Detailed App Store Optimization Guide for 2015 - Part 2: Google Play Store

We present to you the second part of the App Store Optimization material (the first one is here ). This time, as indicated in the title, the conversation will focus on the Google Play Store and Android applications.

So you developed an Android app? Then you should read this material. Why? According to Fiksu, about 80% of downloads on the Google Play Store are high-quality organic downloads. Optimization for the Google Play Store is significantly different from optimization for the Apple Store. The main differences will be indicated below. Search ranking for the Play Store has many similarities with the ranking of the Google search engine itself, and yes, this is a rather complex topic. But our tips will help you navigate it.


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Several well-known ranking factors:

• The number of user ratings.
• Quality ratings.
• The amount of installations.
• Growing downloads in the last 30 days.
• The number of deletions of the application.
• Frequency of use of the application.
• Backlinks: Pages that link to the page with your application.

Other factors worth mentioning include keywords, design and external factors. We will talk about all this now.

Less important factor: keywords

When placing an application on the Apple App Store, keywords are more important than in the case of the Google Play Store. At the same time there is no separate field for keywords. Instead

This should be used in the application description and in the title. Forget about keywords should not be.

We solve the problem: choose the name of the application of 30 characters

Yes, app names on Google Play are limited to 30 characters. At the same time, the title should contain a key focus word or phrase - this is one of the factors that positively affect the ranking of applications.

Functions and advantages of the application

In the description of the application for Google Play, you can use 4000 characters - this is much more than in the Apple Store. A well-known strategy is the use of keywords 4-5 times in the description. This can improve the position of the application in the issuance of the directory by 10-20 units. In this case, you should not use keywords too often; this can already be regarded as search engine spam followed by a drop in the output. To avoid this, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the position of Google on this issue.

Another important factor: design

As in the case of the Apple App Store, design, appearance is one of the factors that make users interested. So you should pay attention to the development of icons for your program. Google has dedicated a separate page to this issue. By the way, Google also provides a place to host a video in which you can describe all the advantages of the application.



We also recommend using all 8 screenshots for each device (Phone, 7-inch tablet, 10-inch tablet, Android TV). First you should post the most spectacular screenshots with the addition of descriptions for each. This tool should be used to simplify the formatting of images for each application localization.

You should definitely use Feature Graphic , because this is a free opportunity to promote your application. Here, images are used instead of text, but if you are going to work with text, place it in the center of the frame, both horizontally and vertically.

Promovideo

Embedding a video is quite simple - you just need to specify the URL of the video on YouTube. We strongly recommend using this option, since the video is shown in the first place on the application page when viewed from a mobile device. It is best not to make the video too long, we recommend a maximum of 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Try to present the most interesting features of the application by placing this information in the

the beginning of the video. If you use a device with Android 4.4 KitKat or a newer version of the OS, you can record a video while working with the application directly on the device.

Some difficulties: external factors

Google Play Store uses a more sophisticated application ranking algorithm compared to the Apple App Store. It is quite difficult to say exactly what the percentage of influence of each factor is and to list the full list, but here are the main ones:

• The number of user ratings.
• Quality ratings.
• The amount of installations.
• The number of deletions of the application, in order to avoid a similar situation .
• Frequency of use.
• Backlinks.

Ratings and ratings

This is a key factor for the application, which helps the user to understand whether to download the program. And it is important for any catalog of programs (not just Apple or Google). But on the Google Play Store, positive reviews are especially important - here you should really try to avoid negative reviews. One of the solutions to this problem is user feedback. You have to find a way to get their opinion, but do it unobtrusively. In addition, it is necessary to correct the problems pointed to by the user.

First, you should ask if the person is satisfied with the program, and ask for an assessment only if he clicked “Yes”. Otherwise, there may be a large number of negative reviews.

What else can you do? Use Google+

Not many people use Google+, but you should do it. Google prefers its own products, their impact on the ranking is quite large.



The volume and download speed greatly affects the ranking in the Apple Store, but in the case of Google Play, the situation is different - here this factor is estimated a little differently. The situation in the last 30 days is important. What does it mean? A large number of downloads in a short period when using the paid promotion option is less important than in the Apple Store.

Remember your users

The number of users and the frequency of program removal is another factor. This means that it is very important to retain users. This can be done using push notifications, and users automatically subscribe to them when they install the program.

Backlinks

As mentioned above, backlinks are essential for ranking an application on Google Play. Since 2012, Google has been indexing all application pages, and backlinks have a positive effect on the position in the search results of the catalog. In principle, there is much in common with Google’s regular search rankings.

Independent developers with small budgets are finding it harder to compete with the giants of the industry, even with paid promotion. Therefore, App Store Optimization (ASO) is a great opportunity to improve the position of your application in the issuance of a catalog, which automatically attracts users' attention to the program.

Successful optimization!