As the founder of a bicycle marketplace called Sprocket thats been on the App Store since 2014 I wanted to give you a quick overview of some of the important things to look out for in your journey of optimizing your ASO ( App Store Optimization )
It is important to optimize your ASO in order to increase the number of potential finders who find you on the App Store at all, as well as the % of those App Store page visitors who choose to convert and install your app. It does you no good to shell out for advertising or hustle your social marketing game if lose 97% of that traffic before they even hit the first page of your app. Lets take a look at some of the basics:
1. Make sure your icon represents your service well
A good app icon is essential for making a great first impression on potential users. It’s the first thing they see when browsing the App Store, and it can make or break their decision to download your app. A well-designed app icon should be simple, memorable, and visually appealing. It should also accurately represent your app’s functionality and purpose. A good app icon can help your app stand out from the competition and attract more downloads. Therefore, it’s important to invest time and effort into creating a great app icon that will help your app succeed.
I also recommend avoiding words in icons if possible. It defeats the whole point of an icon, which is to be “iconic” and tell the whole story quickly within a single, fast-to-grasp pictograph. It is also important to make the image simple so that its easy to read at small sizes on small screens at arms length and stands out from other icons vying for attention.
2. Optimize your app title, subtitle, and description
Your app title, subtitle, and description are the first things users see when they come across your app on the App Store. Make sure they are clear, concise, and accurately describe what your app does. Use relevant keywords in your title and description to improve your app’s visibility in search results. The specific keywords you choose for your title and subtitle are more heavily weighted to the App Stores search engine than whats in the body text. For example I managed to fit the key “bicycle”, “cycle” and “bike” keywords critical for bicycle shoppers all in my title/subtitle.
3. Create compelling screenshots and videos
Screenshots and videos are a great way to showcase your app’s features and functionality. Make sure they are high-quality, visually appealing, and accurately represent your app. Use captions and annotations to highlight key features and benefits. When you use text inside screenshots make sure it is big and bold enough to be read when viewing thumbnails of the screenshots as well as when viewing the app listing page without opening the screenshots/video full-screen. Insure that youre using happy colors for the background vs dreary ones. And optimize device frames, if you choose to use them, to be correct for each device type the screenshots belong to ( so if you have iPhone 7 screenshots use iP7 frames vs for an iPhone 14 size series of screenshots where you should be using iP14 type frames )
4. Encourage user reviews
User reviews are an important factor in the App Store algorithm. Encourage users to leave reviews by prompting them in onboarding or as early as possible, as well as sending follow-up emails after they’ve used the app for a while. Respond to user reviews, both positive and negative, to show that you value their feedback + to send a positive signal to the ranking algorithm. Avoid big no-nos such as asking for app reviews in your app screenshots or notifications .. as well as paying for app reviews or rewarding in-app customers with in-app currency ( or similar rewards ) for reivews. Where as getting reviews is hard its one of the main ASO signals Apple looks for when ranking your app against others.
5. Run A/B tests
A/B testing is a great way to optimize your app’s conversion rate. Test different versions of your app’s title, subtitle, description, screenshots, and videos to see which ones perform best. Use App Store Connect to create up to three additional variations (treatments) to test against your control variation (the current default product page). A test can run for up to 90 days and the interface will give you a general estimate of how long it will take to conclude your experiment and receive statistically significant results.
I recommend starting experimentation right away and always having an experiment running throughout the lifecycle of the app. Furthermore it is important to test only one thing at a time so you can be sure that if you get a statistically positive result you are able to understand which specific change caused it. Its also a good idea to consider experiment results from other sources such as Android Play Store Experimentation, but keep in mind that its a very different audience overall and it may be worthwhile to confirm those results on iOS by re-running the experiment rather than assume the results will be consistently positive.
6. Include some form of app monetization
Apple is transitioning from making most of its money on hardware to making a substantial proportion of its digital services such as the App Store. Therefore if they see you are selling a lot of something in their ecosystem and earning their % on your app and/or in-app items they will rank you higher for it. So look into ways to provide an in-app purchase/subscription or a $ to charge for your app and start optimizing that in order to be promoted higher by the algorithm.
Metrics to look for
When optimizing your app for the App Store, there are several metrics you should pay attention to (and also consider that they are not the full story as on iOS traffic can opt out of participating in these analytics entirely):
- Impressions: The number of times your app was viewed anywhere on the App Store. Such as when looking for bicycle apps they may have scrolled by yours.
- Product page views: The number of times users viewed your app’s product page specifically by clicking into your app from somewhere in the store.
- App units: The number of times your app was downloaded.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of users who downloaded your app after viewing its product page. This is the most important number youre trying to increase + keep in mind the median conversion rate for apps in your category.
- Retention rate: The percentage of users who continue to use your app after downloading it. In my opinion this one is the least important as most apps make 60% of their sales in onboarding and most apps either do not retain traffic well or provide a service where its okay if it does not make sense for actual humans to keep the app on their device afterwards indefinitely.
By paying attention to these metrics and continuously optimizing your app’s product page, you can improve its visibility on the App Store and increase downloads.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive platform for buying and selling bikes, check out Sprocket Bicycle Marketplace. Sprocket is the first-ever specialized bicycle app that offers a secure and decentralized way to connect with nearby community members for great deals. If you’ve already used Sprocket Bicycle Marketplace before, please consider leaving us a review. Your feedback will help more potential new riders find our app and get started riding!
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Founder & owner of Retrographic, maker of Sprocket App
