Major mistakes in APP Store Optimization

No or missing common keywords

Therefore, when compiling a semantic core, it is important to take into account not only queries that are related to the subject of your product, but also indirect ones, by which potential users could search for an application.

For example, for a platform to search for air tickets, the queries “air tickets”, “buy tickets”, and “cheap air ticket” will not be enough. In this case, you need to add keywords such as “travel”, “cheap flights”, “buy plane tickets” and the like. You can pick them up using special services: Keyword Tool, and Sensor Tower. To do this, you need to enter basic search queries.

No competitor analysis

Competitor analysis is an important step in mobile app optimization, which allows you to get ideas for visual elements of the page, such as icons and screenshots, and also makes it easier to find and analyze key queries.

When selecting keywords, you should be guided not only by the frequency of queries but also evaluate their relevance to a particular application. It is often difficult to independently assess the relevance of a query to an application without competitive analysis.

Let's say we're making a mobile game, but we don't have an idea of ​​what keywords to use in the description, or what to depict on the icon and screenshots. To draw up a TOR for a designer and a copywriter, we will analyze the list of competitors in the top 10 in related topics.

If some element or color combinations are often found in different competitors, they most likely conducted tests, and we can rely on the results of search results when compiling the TOR for the icon for the designer.

The same work in different app stores

ASOS for mobile apps on Android and IOS are different and should be taken into account.

When trying to use one ASO strategy for two stores, you will encounter the following difficulties:

• Differences in field indexing. For example, there are no hidden fields for entering keywords in Google Play, and the description is not indexed in the App Store.
• The number of characters in the indexed fields does not match. At the moment, there are discrepancies in the allowed number of characters only in the short description. On Google Play, you can add 80 characters, but on the App Store, you can only add 30.
• visual elements. In the App Store, the application page looks like this: at the top are the name, icon, and rating of the program, and below is a gallery in which you can place up to 10 images. Google Play broadcasts product graphics on a third of the screen, and the page in this app store contains the title, icon, rating, number of downloads, and a brief description of the program.
• Influence of users on promotion. Some factors also affect the promotion of a product, but they cannot be controlled. If an app has high engagement and a low uninstall rate, it becomes more popular. In the App Store, this works in all categories of applications, and Google Play only in games.

Reviews are not processed

Feedback is a valuable source of information about application bugs that testers missed, an opportunity to find inspiration for upgrades and implementation of new features. By responding to user feedback, the developer increases their loyalty to the product.

In addition, on Google Play, reviews are a tool that helps you rank your app higher for frequently mentioned keywords in user feedback and developer responses.

If you do not work with reviews, then the rating of the application will decrease or remain at the same level. According to mobile action, 13% of users view at least 7 reviews before installing an app, and the figure rises to 33% if the app is paid. And low ratings and negative reviews without responses reduce conversion to installation.

No iterations

Constantly update the semantic core, add popular queries and remove obsolete ones. Then the traffic will be high, which means that there will be more installs. In the end, you will be able to build a core that will consist entirely of effective keywords. Analysis and updating of keywords will allow you to find the most effective options for promoting your product.