App Store Optimization: A Hands-On Guide for App Developers

You’ve just made your first iPhone app and published it into the App Store. Great! But the app installs aren’t going through the roof. Now what? You will need to get some optimization done.

IMAGE: Cristiano Betta

App Store Optimization (ASO) are the tactics you can use to rank your app higher in the App Store. Ranking governs which apps are listed as the Top 25 and Top 100 in the App Store, both in the Overall ranking and in individual categories. An app’s ranking greatly influences how many people install it.

This article will explain and teach you how to use ASO to your benefit, in a hands-on manner.

What Is App Store Optimization?

App Store Optimization is the process of improving the visibility of an app in the app stores (iOS App Store, Google Play, etc.), with the goal of ranking higher in search results and top rankings. A higher ranking means that more potential users might download and install the app.

In this sense, App Store Optimization is similar to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but for app stores.

Generally speaking, App Store Optimization means that you’re making an effort to expose your app to a bigger number of potential users, and increase your chances of acquiring those users. Of course, the quality of these users matter. Ultimately the conversion counts, both from potential user to acquired user, as from acquired user to paying customer. In this sense, app engagement and user retention matters too.

App Store Optimization doesn’t directly involve increasing engagement and retention, but acquiring the right users does help determine the success of an app. When a user steps through the door, the user story isn’t over. Although App Store Optimization makes sure more users install your app, the end goal is to attract paying customers.

Throughout the article the iOS App Store is used as an example for App Store Optimization. However, every ASO tactic will also apply to Google Play and other app stores.

The Main Aspects Of App Store Optimization

The determining aspects of App Store Optimization are:

• App title, and whether it includes keywords.


• App icon, a single representative graphic that’s used to identify the app both in the App Store and on a user’s home screen.


• App screenshots (and video), the several graphic assets that depict the app’s functionality when browsing the App Store.


• App ratings and reviews, the subjective voice of a user that’s already using your app.


• App downloads, the number of users that have downloaded your app.


• App description and localization, the text that’s shown in the App Store alongside the app icon and screenshots.

Several tools can track these factors and determine their influence on an apps ranking. Popular tools are: AppAnnie (market insight and analytics), Google Analytics for Mobile (analytics and tracking), SensorTower (insight and analytics). Apple has published its own App Analytics platform in April 2015, and it is the only tool that can measure inbound traffic for your App Store app page.

Optimizing Your App’s Assets

Let’s first start by optimizing the assets your app has: its title, icon, screenshots and keywords.

App Title & Keywords

What’s in a name? The title of an app is a verbal hook your users identify your app with. It’s visible on your app’s website (outside the App Store), inside the App Store itself and below the app icon on a user’s home screen.

Ideating a good app title is an art on its own. In general, an app name should address two things:

• Does it include a brand or product name?


• Does it include relevant keywords?

The name of an app, together with its icon, is often the first trigger for a user to check it out in the App Store.

When browsing the top lists, a user only sees an app’s icon, title and category. When searching (i.e. using the search function) a user sees the app icon, title, the name of the publisher and 2 screenshots.

As for relevant keywords, you can ask yourself: "When a user searches for my product, what kind of keywords would he or she use?" It’s often not enough to come up with a search term you think is relevant. You need to test what kind of words your target audience associates your service with.

A good way of researching that is using along-tail keyword generator. These tools return search queries based on keyword ideas you put in. Such search queries are used by real-world users, which makes it a good representation of how a potential customer searches for your product.

When you’ve established both the app’s brand name and its keywords, put the two together. Keep in mind that Apple sometimes rejects apps that include a slogan or catchphrase. You can only include keywords in the title when they’re relevant for the app, or explain the app title in a more complete way than just the brand name.

Examples of Good app titles

"Moleskine Timepage – Calendar for iCloud, Google and Exchange"

Moleskine is obviously the brand name, but "Calendar" and "iCloud" etc. are relevant search keywords.

"Ultimate Guitar Tabs – largest catalog of songs with guitar and ukulele chords, tabs, lyrics and guitar lessons"

"Ultimate Guitar Tabs" isn’t enough, because potential customers might search for "chords" or "ukelele lessons).

"Sleep Cycle alarm clock"

Although the product is known as a "sleep cycle app", it’s function is that of an "alarm clock".

Examples of Bad App Titles

"US PayPal Fees"

This is a fee calculator for PayPal, but it omits relevant keywords: calculator, share, etc.

"Iconzoomer"

Unfortunately, this app title doesn’t tell one bit about what it is. And no, it does not zoom icons.

"mPage"

This is an app for a popular online learning system, Moodle. Unfortunately, the app name only includes the ambiguous "mPage" name.

App Icon

If the app title is the most important textual hook point for a user, then the app icon must be the most important visual hook. The icon of your app is used everywhere, both inside and outside the App Store. Just like a logo represents a brand, your app icon represents your app.

Graphic design is an art and industry on its own, but within the realms of App Store Optimization, take note of the following app icon heuristics:

1. Use one centered graphic element, that has no overlapping pieces.


2. Keep it simple: don’t use complex, photo-like graphics, and keep to simple surfaces and basic colors.


3. Use conventional and recognizable iconography. Think about the universal "Save" icon, the floppy disk. Although people born today don’t know what it is, they know itsaves stuff. Do the same for your app icon, don’t reinvent the wheel. The good app title examples above all have good icons too, respectively a notepad icon, a guitar pick, and a clock icon.


4. Use a duo-tone or tri-tone color setting. That means: two or three complementary basic colors. Many good app icons use white as the base color, because the App Store app itself is white.


5. Stick to the trend. Back when iOS 6 got replaced by the flat-design iOS 7, iOS 6-style app icons immediately stood out as old and obsolete. During that time app icons that appeared to "pop out" were popular, these days almost all well-performing app icons are flat duo-tone illustrations.

You might want to get some ideas and inspiration from these app icon showcases:

• 38 Beautiful iOS App Icon Designs For Your Inspiration


• 20 Flat Mobile Icons Designs for Your Inspiration


• 50 Awesome iOS Icon Designs for Your Inspiration

One more thing: your app icon also represents your app on a user’s home screen. Keep that in mind during its design, and make sure you pick an app name (below the icon, on the homescreen) that captures your app’s function in one word.

Screenshots

With screenshots you can give a potential user a peek inside your app, before they’ve installed it. In the App Store, 2 screenshots are shown when using the search function, but no screenshots are shown when browsing a top list. When opening the app page in the App Store, all screenshots are shown (2 at a time). Of course, the appropriate screenshots are shown on individual device models. A screenshot is often an image of the UI of several in-app screens, which isn’t optimal.

See, when a user sees your app in the App Store, they’re asking three questions:

1. What is this app for?


2. What’s in it for me? (Or, Why should I use it?)


3. How can I use this app?

When one question results in a negative decision, i.e. "This app isn’t for me", the next questions aren’t asked. That’s why it’s so important to have a solid app title.

The question "What’s this app for?" is answered by the title of your app, and especially by the keywords inside its title.

The screenshots of the UI of your app answer question 3. A user will try to understand the user interface design of your app, and ascertain whether or not your app can be used to get to the goal they have in mind.

Unfortunately, this leaves question 2 unanswered. A potential customer has to find out on its own how they can use your app, and often doesn’t see the benefit of using your app.

Fortunately, there’s a solution. Instead of showing screenshots of the user interface of your app, create images that include the UI but puts one or two sales copy lines above it. You may have seen it before: an image that shows an iPhone with the app’s UI, and above it tells you something about the app itself. Including key benefits as text inside an app screenshot allows you to explain your app and sell its UI at the same time.

When deciding on what text to put above the app screenshot, keep the following heuristics in mind:

1. Use your Keywords.

By now you know what words a potential user uses to describe your app, so make sure the same keywords are visible in the screenshot text too.

2. List Benefits of your App, not Features.

Many apps use texts like "Store unlimited to-do’s" or "Play over a 1000 levels!". Such messages don’t answer the "What’s in it for me?" question, they only bluntly list features. Instead of features, list benefits: "Cashflow planning for startups", or "Intuitive task management that gets out of your way", or "See your account balance at a glance".

3. Don’t Distract.

When using extra graphics in the image, don’t distract the user from the main message. Use solid color background, not photographs, and do not include extra graphic elements such as fancy text boxes or icons. When using an actual smartphone image, do not use the real photos of it, but instead use a simple recognizable vector illustration.

You can include one video too. It’s shown alongside the app screenshots and it’s a great way to portray the functionality of your app, and build trust with the user. In your video, include the key benefits of your app and use a voice-over to explain them. Again, don’t distract the user with too much graphics and keep it under 20 seconds.

Expanding The Reach Of Your App

Now that you’ve optimized the primary assets of your app, it’s time to leverage the actual users of it. Of course, this is also the time to find marketing channels outside the App Store to make potential customers aware of your product.

Such marketing channels can include:

• Making use of In-App Deeplinking, a technology that’s used to create links to native content of your app in the same way a web page hyperlinks to another web page.


• Getting featured by news and review channels such as TechCrunch, Mashable, Gizmodo and CNET.


• Integrating your app with content on Pinterest (so-called App Pins) and Twitter (so-called App Cards), mixing it with native platform conversations.


• Using conventional marketing strategies, such as social media content marketing, advertising, and working with an affiliate network.

The goal of using these strategies is to get more people to see your App Store page and potentially install your app. With App Store Optimization you’ve made sure that more people will install your app, but when nobody sees your app page in the first place you’re still not getting any installs. By driving more traffic towards your app page, you’ll leverage App Store Optimization to generate more installs.

App Reviews And Customer Relations

The last and final key point of App Store Optimization is app ratings and reviews. The amount of positive ratings and the amount of app downloads greatly influences your ranking in the App Store. Now that you’ve gained some initial traction for your app, it’s time to use those first installers to your advantage.

Research indicates that users that had a negative experience in your app are 33% more likely to leave a review. Of course, such a review will have a negative effect on the ranking of your app. The same research concluded that 59% of potential customers usually or always check the rating of an app before they download an app.

Recently, dating app Tinder introduced a paid upgrade for their app for functionality that was previously free. Customers didn’t take well to the change and left thousands of negative reviews, demoting the app from 5 stars to 1.5 and cutting the app’s ranking in half (55th to 105th). Simply put: ratings matter, not only for ranking but also for acquiring users.

Getting positive ratings and reviews for your app involves 2 key points:

• Asking for a rating at the right time


• Avoiding negative reviews by building a relation with the customer

You’ve probably seen it before: after you’ve used the app for a while, it asks if you want to rate the app. This mechanic is very effective for getting positive reviews from users that are less likely to write a review on their own.

To ensure success of the feature, make sure you ask for a review at the right time. Don’t ask for a review when a user hasn’t had enough time to use and evaluate your app. Ideally, you want to ask for a review when a user has just completed a positive step or task within your app: ticking off a couple of to-do’s, completing a game level or when experiencing an emotional high.

Users that have had a negative experience with an app are more likely to leave a review, compared to users who have had a positive experience with your app. It makes sense: a frustrated user is more inclined to voice their frustration, than a user whose app is working just fine. To avoid negative feedback in the form of an app review, it is important to give the unhappy user another way to get in touch with you.

Using a Message and Support Center in your app is a great way to lower the barrier for the user to get in touch with you. When you implicitly make it clear to a user that it is easier to contact you and get an issue resolved, than throwing dirt in an app review, you’re hitting two birds with one stone: the user doesn’t write a negative review, and you have a chance to start a conversation and make things right. It’s more expensive to acquire a new user, than it is to keep a current one.

Several companies offer products with a customer relations Support Center, including Intercom, AppTentive, Urban Airship and Zendesk.

Conclusion

Now you know how to hit user acquisition out of the park, by benefiting from App Store Optimization tactics.

To summarize:

• Optimize the front-end: app title, icon, screenshots and keywords.


• Leverage inbound traffic: get more people to try your app.


• Attract positive reviews and protect the downside: ask a user for a review at the appropriate time, and avoid negative reviews by starting a conversation with an unhappy user.

Editor’s Note: This is written by Reinder de Vries for Hongkiat.com. Reinder is an entrepreneur and app developer, who believes that there are not enough app makers in the world. He has developed 50+ apps and his code is used by millions of users all over the globe. When he’s not coding, he teaches aspiring developers how to make their own apps at LearnAppMaking.com.

App Store Optimization: A Hands-On Guide for App Developers

WixStores – Create your Online Store with Wix.com

Introducing to you the latest offering from Wix, WixStores. People often times don’t understand why certain companies go out of their way to put their fingers into the eCommerce trade. If you’re a company that provides the platform for millions of online website already, why wouldn’t you?

I’m excited to show you what’s been hiding under the hood and how you can take advantage of this beautiful, easy to use platform to setup your own online store. So how exactly is WixStores described by the company?

WixStores, the Wix.com eCommerce website builder, gives online merchants the ability to create their online store. WixStores was created with the needs of small business owners in mind, so that you can create a visually appealing store front, as well as an extremely functional store that meets your needs.

It’s now easier than ever to get into the selling game online and all that it takes is some commitment from you to setup your store. So what exactly makes Wix different from the other providers out there?

Let’s dive in and found out!

Clear arrival path

With other software that I’ve used in the past, I had to go through a major setup process to get my store online. In this case it was different. After signup I was guided to choose my category of store and to select a template that I believed I wanted to use for my online store. It took me 3 minutes, maybe longer because I looked through the different templates.

Ample amounts of Features to work with

Often times there are some essentials missing when utilizing an ecommerce platform, but in this case, WixStores cover you all the way. No need to use an external CRM to stay in touch or setting up a different blogging platform to generate content. Wix puts you in control of your store like you’ve never been before.

You can even manage your newsletters so that you never lose contact with your site’s visitors! Smart Actions will aid you in sending automated emails. Choose the triggers, and you’ll be able to send emails regarding:

• Special offers concerning your online store to customers who have not placed any orders in the last 6 months


• Send a coupon when somebody becomes a site member


• Send thank you letters!


• or any other need/necessity you may have!

Leveraging smart actions will enable you to stay on top of customer engagement and retention. The beauty is that it’s all accessible from the same place all the other features are situated. No external services needed.

Store Manager that is easy to use

As the store owner, you call all the shots! You can think of the store manager as your store’s back office. It’s where the business happens before the sales come flooding in. This is only visible to you.

Here you can:

• Organize and add new products


• Set up payment options


• Add coupons


• Set pricing


• Determine shipping and tax rates


• Manage your inventory quickly and efficiently


• Track your orders


• and much more…

Building your store is simple

No more needing to dive into manuals to understand the building dynamics of platforms. The tools made available for you are super easy to use and understand with clear identification and instructions. Wix have also taken into account how important organic reach is for their users and built in SEO friendly tools to help you optimize your site to the extent that you’d like to. I can’t even stress how easy it is to use, you’ll have to try it for yourself.

Wix is there to help you

Wix.com provides tons of helpful & informational material to help you open your online store. You aren’t ever left in the dark. Whilst setting up your store, you are also guided by explainer videos on the pages you encounter that might be new to you. They truly did a great job on integrating it as beautifully as possible. You can find tons of tutorials and helpful material at the Wix Help Center: http://www.wix.com/support/html5/wixstores/

Pushing you in the right direction

After you’ve successfully setup your store, Wix helps you to get the ball rolling, find those first customers and strategize your marketing efforts through carefully curated content that they’ve put together after working with thousands of website users. You can check them out below.

• How to promote your online store


• How to start an online store


• Mobile Commerce


• How To Sell Online With Wix


• The Wix eCommerce Features

Conclusion

I really like the way Wix has integrated WixStores and how simple it is to get up and running. If you’re looking for a platform to put together an online store and want to use a trusted provider, Wix is the way to go.

WixStores – Create your Online Store with Wix.com

Trekking Store – PSD template

Trekking Store is a free PSD website template best suitable for ecommerce and featured by clean and modern design.

The post Trekking Store – PSD template appeared first on Freebiesbug.

Trekking Store – PSD template

The Introvert"s Guide to Opening an Online Store

Opening an online shop is a huge endeavor for a designer/creative. The decision to start any business is largely dependent on creative output, which requires a great deal of bravery. Even the most extroverted person can get intimidated by the process. Fortunately, being an introvert can actually be a positive asset in the digital marketplace. Here are five tips to encourage you on your path to online success.

First Thing’s First: You Can Do This!

Being an introvert is not a problem, but a unique skill set. An introvert is a person who is introspective and self-aware. They focus on motives instead of actions and can have trouble in overly social situations. The most diligent individuals are self-interested in a way that respects the self-interest of others.

A recent CNN article on introverts in business found that introverts spend more energy on reflection and thought rather than seeking out communication with other people. Without external influence, you’re better able to formulate a plan to suit your professional needs and ambitions.

Identify and List Your Strengths

Everyone has unique strengths. One great way to build confidence is to look into your own and write or type them down in somewhere you can see them every day. Some strengths that tend to be found more in introverts than extroverts to get you started: thoughtful, speaks with intention, comfortable working alone, independent, studious, self-reflexive, and ability to maintain focus in social situations.

These are all strengths that will help in the online store. You’ll be the creator and the manager, so being able to be responsible, independent, and focused are essential.

Get Started: Create a Store and Upload Products

One of the biggest struggles that introverts face is putting themselves out there to the public. Opening an online store might be the biggest public display of your work that you’ve had, but don’t let that unnerve you. Focus on your strengths in every area of the site, from product descriptions to the products themselves. Only put your best product on the site.

The bio is one place that introverts can have the most difficulty maintaining their strengths. Look over that list of strengths and make sure that they all make an appearance in your bio. Put yourself out there and make a good introduction. Don’t be afraid to make it sound personal. Just because you’re a professional doesn’t mean you can’t start out with a simple “Hello, my name is… and I love to…” Let your passion and your true personality come through in your bio.

Set Yourself Up for Success: Market Your Product

Once your shop is set up to your liking, it’s time to share your products with the world. Start your marketing in the social media world (Facebook shares, Tweets, Tumblr posts, Pins, etc.) and support it in real life through business cards, fliers and even partnerships with like-minded creatives. Social media is a great place for introverts to do a bulk of their promotion, but you still need to prepare for face-to-face business interactions.

You want your products to have as much visibility as possible, but don’t over-saturate social media networks. Keep advertisements targeted and consistent without flooding your fans’ walls or inboxes with dozens of alerts every week.

Build a Community: Start Conversations

This is another aspect of ecommerce where introverts shine. Thoughtful by nature, introverts often have a greater capacity to empathize and imagine life from others’ perspectives, which they can better write, and respond to, an audience. Present content about your products in an engaging and enthusiastic way to encourage excitement and sales.

Be available to address your customers’ concerns when they are brought to you; answer questions not just about your product, but about anything related to your field. When people trust your opinions, they trust your product. Monitor the feedback you receive and put care into your replies. Online communication allows introverts to excel by giving them time to reflect and address concerns clearly and succinctly.

Are You Ready?

Do you feel ready to present your ideas to the online marketplace? If the answer is still no, that’s okay. Nothing builds confidence like time and reflection. Keep working on your store and your art. Keep looking at your list of strengths and discover new ones every day. There is power in silence and thoughtfulness. Use your introverted nature to your advantage.

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The Introvert"s Guide to Opening an Online Store

PrestaShop Makes Setting Up an Online Store Easy

With the ever growing popularity of online stores, a lot of people have come to wonder which platforms are suitable to help them sell online. Today we will be looking at one of the most trusted online platforms for setting up your selling business, PrestaShop. PrestaShop is free ecommerce software built on a solid foundation of support structures and helping you the seller prosper.

So why exactly should you consider PrestaShop as your online platform for setting up your business? Let’s have a look at the few points below.

Selling should be easy

When looking at any store provider for your new project, you have to make sure that their platform is suited to your selling needs. No one ever said selling would be easy, but with the right provider, I beg to differ. PrestaShop sets its self apart by having taken care of every detail so that you don’t have to worry about a thing.

From setup, to sale you’re covered from head to toe with guides, directions and ease of use functions. Setting up a store has never been this easy. PrestaShop has two great ways to get started selling online. The first way is by downloading PrestaShop and hosting it on your own server. Or you can go with the new cloud version of PrestaShop, which is hosted on PrestaShops cloud servers, but still completely free. Both options still run off the same version of PrestaShop, it just comes down to if you want to host it yourself, or have free hosting with the cloud.

Walk through their demo

YOU are their most important asset

When it comes to a lot of companies, they worry about their revenue, their platform, their mistakes, their press etc. When it comes to PrestaShop, what I’ve found is that they value their users, and the community the most. Yes, sure they look after their business, just like everyone else, but with a community of over 700,000 you can see why the company has been built around this group. PrestaShop also has the largest and most active ecommerce forum in the world. It’s where you can go to ask questions, find answers and make the most of your online store.

Easy to setup solutions

I’ve tried a lot of software over the years and it amazes me how simple their available solutions are. If I didn’t want to setup my own server and self-host, I’d simply click on their cloud setup, choose my store name and email address and Bam! I’m in. Obviously there will be a bit of a process to go through, I mean you’re setting up a shop to take other people’s money from them…However, PrestaShop has really streamlined the process to help you get up and running a lot faster than most other platforms online will.

If you were to go with the self-hosted solution they offer, most of it will be in your hands. Setting up your server, installing the platform, setup, database connection etc. It comes down to who you want to serve and what your technical abilities look like. Either way, PrestaShop has the best solutions for your store.

Scalability in mind

PrestaShop thought ahead when they started launching online stores. That’s why they have more than 200,000 stores online that have been launched using PrestaShop. One of the key things to look at when building a sales portal for your goods is the scalability of the platform. In this case, PrestaShop is one of the best platforms when it comes to scalability. PrestaShop has no limits on the number of products you can sell, and is capable of handling as many pages as your store might need. They also have a plethora of certified web agencies to help you with anything from design to development surrounding the platform, they will help you make your dream become a reality whilst earning you money.

Hands-On Training

In the day and age we live in, knowledge is everything. Therefore PrestaShop has built an educational training division into the company. Teaching you to become better at using their platform to sell; they has expert instructors on hand to teach you the ins and outs of the platform and how you can take full advantage and be successful using the PrestaShop solution. These sessions are conduct online on a monthly basis, but classes are kept small to make it easier to interact live with the instructor to answer any questions you might have.

Expert Support to help you

Support is the most important part of any company. Especially when the you, the customer struggle to get into the backend of your store, have missing products or any other problem for that matter. The support system PrestaShop has put in place helps you focus on what matters in your business so that they can take care of the rest. You can sleep soundly at night knowing their are people out there that are ready to help you at a moments notice. One of the most overlooked places for support comes right from the forum. Many of the issues you may encounter when creating and running your online store have most likely happen to someone else earlier on.

Checking the forum for the answer to your question is sometime the fastest way to find the answer you’re looking for and keep your store up and running with out any downtime.

Conclusion

You don’t have any excuse not to launch that sock shop you’ve been wanting this entire time or that clothing line. PrestaShop is there to help you setup in no time and run a profitable online store! Are you running an online store with PrestaShop currently? Using another platform and looking to switch? Let us know in the comments below!

PrestaShop Makes Setting Up an Online Store Easy

Free eCommerce Theme PSD for Clothing Store

Free eCommerce Theme PSD for Clothing Store

Free eCommerce Theme PSD for Clothing Store