An Introduction to App Store Optimisation
What will I learn?
A bit about apps
How to optimise
How to improve visibility
A bit about apps
People love games. Simple.Games
Business
Education
Lifestyle
Entertainment
Utilities
Travel
Books
Music
Health and Fitness
Productivity
Food and Drink
Sports
Photo and Video
Finance
0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0%
22.21%
10.41%
9.59%
8.83%
6.52%
5.02%
4.32%
3.49%
2.97%
2.87%
2.79%
2.62%
2.53%
2.39%
2.32%
Share of active apps
Most popular Apple App Store categories in September 2015, by share of available apps
Recognise the Top 3 most downloaded games?
The App Store is huge…
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1600000 1500000
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..but not as big as the Google Play
Dec '09
Mar '10
Apr '10Jul '1
0
Oct '10
Apr '11Jul '1
1
Aug '11
Dec '11
Feb '1
2
May '1
2
Jun '12
Sep '1
2
Oct '12
Apr '13Jul '1
3Jul '1
4
Feb '1
5Jul '1
50
200000
400000
600000
800000
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18000001600000
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How to optimise
How to improve visibility
Step 1: Keyword Research
Gain access to some app research tools
Identify those relevant, in-demand terms that users search with
Confirm the keywords you feel are realistic to see results for
Only 30 characters at your disposal. Try to include keywords in addition to the
name
Limit of up to 225 characters
A cut off after 30-40 charactersApple uses the entire title for keyword
targeting Despite this, keep the title short
Step 2: Your Title
This is common sense…
1. Keep it professional
2. Don’t leave it blank!
Step 3: The Icon
You can only apply keywords in the App Store
Only 100 characters available so choose wisely (don’t repeat those in the title!)
Separate with a comma
N.B. Apple pay close attention to this field
Step 4: Keywords
Again, a limit of 4000 charactersClick to expand
Keywords are of direct relevance here
A limit of 4000 characters for the description
Open with your USPKeywords included provide no ranking
value here
Step 5: The Description
The preview length can be longer in Google Play, 30 seconds to 2 minutes
Length of video should be 15-30 seconds
Step 6: App Previews & Screenshots
Other considerations
Localisation Reviews & Ratings Publicise and build authority