SEO Optimization for Google Play Store

     You can see a lot of content related to ASO on the internet and the amount growing each and every day. App Stores(Apple App Store, Google Play Store & Others).
   
     ASO(App Store Optimization) is a reality and, according to our experience with  Plus91 media creating a mobile app is easy but every app must be used the technic ASO.

     In this post, we are going to learn how to optimize a Google Play Store listing of any Android App in order to increase visibility and volume of organic downloads from the store.

App Store Optimization - The plus91

What is ASO?

     ASO (App Store Optimization) is the process of optimizing a mobile app in order to get morereach visibility and the highest conversion rate to install in the app stores. It's also about Conversion.

Different ASO Strategies?
   App Store Optimization strategy basically consists of these 3 process:

                            1) Keyword research & Market Research,
                            2) Google Play Store Page Optimization + A/B Testing, &
                            3) Tracking / Monitoring.



1) Keyword Research & Market Research:

       This is the essential analysis you need to make before implementing your ASO Strategy and even before publishing your app or game. For new applications, it is quite difficult to get into the top search results for head or mid-tail keywords.
      It's possible, of course, but it will take a lot of effort, time and installs. This is why the best strategy in the beginning is to go for long-tail keywords – keyword combinations that are a bit more specific than usual search request keywords and have lower competition.

How to choose keywords and keyword combination for your app?
     
       Keywords could be anything that comes to your mind that should relevant to your app and to the tasks it performs, or its main features.
      
       Collect as many different keywords as possible, and then amplify the list with long-tail keywords. You can do it with a keyword suggestions tool – for example, Google Keyword Planner or AppKeywords.io or TheTool.


2) Google Play Store Optimization + A/B Testing:

       Implementing an ASO strategy for Google Play is a process that embraces optimization of your app’s on-metadata and off-metadata.

• On-metadata factors are the ones that are under the control of the developer: title, developer name, description, icon, screenshots, feature graphic.
• Off-metadata factors are the ones out of your control (but you can influence them): installs volume, ratings and user reviews.

3) Tracking / Monitoring:

        The App Store Optimization process never stops, the market changes as well as the Google Play Store itself, so a developer has to be always up-to-date with the current market situation. 

        The good practice is to track weekly (ideally, daily), your volume of installs (organic + non-organic), keywords rankings, top charts rankings (overall, category, etc.), ratings and reviews of your app or game. Remove the keywords that are not performing, analyze and add new keywords and continue A/B testing until you find a best-converting element of your Google Play Store listing.

How to Optimize your google play store listing for ASO?

A perfect Google Play Store listing for ASO can improve keywords rankings, improve conversion rate to install and drive organic downloads.

• URL / Package:

         First things first, and the URL is the first thing you should think about, because once set, it can not be modified later. In Google Play Store, same as in the Google web search, keywords included in the domain / URL act as a strong ranking factor for app search.

• Developer Name:

         Developer name will as well help your app rank in search results
       

         Try adding some keywords in the developer name. For example: “#DeveloperName: keyword + keyword”

• Title:

         Title of an app plays a keyrole on ASO on-metadata factor to keep in mind. It affects above all, the search results, but as well the conversion rate to install. 

          It allows 50 characters in App title. so use it properly.

Samples for Title :

1. Brand - Keyword
2. Brand : Keyword
3. Keyword - Brand
4. Keyword: Brand

• Description:

          The description in Google Play is specifically important because it is an On-Metadata factor that is responsible for Search and Conversion. In this field, you have to include all the keywords of your app or game, combined with a powerful call-to-action.

1. A few tips for a perfect description:
2. Use the max possible number of characters for description [3000-3500char]
3. Localize description to all possible languages.
4. Look for mid and long-tail keywords and add them to your description
5. Describe the best features of your app.
6. include emoji's or format text with HTML.
7. If app has won a contest or award, mention about it.

• Icon:

         An icon is the first visual impact that your app will have on the user, an essence of your application. Right after making the search request in Google Play, what the users see is a huge list of apps with different names and icons, and at this point the users will decide which app to check out and install.

         To publish your app page in the Google Play Store, you need a high-resolution icon. Google has the following requirements for developers:

• 32-bit PNG (with alpha)
• Dimensions: 512px by 512px
• Maximum file size: 1024KB

• Promo Video for your Android App:

           Simply enter the URL of the video in the “Promo video” field, and remember these Google tips:

      1) Make sure to use an individual video’s YouTube URL, not a YouTube playlist or channel URL

      2) Don’t use an age-restricted video as your app’s promo video

• Screenshots:

           Screenshot of an app helps the user to understand what app going to give for users.  In google you can add up to 8 screenshots for each supported device type, while the minimum required by Google is just 2 screenshots with following specifications:

• JPEG or 24 bit PNG(No Alpha)
• Min 320px
• Max 384px
• The maximum dimension of your screenshot can't be more than twice as long as a minimum dimension