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App store optimization

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App store optimization (ASO) is the process of improving the visibility of a mobile app (such as an iPhone, iPad, Android, or Windows Phone app) in an app store (such as iTunes or Google Play for Android). App store optimization is closely related to search engine optimization. Specifically, app store optimization includes the process of ranking highly in an app store's search results and top charts rankings. ASO marketers agree that ranking higher in search results and top charts rankings will drive more downloads for an app.[1]

Goals

  • Being found better by users in the app stores, due to the fact that App Store Search is the No. 1 source for people to discover new applications
  • Rank higher compared to competitors
  • Rank higher for specific keywords (mainly due to keyword density)
  • Rank higher in Google´s semantic search for applications

History

Apple's iTunes App Store was launched July 10, 2008, along with the release of the iPhone 3G.[2] It currently supports iOS, including iPhone and iPad. There is also a non-mobile app store for Macs. Google's app store, Google Play, was launched September 23, 2008.[3] It was originally named Android Market and supports the Android operating system. Since the launch of iTunes App Store and Google Play, there has been an explosion in both the number of app stores and the size of the stores (amount of apps and number of downloads). In 2010, Apple's App Store grew to process USD$1.78 billion worth of apps.[4] iTunes App Store had 435,000 apps as of July 11, 2011, while Google Play had 438,000 as of May 1, 2012.[5][6]

As the number of apps in app stores has grown, the possibility of any one app being found has dropped. This has led app marketers[who?] to realize how important it is to be noticed within an app store. As marketers started working on ranking highly in top charts and search results, a new discipline was formed.

The first use of the term "app store optimization" to describe this new discipline appears to have been in a presentation by Johannes Borchardt on November 4, 2009.[7][8] It began to take hold as a standardized term not long after, with outlets such as Search Engine Watch and TechCrunch using the term by February, 2012.[9][10]

As app publishers became more interested and engaged around App Store Optimization, tools began to emerge to help them understand and optimize their success with app store optimization. For example, TechCrunch wrote about MobileDevHQ's App Store Optimization[11] keyword volume tool on February 29, 2012 and AppCod.es' keyword tool on March 12, 2012.[12][13] [14]

Methods

App store optimization is a young and evolving field. Methods of how to efficiently optimize an app's visibility within an app store are still relatively unknown.

However, as the field is quickly becoming an important driver of app downloads for marketers, methods for App Store Optimization are beginning to be more widespread. App Store Optimization tools provider MobileDevHQ broke App Store Optimization into three distinct parts: finding the right keywords, ranking highly for those keywords, and converting visitors into users.[15] Nevertheless, ASO is not limited to keyword related tactics only, it actually involves all meta data available and accessible in the app stores, like icons, screenshots, description and update texts[16] and others.[17]

White hat versus black hat

Many app marketers[who?] attempt to perform ASO in a way that most app stores would approve of and accept. This is called "white hat" ASO. Some app marketers, however, engage in what many call "black hat" ASO and are practices which the app stores do not condone.

Black hat ASO includes falsifying downloads or ratings, perhaps by using bots or other techniques to make app stores (and their users) believe an app is more important and influential than it actually is.

Apple has been proactively fighting against black hat ASO. In February, 2012, Apple released a statement as reported by The New York Times "warning app makers that using third-party services to gain top placement in App Store charts could get them banned from the store."[18][19]

Notes

  1. ^ "How many downloads do some of the Top 50 free iPhone apps get per day?". Quora.
  2. ^ "Apple launches new iTunes with App Store". Cnet.
  3. ^ Morrill, Dan (23 September 2008). "Announcing the Android 1.0 SDK, release 1". Android Developers Blog. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  4. ^ "Report: Apple remains king of app-store market". Cnet.
  5. ^ "Apple's App Store Crosses 15B App Downloads, Adds 1B Downloads In Past Month". TechCrunch.
  6. ^ "Number of available Android applications". AppBrain.
  7. ^ "Making Money Mobile". Johannes Borchardt, Florian Detig.
  8. ^ "Droidcon Germany 2009".
  9. ^ "App Store Optimization". Search Engine Watch.
  10. ^ "ASO (App Store Optimization) Is The New SEO, And Here's A Tool To Do It". TechCrunch.
  11. ^ "MobileDevHQ App Store Optimization".
  12. ^ "ASO (App Store Optimization) Is The New SEO, And Here's A Tool To Do It". TechCrunch.
  13. ^ "AppCod.es Launches App Store Prediction Tool, Tells Developers Which Keywords Work". TechCrunch.
  14. ^ "TheAppMedia App Store Optimization".
  15. ^ "App Store Optimization in 3 Easy Steps". MobileDevHQ.
  16. ^ "How to copywrite you app´s update description". AppStoreOptimization on Tumblr.
  17. ^ "App Store Optimization: 8 Tips for Higher Rankings". Search Engine Watch.
  18. ^ "Apple Fights App Makers Who Try to Game the System". New York Times.
  19. ^ Template:Cite=web/
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