As a publisher or app marketer, it is a fact that getting higher rank in the app stores is the main priority. On the other hand, it’s commonly known that the competition is challenging and proven to be quite difficult due to the amount of competitors and apps in both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Because of this, ASO, also known as App Store Optimization, is the most efficient method to assist you on optimizing your app to increase the app performance in the app store. ASO indeed is widely used by many developers and marketers, however people are often come across some mistakes that they make during their optimization process.
For the purpose of helping app marketers and publishers to make the best out of ASO, these are 5 common mistakes that usually occur during App Store Optimization process and how to avoid them.
Putting Too Many Unnecessary Keywords.
As you may already know, Keyword is of the most crucial elements in ASO. Because of this, some publishers and marketers tend to place keywords randomly and in an unorganized matter. They often overlook on how it might affect their own visibility of their apps.
From the perspective of a user, seeing an app that has no sense usage of keywords across the app page is a huge minus point for the first impression.
For example:
As you can see from the screenshot above, the “Emoji” keyword has been overly used across the app page. This is not efficient when it comes to optimizing your keyword element. Due to the fact that stuffing the high-ranking keywords into the app page will eventually lead to unclear and illogical app description. Furthermore, the use of “Emoticons” in the app title is another fatal mistake that often results in app name is not relevant as a keyword for the app name.
In order to avoid or fix this misuse of keywords, the first thing that every publisher and marketer must know is “ Quality over Quantity ”. Instead of putting a numerous high-ranking keywords frequently, do some research and pick the most relevant keywords that can describe your app clearly and precisely. Keep in mind that app name and app description should always be natural and fluid.
ASO Tip: Use your keywords wisely and put them where they belong. Quality over quantity
Changing App Name Too Frequently.
As mentioned above, App Store Optimization is a great way to improve your performance on the app stores and it’s an efficient way to gain more organic downloads and users. However, the ASO process always involves changing core elements of your app in general and changing it too often can lead to another critical mistake.
There are some app publishers and marketers overly use ASO and change their app name too frequently. It’s a fact that optimizing the app page is crucial but over-doing it can decrease your ranking in the app store along with downloads volume of your app.
The reason for this is potential users won’t be able to search your app in the app stores once you have changed it and they will be confused or even mistaken your app with your competitor’s apps.
One of the valuable lessons here is that you should always do an in-depth research about keywords and app title first then decide on choosing your app name. Lastly, stick with it because it’s the name of your brand that you’re presenting to your potential users.
ASO Tip: Your app title is the name that represents yourself. Stick to it.
Ignoring ASO Graphic Elements.
Another common ASO mistake is that App Publishers often overlook the importance of other ASO Elements such as app icon, app screenshots, previews and other elements related to graphic. One of the app page elements that can make an excellent first impression is App icon because users often notice it. As a result, the app icon should be appealing to the users and expressing what the app is about at the same time. For example, a camera icon is for a photo related apps or an envelope icon is for an email app, etc.
The app icon color theme should have less than 3 colors, it gives the icon an aesthetic look towards the users and it makes the icon looks more professional and neat. If you use too many colors, your app icon will look messy and unappealing to potential users. Furthermore, the icon should be able to deliver visually what the app does in order to prompt potential users to install the app.
Additionally, other ASO elements like screenshots and previews are also been overlooked. After going through your app name, app icon and description the users tend to judge the app through its UI and what it actually looks like inside the app. It’s never enough to convince someone to use your apps if they don’t know how it works in reality. This is what screenshots and previews are used for.
Nothing is more encouraging potential users to take action than high-quality screenshots. So every publisher should also spend time and effort on optimizing there screenshots and reviews equally as other elements.
ASO Tip: The better the presentation the higher chance to gain more users.
Prioritizing Only On High-Ranking Keywords
As you may already know that high-ranking keywords always equals large amount of user search traffic. Due to this matter, publishers are often making a common mistake that they only prioritize on high-ranking keywords. The reason behind this is because the higher the traffic the higher the competition. Other app publishers more likely to target those high-ranking keywords as well. This will lead to decreasing app visibility and search chances on the app stores.
In order to optimize your keywords in a right way, instead of using all of the keywords, try to use only the most relevant and precise keywords for your app. Do more research with ASO Tools like Mobile Action or App Annie and narrow down your keywords list. You will get higher visibility and less competition with keywords that is low-ranking or long-tail keywords.
ASO Tip: Prioritize on the most relevant keywords.
Giving up or stop doing ASO
Last but not least, one of the vital mistakes that the majority of app publishers usually make is quit ASO after a few failed attempts or some even stop optimizing their app once they have received some increase in performance . It’s understandable that people often quit when they see no positive results and there is no other reason to keep doing so. Some might stop doing ASO because it they are satisfied with the results and they seek no further goal outside of their comfort zone.
Keep in mind that digital apps and app stores are evolving every second, so you need to keep putting efforts and time on optimizing and evolving your product. ASO is an endless process, there is no limit to what you can do based on your imagination. The only barrier that you will face is yourself and the only way to overcome it is to push yourself further and keep moving forward.
App Store Optimization is an essential part of every app. People often mistaken it as a one-time solution. To start doing ASO in a right way, every publisher and marketer should dedicate on putting continuous effort in order to maintain their app ranking.
ASO Tip: You can change your app icon and screenshots according to seasonal, holiday or even trendy themes to keep your app page fresh and appealing to users.
In conclusion, App Store Optimization is a powerful tool of the mobile app industry. It can bring you great results and efficient performance. However, everyone makes mistakes, it’s the process of learning and improving both your app and yourself. So learn from your failures and keep on optimizing because there is no shortcut to success.
If you find this post provides you with useful information, please support us by completing our survey and get free access to our “ASO: App Store Optimization Vol.1 ” E-book. We appreciate your time and support.
Thank you and have a nice day!.
For more articles on ASO, please find it here