As many mobile and marketers app marketers may be aware, App Store Optimisation ASO keyword research is a great way to increase the organic discoverability of your app. There are two key areas to consider when executing effective App Store Optimisation for your apps. The first is regarding how well your app store listing converts users, which includes effective copy and creative elements. The listing should educate users on the app’s features and benefits and include branded and engaging creatives.
The second focuses on searchability to ensure your app listing surfaces for relevant searches. This plays into the overall discoverability of your app in the app stores. These two work in tandem to make your listing the best it can be. If your app is discoverable, this will lead to greater impressions and ideally more conversions. This will subsequently increase your overall ranking and your ranking for relevant search terms.
In this post, we’re focusing on how you can improve the latter by ensuring you’re gathering and implementing the most effective keyword research strategy:
Utilise existing data to inform keyword decisions
There’s no need to start from scratch; you can start by digging into data from existing campaigns that you are already running for your app. A good source can be your learnings from Apple Search Ads. Compare conversion rate and search volume for different keywords to inform you of the most effective ones to implement for both the Apple App Store and use this as a basis to test keywords for your Google Play Store listing too.
Furthermore, don’t be afraid to use desktop-based keyword research such as well performing keywords from your Google AdWords. There is scope to test and see how applicable they may be for your app’s listings.
Brainstorm
To surface for the right search queries, you need a strong set of keywords you want to rank against. Start with relevant keywords that encapsulate your brand and app’s features when brainstorming for your keyword bank. You can then consider factors such as focusing on specific keywords that rank well for geos that you are targeting or start to differentiate keywords that will rank better depending on app store.
You can also create a single and compound keywords bank. You will then have to prioritise keywords looking at competition, search volume and keyword efficiency. By ensuring that your keyword research is thorough, you will have a bigger range to narrow down from, ensuring you have covered all bases.
Competitor research
It is always useful to take your competition into account when you’re accumulating your keyword bank. You can even decipher reviews or descriptions from your competitor for relevant keywords. You might surprise yourself and pull out search terms or keywords that you would not have initially considered.
This way you can also gauge what keywords your app could realistically rank for by accounting for the competition level. If you feel your app would fall below a certain threshold, for example below the top 50 results, try to replace it with a keyword that still has high search volume where you can take advantage of lower competition.
Utilise ASO tools for extensive keyword research
You should spend time to cover as many relevant keywords as possible. One way of doing this is by using App Store Optimisation tools, such as AppTweak, The Tool or SensorTower.
AppTweak’s Inbound Marketing Manager, Laurie, states:
“Keyword research is a crucial step in ASO. Over 65% of app store downloads come from a direct search, using keywords and combinations of keywords. It is therefore important to target the right keywords: the ones which will drive quality and relevant traffic. AppTweak Keyword Tool can be a great help here and help save a lot of time.
AppTweak provides all indicators on keywords’ performance in terms of Search Popularity, Competition, Rankings, etc; it also provides a suite of keyword suggestions and combinations tools such as the Keyword Shuffler, offering all the possible combinations of 1, 2 and 3-words for up to 5 different keywords.”
Like AppTweak, many of these tools will help with the ongoing optimisation of your keywords by giving insights on keyword performance, assessing keyword efficiency and suggesting alternative keywords. So make sure you find the right tool that caters to your ASO needs.
And that concludes our top tips for thorough keyword research for your app. By gathering a strong keyword bank, its implementation as part of you ASO strategy will ensure your app store listing is surfacing when most necessary. This way, you can increase organic traffic to your listing and drive high-intent users to the app.
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