A guide to App Store & Google Play ranking factors
As digitalisation continues to change and evolve, so does how we, as users, interact with digital search. It’s not only traditional websites that can be leveraged for search success – other digital platforms can be optimised too. This includes app providers like Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Optimising app listings in these spaces brings a whole wealth of benefits that impact not only the success of the app itself but your company on a broader scale.
In this article, we’ll cover the ranking factors behind Apple App Store and Google Play so you can factor them into your marketing strategy. We’ll also go through the benefits of implementing ASO activities and the best practices you should follow to make the most of your app presence in these marketplaces.
What are App Store and Google Play?
App Store and Google Play are both digital marketplace platforms that distribute apps on smart devices. The marketplace users have access to depends on the type of device(s) they have. In this instance, App Store is the app provider for Apple, and Google Play is for Android.
What are App Store and Google Play Ranking Factors?
Both App Store and Google Play have clearly outlined what impacts ranking in their search results. Whilst neither provider divulges too much information, at a top level, the few consistencies across both consist of:
- The number of downloads, installs, and conversions your app has
- Metadata included in your app listing i.e. app titles, descriptions, and targeted keywords
- Reviews and ratings – the better your reviews and ratings, the more trustworthy you’re likely to appear
- Retention rates and maintaining your user base
- Regular updates and bug fixes
- Quality of images and creative that reflect the contents of your app product
- Backlinks from websites and social media.
Interestingly, the depth of ranking signals compared to say, search engines is much more basic and can be impacted more simply. This makes it crucial for startups and scale-ups to work with ASO providers to take advantage of the opportunity on hand and build authority within your space on app store platforms.
What are the benefits of app store optimisation (ASO)?
As you’d imagine, app store optimisation has many benefits that help apps succeed, especially in a competitive space like an app marketplace.
One of the main benefits of a successful ASO strategy is increased visibility in app stores, which directly impacts an app’s discoverability and its ongoing ranking. With what seems like a lifetime’s supply of apps available, standing out in search results is critical for an app’s success – the more visible you are, the likelihood of downloads increases. ASO can help apps compete with those developed by large, established brands by improving their visibility and, therefore, leveling out their take on the market share. This can have a major impact on apps from smaller companies.
Another key benefit of ASO is its ability to reduce user acquisition costs whilst ensuring sustainable app visibility. Unlike paid advertising, which requires ongoing financial investment and a shifting landscape, ASO provides a more cost-effective way to engage with potential customers. This can all be done by focusing on enhancing an app’s listing, as outlined in our ranking factors section above.
ASO can be integral to a broader marketing strategy, working with other channels like SEO and social media to drive app downloads and build greater brand awareness. This approach is particularly beneficial for smaller and app-first businesses, as it allows them to leverage existing marketing efforts to boost app visibility and engagement.
What’s the difference between traditional SEO and ASO?
Traditional SEO and App Store Optimisation (ASO) enhance visibility and drive traffic similarly. After all, they’re all about search results. However, they operate in very different environments and require different strategies, for different algorithms and services.
SEO is a complex process that focuses on a wide range of strategies, including content, technical, and link building. The crucial element resides with ensuring your website can provide a good user experience – whether that is through content (what you talk about, what you sell, and so forth), technical (is your site high quality, the speed of which your site operates and how effective it is for performing the users needs) and then link-building (building trust and authority signals to ensure users can feel confident in your brand). It is a long-term process that requires a lot of fine-tuning and testing.
However, ASO is tailored explicitly for smart device apps and aims to improve their visibility within app marketplaces. ASO is generally more straightforward, with clearer guidelines and a focus on optimising metadata to enhance discoverability. Whereas SEO and search engines take into hundreds (if not thousands) of algorithms and ranking factors that aren’t divulged to the public.
While SEO and ASO are separate, both are integral to the broader digital marketing efforts, including social media and other online platforms.
The strategies employed in ASO are influenced by top-level SEO practices, such as keyword optimisation, but they are adapted to the unique environment of app stores. This distinction is crucial as the way users search for information and apps is evolving, requiring a holistic approach that considers both web and app visibility. While SEO involves a wide range of factors and requires ongoing adjustments to align with search engine updates and ensuring a positive UX for users, ASO benefits from more transparent ranking criteria, making it a little easier to understand and implement effective optimisation strategies.
Best practices for ASO success
Achieving ASO success involves a combination of creating a valuable app and implementing effective strategies to enhance its visibility and user engagement.
The foundation of ASO success lies in developing a high-quality app that delivers genuine value to users. This involves focusing on ranking factors that improve app visibility and benefit users by providing clear visuals and transparent information about the app’s functionalities. Offering context and clarity about what the app does can help attract and retain users. Likewise, managing reviews and ratings is a crucial aspect of ASO. Since users are likelier to leave reviews after negative experiences, it is important to employ tactical and strategic methods to encourage positive reviews, such as prompting satisfied users to share their feedback after a positive engagement.
Integrating ASO into a broader marketing strategy is essential for increasing app downloads and conversions, whilst feeding into your wider digital performance. To enhance discoverability, various channels, including SEO, social media, and even QR codes at events, are important to encourage app downloads and improve app ranking.
While ranking is important, user experience (UX) should not be overlooked. Transparency regarding costs, subscriptions, and in-app purchases can make a difference when a user is looking to convert, as it can significantly impact user reviews and overall satisfaction. This information should be communicated on the app’s website, social profiles, and app-store listing. Additionally, while the impact of backlinks on app store rankings is uncertain, they can contribute to a broader SEO strategy by driving traffic to the app store link.
Finally, a high-quality app succeeds in creating a strong retention base. In turn, the better the retention, the more likely you are to perform well according to your strategy. Positive retention can lead to increased reviews, stronger revenue, and general positive sentiment – all of which positively impact how the app can perform
Conclusion
Successful ASO is a recent marketing channel that is having a big impact on overall marketing performance. Although it has similarities to SEO, it is still very much its own thing and should be given the time needed to ensure it meets its full potential. The good news is that ASO is a lot more accessible than SEO, and as such, it can significantly impact smaller businesses and those with limited resources.
We at Blue Array focus on search first and aren’t limited to only SEO (as valuable as it is). We’re curious to investigate how ASO and SEO can work together. We’re testing the impacts of this relationship to identify how we can better target ASO and SEO improvements for stronger client performance. We are taking the time to understand how this can work for our clients and be a new opportunity to leverage.