Optimizing Your App's Metadata

Article author
Vera
  • Updated

Overview

New to ASO? Try to grow your app and get new users? Here's a quick FAQ from AppFollow ASO experts that will help you to improve your app store optimization, boost ASO marketing and get more app installs.

1. How to choose the right words that my users look for?

  • Type the most common requests in the search bar, and the suggestions (related searches) will show up automatically.
  • Use Keyword research tool to define how relevant for you app these suggestions are. Check which similar apps from top 10 use them.
  • Try not to use other apps’ names. Users use the app names to find a particular app (not yours), so conversion rate here will be low. Make sure there are no apps named exactly like your search requests.

2. How to create an ASO title?

  • The title should include the most popular and relevant keywords with a high competitive rate (TOP 20 apps).
  • While creating a semantic core, define which keywords and key phrases your current title has.
  • Collect search Keyword research for each keyword, check them with Traffic Score and add to AppFollow Keyword tracker. If the keywords are relevant and traffic score is more than 30, keep them in a title. The keywords in title have the most effect for search engines.
  • Test alternatives before releasing the final title. The first one should include the most popular search requests — top three search suggestions for main keywords. Release the first version and analyse how app position has changed in search results (use AppFollow > Compare).
  • Check what app’s keywords appear in top 20. The keywords that bring your app below top 20 should be replaced.
  • Repeat all actions a few times. Thus you can test different keywords until you find the best combination.

3. How to use localization in the App Store?

  • Localization is important as additional languages impact on keyword indexation. For example, if your app is French (FR), additional localizations are English (UK) and English (AU) (and for all European countries too). For English (US) apps it’s Spanish (Mex).
  • When deciding which other country to support, think of your main market.
  • Don’t use the same title and keywords in every location, the unknown language and words can affect the number of installs. If you translate only keywords, it wouldn’t work either.
  • To set Spain (Mex) as an additional localization for English (US) app, enter keywords from US semantic core to Mex and publish it.

4. How to improve app page conversion in Google Play?

There are few factors that have impact on conversion. Try to test:

  1. Name
  2. Icon (more impact on pageviews)
  3. Screenshots
  4. Video
  5. Short description — this part of the description is visible before opening app page
  6. Full description
  7. Description format (e.g. emoji smiley)
We recommend to track traffic from other channels. It helps to filter which traffic is organic across the country.

Google Play integrated a special tool for A/B testing of any metadata except app name. To test an app name, publish the app version with only name changes. Analyse the data about pageviews and installs after the same time period. This way you understand which name worked better.

5. What depends on metadata?

Metadata from app page impact on a number of rates in the App Store Connect (ex-iTunes Connect) and Google Play Console.

  • Impressions (App Store)
  • Pageviews (App Store/Google Play)
  • Conversion from impression to view (App Store)
  • Conversion from view to install (App Store/Google Play)
  • Conversion from impression to install (App Store)
  • Installs (App Store/Google Play)
  • Rankings (can be tracked on AppFollow)

Metadata mainly affects the following rates:

App Store

Name:

  • Impressions
  • Pageviews
  • Conversion from impression to view
  • Conversion from view to install
  • Conversion from impression to install
  • Rankings
  • Installs

Description:

  • Conversion from pageview to install
  • Possibly impressions
  • Possibly pageviews
  • Installs

Icon:

  • Pageviews
  • Conversion from impression to pageview
  • Conversion from impression to install
  • Installs

Screenshots:

  • Pageviews
  • Conversion from impression to view
  • Conversion from view to install
  • Conversion from impression to install
  • Installs

In App Metrics:

  • Impressions
  • Rankings
  • Pageviews
  • Installs

Google Play

Name:

  • Pageviews
  • Conversion from view to install
  • Ranking
  • Installs

Short Description:

  • Conversion from view to install
  • Installs

Full Description:

  • Pageviews
  • Conversion from view to install
  • Ranking
  • Installs

Icon:

  • Pageviews
  • Ranking
  • Conversion from view to install
  • Installs

Screenshots:

  • Conversion from view to install
  • Installs

6. How to change metadata to grow conversion rate?

Different kinds of metadata can have equal effect on the same rates, i.e. it won’t be possible to define what exactly was a reason for positive/ negative change. Therefore, you should avoid creating cross-effect while making any changes. For instance, both screenshots and description have impact on conversion from pageview to install. It means that you shouldn’t make changes in both of them simultaneously in one iteration.

Standard iteration sequence for App Store is shown below:

Iteration 1:

  • Publication of a new name and keywords
  • Waiting 10 days to collect data
  • Data collection

Iteration 2:

  • Publication of a new icon
  • Waiting 10 days to collect data
  • Data collection

Iteration 3:

  • Publication of new screenshots
  • Waiting 10 days to collect data
  • Data collection

Iteration 4:

  • Publication of a new description
  • Waiting 10 days to collect data
  • Data collection

10 days include 7 days to compare old and new versions of metadata and 3 days to get this data from the console.

7. How to track changes after updating ASO?

Record all current rates before publication of a new metadata:

  • Impressions (App Store)
  • Page views (App Store/Google Play)
  • Conversion from view to install (Google Play)
  • Conversion from impression to install (App Store)
  • Installs (App Store/Google Play)
  • Rankings (can be tracked on AppFollow)

Based on these rates make a decision what to change first.

We recommend to create a list of iterations in a way that updated metadata affect different rates. Thus, it will be possible to define the change that influenced the rates.

Once a new iteration was published, analyse and compare rates before and after optimization. It helps to understand how the changes worked out.

Following these steps you can be sure whether a certain change had positive or negative effect.

 

Was this article helpful?

0 out of 0 found this helpful

Related articles