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How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

blog.discofingers.com

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Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#21

Post by mrborgen »

chatmasta wrote: post #14
romaroma wrote: post #3

Appstore optimization makes sense when you have 50 daily downloads but want to have 100. Relying on search results only wont make you lot of money there. Anyway in most cases you can start with buggy SensorTower to find out what keywords will bring you more relevant traffic at lower competition. After than just keep tracking things with a free AppAnnie ASO tool.

I have not looked into the economics of app stores myself, but I imagine they are following a similar trend that google did. I bet there are a lot of opportunities for developers selling cheap long-tail apps (recipes, quotes, etc, i.e. "resources") to niche customers. But I have no idea.

There are indeed a lot of opportunities there. But they aren't as drastically as in the early days of SEO. Partly because Apple gives you so few opportunities to affect your rankings.

But a lot developers just ignore ASO, which opens up possibilities for those who take it seriously.

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#22

Post by kolinko »

androidb wrote: post #15
romaroma wrote: post #3

Appstore optimization makes sense when you have 50 daily downloads but want to have 100. Relying on search results only wont make you lot of money there. Anyway in most cases you can start with buggy SensorTower to find out what keywords will bring you more relevant traffic at lower competition. After than just keep tracking things with a free AppAnnie ASO tool.

SensorTower is buggy and annoying, I much prefer AppAnnie & MobileDevHq. I compared[1] them a while back and ended up concluding that the free tiers of AppAnnie/MobileDevHQ are enough to do some basic ASO. [1] http://www.androidb.com/2014/07/10-tools-to-help-with-google...

A nice writeup. As for AppCodes.com, you missed some stuff we offer:

We've got competitor tracking, support for other languages and data export (downloading csv with the search phrases+results). We also support the pre-launch analysis :) There's also an AppStore prediction tool that is quite unique compared to the competition ( http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/12/appcod-es-launches-app-stor... )

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#23

Post by [deleted] »

kolinko wrote: post #22
androidb wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SensorTower is buggy and annoying, I much prefer AppAnnie & MobileDevHq. I compared[1] them a while back and ended up concluding that the free tiers of AppAnnie/MobileDevHQ are enough to do some basic ASO. [1] http://www.androidb.com/2014/07/10-tools-to-help-with-google...

A nice writeup. As for AppCodes.com, you missed some stuff we offer: We've got competitor tracking, support for other languages and data export (downloading csv with the search phrases+results). We also support the pre-launch analysis :) There's also an AppStore prediction tool that is quite unique compared to the competition ( http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/12/appcod-es-launches-app-stor... )

[deleted]

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#24

Post by kolinko »

mrborgen wrote: post #4
andreash wrote: post #2

Have you tried SearchMan for analysing keywords?

Just slightly. Might be that they are equally as good as SensorTower. I just got used to SensorTower early on, and have been using them since. Also tried Appcod.es for a while, but the seemed to stop improving their service. Anybody else who knows other potential good tools for keyword optimisation?

Hi, AppCodes founder here - we recently made a major design update.

As for adding new features: anything specific you were missing?

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#25

Post by mrborgen »

kolinko wrote: post #24
mrborgen wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just slightly. Might be that they are equally as good as SensorTower. I just got used to SensorTower early on, and have been using them since. Also tried Appcod.es for a while, but the seemed to stop improving their service. Anybody else who knows other potential good tools for keyword optimisation?

Hi, AppCodes founder here - we recently made a major design update. As for adding new features: anything specific you were missing?

Hi! Good to hear, would love to try it out. I liked the service when I tested it a couple of years ago.

However, what made me not return was your paywall, which is placed right after the login. In other words, I could do anything without paying.

Given all the free tools out there, this approach made me skeptical.

I am not an expert on SaaS, but I suspect it would be better to give people some kind of freemium option.

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#27

Post by androidb »

kolinko wrote: post #22
androidb wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SensorTower is buggy and annoying, I much prefer AppAnnie & MobileDevHq. I compared[1] them a while back and ended up concluding that the free tiers of AppAnnie/MobileDevHQ are enough to do some basic ASO. [1] http://www.androidb.com/2014/07/10-tools-to-help-with-google...

A nice writeup. As for AppCodes.com, you missed some stuff we offer: We've got competitor tracking, support for other languages and data export (downloading csv with the search phrases+results). We also support the pre-launch analysis :) There's also an AppStore prediction tool that is quite unique compared to the competition ( http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/12/appcod-es-launches-app-stor... )

I'll look at that again and update it, thanks for the heads up. Maybe these were features you've added later, as I tested all those tools.

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#28

Post by mrborgen »

Someone1234 wrote: post #26

Is this an advert for Sensor Tower? Certainly reads like one. Is there any way to get this information (competitor's keywords, keyword app usage, and popularity) without paying $78/month? How do "Sensor Tower" get it?

Hi there, I am the author of the article.

I have no connection to SensorTower, other than a couple of mails I have sent to them, to suggest features and improvements.

However, SensorTower has been the core of our optimisation strategies, so it's just how I had to write this article.

I do think they are to expensive, yes, but I use them since I know that they work. Appcodes is cheaper, only 15 USD per month, but I haven't tried them in a while. However the found is commenting this thread.

Maybe he has something to add about their new upgrade?

Wish someone from AppAnnie/SearchMan/MobileDevHQ would join the discussion to.

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#29

Post by kolinko »

mrborgen wrote: post #25
kolinko wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, AppCodes founder here - we recently made a major design update. As for adding new features: anything specific you were missing?

Hi! Good to hear, would love to try it out. I liked the service when I tested it a couple of years ago. However, what made me not return was your paywall, which is placed right after the login. In other words, I could do anything without paying. Given all the free tools out there, this approach made me skeptical. I am not an expert on SaaS, but I suspect it would be better to give people some kind of freemium option.

It really depends - there's been some posts on HN criticising the freemium approach:

- http://www.tylernichols.com/web-development/i-am-done-with-t... - http://blog.rapportive.com/is-freemium-right-for-you

When building AppCodes I decided to sacrifice the learning curve for the ease of use once the tool is understood.

This kinds of products don't work well when published with freemimum plans - people don't try to understand the product, skip the tutorials, sign up for free, spend 5 seconds evaluating the tool, and unless the learning curve is very calm - leave.

What I prefer is for people to take a while and make sure they understand the ASO process ( http://www.slideshare.net/kolinko/appcodes-app-store-marketi... ), and then - once signed up, to spend a while learning the tool. The expectation is that the ones that go through this will get a better experience afterwards. The ones that won't - there's a no-questions asked refund :)

Another thing with freemium is that it works best with products that people use consistently for months and years. While this might be the case for web SEO or for app sales tracking, in case of App Store SEO it really isn't. You want to spend 3-5 months setting up your position, and once it's all set and you can forget about it.

If I was running a freemium service, I'd have to find some tricks to keep bringing people back. I'd also be more inclined to gear the service towards the app developers with more than one app - because only those devs would bring in the profit.

I don't track our competition too closely, but the last time I checked, that was what they were doing. Publishing charts of your position, and sending you e-mails of your daily rankings (even though rankings in the app store rarely ever change), and moving towards Enterprise customers. They also tend to deliver an interface that's easy to learn, but not that effective really (e.g. they don't bother distinguishing between iTunes keywords, and App Store search phrases). At least that was the case with the ones I checked...

If you disagree, I'd greatly appreciate a reply :)

Re: How to double your app's downloads with keyword optimization

#30

Post by mrborgen »

kolinko wrote: post #29
mrborgen wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! Good to hear, would love to try it out. I liked the service when I tested it a couple of years ago. However, what made me not return was your paywall, which is placed right after the login. In other words, I could do anything without paying. Given all the free tools out there, this approach made me skeptical. I am not an expert on SaaS, but I suspect it would be better to give people some kind of freemium option.

It really depends - there's been some posts on HN criticising the freemium approach: - http://www.tylernichols.com/web-development/i-am-done-with-t... - http://blog.rapportive.com/is-freemium-right-for-you When building AppCodes I decided to sacrifice the learning curve for the ease of use once the tool is understood. This kinds of products don't work well when published with freemimum plans - people don't try to und…

I see your point. Especially about the retention part. It's not really a prouct which people use for years. Though I wonder; could it be? What if you included daily downloads stats too? I use AppFigures for that, but I really with they would include keywords intelligence to, so that I didn't have to use so many services.

The thing is though, when I don't even get to see the interface before I pay, I would really need a lot of good reviews from friends before I sign up.

You should clean up your front page to, it's a but messy. Don't mean to be rude it's just my honest opinion.

Love your Slideshows by the way! :)

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