Research reports emphasize that the market for mobile applications could be valued at roughly $725 billion roughly 8 years from now as the use of smartphones for day-to-day activities continues to increase among consumers.
The large size of this particular market has made it a target for large corporations, startups, and other similar ventures and it has made it difficult for newcomers to position themselves positively to increase the number of downloads and the size of their user base.
App store optimization (ASO) is a fairly innovative practice that seeks to enhance several aspects of an app store listing so the application can be easily found by its target audience. In addition, it can also be a powerful tool to prompt users to decide in favor of the app by adding enticing elements that facilitate the decision-making process.
How Does ASO Work?
App store optimization (ASO) is a practice that aims to position a certain application at the top of the listings for certain specific keywords or an entire category. This is achieved by using these keywords throughout the app’s description, name, and other similar elements.
In addition, developers may also rely on paid ads, backlinks, and traditional adverts to prompt users to look up the app and download it. The goal of ASO is to make an app easily discoverable and to put it in front of its target audience so it can be presented as a feasible solution to the user’s problems.
Statistics indicate that roughly 4 out of 5 users use search engines to find the apps that they would like to install. Hence, the influence of these tools on the amount of traffic and number of downloads that an app gets is significantly high and that is why a successful app store optimization agency must develop strategies to improve positioning within both web-based search engines and the store itself.
How Difficult It Is to Position an App?
Data from Statista indicates that there were 230 billion active mobile apps by the end of 2021 and the number will likely keep growing in the following years as individuals are spending more and more time on their smartphones.
In an environment filled with so many competitors, positioning a new app can be quite challenging without the help of ASO.
Experts believe that the success of newcomers depends mostly on their ability to promote themselves as the best alternative within a certain geography or niche while also aiming to make it to the top of a category or list of apps.
Securing positive reviews, providing detailed descriptions of what the app does and how it can help users in solving a particular need, and introducing periodical upgrades are also key elements that can make a difference.
The Benefits of App Store Optimization
- Increase traffic and downloads: the main goal of an app is to position itself at the top of the list of its respective category. App store optimization can help developers achieve this goal by using specific keywords and other similar tools to climb to the top.
- Brand awareness: big corporations tend to create apps that facilitate access to the products and services they provide or as a marketing tool. Through ASO, brand awareness can be increased if these companies develop apps that can be used by customers as part of their daily routines.
- Create deeper connections with customers: certain apps are created to develop more meaningful relationships between a company and its customers and ASO can be used to help these people or businesses locate the app when visiting the store.
- Grow organically: apps can be a great source of organic traffic to a website, a software-as-a-service (SaaS), or another similar project. ASO can attract prospective customers organically as the app will be positioned at the top of the list for the keywords that are relevant to that particular project.
- Increase sales: the higher the traffic and number of downloads of an app, the more likely it is that customers will subscribe, purchase, or spend money in that environment. Hence, ASO can become an ally to increase a company’s sales via in-app purchases.