app’s message well. There are three common types of preview videos developers tend to use, and those are:
It seems every time you go to either app store’s home page there are new apps popping up in every category. The Apple App Store alone has over 2.2 million apps, and the Google Play Store has even more. Last year alone, there were 130 billion downloads on the App Store. Competition is intense regardless of what app developers are trying to market for. One industry, however, stands out from the rest. Mobile games are constantly growing and gaming companies want to get their apps noticed by users. From what was seen at this year’s GDC, the mobile gaming industry is booming, and developers need to stand out against the competition. The only way to create more visibility for an app is by utilizing an ASO strategy.
Apple’s newest software update, iOS 10.3, made waves when the company announced that developers could now respond to user reviews. While developers are making time to respond to reviews, others detect another hidden gem of iOS 10.3. Before the software update was released, developers took notice a new function in the SDK that allows for multiple app icons for one app. While iOS 10.3 is only two weeks old, one company has already implemented the new function in two of their apps. MLB at Bat and the NHL app were the first two to update to the under-the-radar option and allow users to change the app’s icon to their favorite team. While it may seem easy to customize an app’s icon, there is more that goes into the update than some realize.
The mobile app market is growing at an exponential rate, and as it stands, more than half the world now uses smartphones, which equates to roughly 4.92 billion global mobile users. Across the globe, mobile app developers are adopting an ASO strategy to change their app’s metadata to increase discoverability in the new market. While creating an app’s visibility in the market is essential, developers looking to expand their app’s appeal on a global scale need to correctly localize their app to increase conversion.
The number of mobile users is growing exponentially, and mobile app usage in all categories of the app stores is up from last year, especially shopping. Retail apps have given users the power to buy anything they want straight from their mobile devices, and the ecommerce market is predicted to surpass $2 trillion in the coming years. Users are no longer shopping from their desktops, and are now primarily using a mobile device at every step of a transaction. Companies like eBay and Amazon have basically cornered the ecommerce market, and their mobile apps are ranked in the top free apps on the App Store. These companies have made the effective shift to mobile, and are appealing to users that want to instantly buy anything. In Q4, eBay’s mobile platform delivered record-breaking results and crossed the $10 billion benchmark. On Black Friday in 2016, Amazon surpassed the $1.2 billion mark on their mobile platform for the first time. Mobile retail apps have taken over the way that users shop for their products, and it will not slow down. eBay and Amazon dominate ecommerce, but it is because of their mobile apps that they do so well. These companies have paid attention to what users want, and are evolving with the specific user trends. By being attentive to their customers and updating the app store listing to include specific trends while being relevant to users’ searches, it has lead for better optimization in the app stores. The best companies in the ecommerce market all have one thing in common: they’re optimizing their mobile apps using App Store Optimization (ASO).
As people increase their time on their mobile apps, it begs the question of how well apps are retaining users? Developers continue to struggle retaining users after they have downloaded an app. According to AppsFlyer, the number of users that remain on an app after downloading is roughly 10-12 percent after seven days and drops to a dismal 4-5 percent after thirty days. AppsFlyer has the retention rates broken down into divisions for both iOS and Android that include the click-to-install rates. Retention rates are looked at from every angle, and were examined through organic and non-organic users by comprising data of users who were active on days 1, 7 and 30. While the rates have technically improved year-over-year, developers are still finding it difficult to retain users. More developers need to improve their app’s metadata by practicing App Store Optimization (ASO), which will improve app retention rates.
As companies roll out new software, it opens new opportunities for developers to explore features that will benefit an app’s conversion rate and what it means for the future of mobile apps. When Apple released its public beta of iOS 10.3, the biggest buzz introduced was developers getting the opportunity to respond to reviews. Not only can users interact with developers, it gives the developers the chance to improve conversion rates. However, many
As the mobile app market continues to grow, it comes as no shock that the time users spend on these apps has also grown within the past year. According to the analytics firm Flurry, US users are spending at least five hours a day on their mobile devices, and that time is mostly spent on mobile apps. Five hours a day is a 20 percent increase, which is massive compared to the usage in the fourth quarter of 2015. While year-over-year the time spent on mobile apps has increased by 69 percent, leaving mobile browser usage at a dismal 8 percent of users’ time. There must be a reason why users are spending more time on mobile apps, and it’s possible that ASO has something to do with converting more users on annual basis. As the app stores continue to grow, the amount of options in each category grows as well. Flurry broke down the percentage based on the categories of apps users spend their time on. Here are the percentages for some of the app categories and how ASO has aided in the massive increase of time spent on mobile apps.
The Game Developers Conference wrapped up last week in in San Francisco, CA, where masses of developers presented their new strategies for gaming in 2017. GDC is one of the major conferences for the year that game developers in all fields can showcase their new games, bring visibility to indie games and set precedents for the gaming industry. This year, GDC had everything from the latest in VR technology to new game engines that will improve the graphics for mobile gaming. Console, PC and mobile users will be happy with what this year’s GDC provided for the future of the game industry in 2017. Here are some of the highlights from last week.
The annual Game Developers Conference started in San Francisco, CA this week and developers are getting ready to debut their new games. This conference is no longer just for console game developers, but has included iOS and Android platforms as well. Mobile developers from around the world are trying to steer the focus toward their new games and bringing their popular mobile games to other parts of the world. They are also there to not only improve visibility of the app, but show what the gaming industry looks like from around the world. GDC invites game developers across the world to bring new games, which means that there will be more mobile games for end users to expect coming to the App Store and Google Play in the coming year. The Chinese and UK game industries are just two of the many developers in mobile games, but they should be watched as they bring games from around the world to the US.
After the wild year Pokémon GO had in 2016, from its release to eventual fall from grace, it’s back once again trying reclaim its place on the Top Charts of the App Store. The hit game that took players of all generations and the world by storm last June suffered a major drop, most likely because it’s original release and most current updates do not utilize common ASO standards. Despite Pokémon GO’s quick success, the initial fall came as no surprise due to poor marketing strategies, weak keyword rankings and Niantic (publisher) relying solely on the long-standing brand name. The app launched at number one in the Top Free Downloads chart and the Top Grossing chart, but it’s lack of ASO standards lead to the app’s eventual fall in the rankings. While Pokémon GO is currently ranked at number fifteen on the Top Grossing chart in the App Store, it suffers from not utilizing ASO strategies. Apple gives developers 50 characters for titles. Including high volume keywords in the title. The app’s title acts as an additional keyword field, lending itself to build additional phrases with the terms used in the app’s keyword bank. With this additional reach, Pokémon