Top Ten Free Ways To Rank Your App on Google Play Store

If you are an app developer who is looking for free methods to increase your downloads, as you cannot afford paid promotion at the moment, then there is a high chance you must have come across something called App Store Optimization (ASO).

If you think that developing an app was the most difficult task then think again.

Marketing your app and getting it the attention it deserves is a whole different task. There are over 3 million apps on Google Play Store alone. While you can always go for paid advertisements if you can afford it, to get more organic traffic you must work on something called as App Store Optimization.

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What is ASO ?

In simple words, ASO is to apps as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is to websites. ASO is a process of increasing the visibility of your app on Apple Appstore and Google Play. There are several things you could do when you are developing an app and putting it up on app store such that your app’s ranking can be boosted and more people can see it. To put this more simply,

Higher ASO = Higher rank = Higher visibility = More downloads.

ASO is all about optimizing pieces of information on your product page. This information is called your meta data. There are two types of meta data :

On-page meta data : This is all the information you can manipulate as an app owner. This includes your product page essentials like your app name, description etc.,

Off-page meta data : These are elements you cannot edit. They include user reviews and ratings, number of downloads, app size etc.,

Here are the top ten techniques that you should apply for on-page and off-page meta data to rank your app on Google Play, attracting more customers and increasing the number of downloads :

On-page meta data :

➤ KEYWORDS  :

Keywords are one of the most effective ways to boost your app’s ranking. Think of it as a way of telling Play Store what words you want your app to be found for. The more skilled you are in putting up keywords, the easier it gets for your app to be ranked.

Why?

Say, I have developed an app for dating and I have included the most obvious keyword ‘Dating app’ as much as I can. Now, imagine you are a customer who is checking out some apps for dating in Play Store. What are the chances that you will type ‘dating apps/apps for dating’ in the search bar? 100%

Now, what are the chances Play Store will suggest to you apps with the keyword ‘dating apps’ ? Again, 100%.

Now if I am a developer who has included ‘dating apps’ a number of times such that it’s pretty noticeable for Google, then Google will show my app at the top.

Just by paying a little attention to how you phrase your sentences so that they can fit your key words perfectly, you can increase the number of downloads. Easy, right?

Now how and where do you include the keywords? There are three spaces where you should focus on adding keywords :

·       App Name : Now, this is a place where most developers don’t pay attention and put up only the name of the app. But including a keyword here is going to benefit you as the keywords in the name brings your app more weightage in the search. 

      Example, instead of naming it ‘Love Happens’ try putting it as ‘Love Happens – Meeting and Dating App’

You get up to 50 characters in this slot so get creative.

·       Short Description : This is a one-line description where you can tell your customers what your app is all about. This slot offers about 40 characters and this is where you need to use your skills in including as many keywords as you can but at the same time, coming up with a really creative description that pulls the customers in for downloading your app.

·       Description : In this slot, you get up to 4000 characters and here is where you put a detailed description of your app and its feature. Only 2% people actually take the pain to go through long descriptions so what you need to make sure here is that one, your description is creative, two, it’s of a decent length, not too short and definitely not too long. 

      Also, try separating your content into small paragraphs that helps people to understand it by just skimming through it. Also, highlight your app's features through bullet points.

But make sure that when you are including keywords, you don’t overdo it. The safest number of times you can repeat keywords to make it noticeable and  avoid getting penalised for spamming by Google Play is about 3-5 times. So, just because this method helps a lot, don’t go crazy over it.

Bonus Tips :

➝You could also try to include your keywords in your App Developer Name which will help your account to get ranked high.

➝Don’t just focus on very common keywords. While these may help you to rank, you must understand that there are thousands of app developers like you who are going to be using the same keyword and are going to offer stiff competition. So, also choose some lesser known keywords which will help you rank faster. 

Once you have ranked well in these low-competition keywords, keep updating them to keywords which offer a little more competition.

➝If you find it difficult to get keywords, there are many free and paid tools that will find them for you. Check them out.

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 ➤ MEDIA :

This is the second part of your on-page meta data that you should work on.

This includes two parts :

·       App Icon : When you are going through a list of apps in the following page, what is one factor that will make the most impression on you such that you click on it?

Of course, it’s the icon. If your app has an attractive icon, people will click on it just like you would above. Make your App Icon look professional and make sure it is of the highest quality possible. A low-quality, unprofessional icon will turn anybody off!

·       Screenshots and Videos : This is where you give an insight to people on what your apps is all about and what are its features (Because like I mentioned before, nobody would even bother to click on the description). People want to see what you app offers and what they are going to get and this is probably the only way you can show them. So choose your best features and click the best pictures to preview your app.  Put your best screenshots on the first few slots as 60% of users don’t bother swiping past the first three.

Also, don’t try to put up fake photos which aren’t related to your app, because once your customer finds that you cheated them, they are going to uninstall your app.(which will further decrease your rank).

Also, include short videos on how to use your app. Again, nobody wants to waste their time watching 5-10 minute video, so keep it short (about 30-100 seconds) and keep it innovative.

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Off-page meta data :

➤  APP SIZE :

Well, this is something you can’t edit. But it is a no-brainer that people prefer small-sized apps over big ones. Not many have enough space to accommodate nor enough data to download apps that consume huge space and hence, people get easily discouraged from downloading your app.

Small-sized apps have more number of downloads and hence they rank much more quickly.

So, you might want to keep this in mind next time you are developing an app.

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➤  USER RATINGS AND REVIEWS :

Now, if you have a pretty decent app that gives people exactly what they are looking for then people are definitely going to write reviews. While you exactly can’t control your users reviews, it would help you to know that if the reviews that your users post are filled with keywords that are linked to your app, then there is a high chance that your app will rank well.

Bonus Tip : 

➝You can customize your on-page meta data and app in such a way that when a user writes a review, they sub-consciously end up using your keywords to write their review.

Example, suppose if my meta data and app is filled with ‘dating app’, ‘meet people’, ‘find your match’ , then people end up writing reviews like ‘This is the best dating app.’ or something like ‘This app helps you to find your match.’

Get creative, business is all about influencing people and getting them to believe in what you believe.

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➤  LOCALIZATION :

A business, app or website thrives only when it caters to a large number of audience. Translate your apps into different languages so that it reaches more people. This helps you in two ways : One, when you use keywords for meta data in all these different languages, your app gets ranked in these languages too. Two, when you translate your apps, more people get an insight into your app and its features and hence more downloads. Localizing you app increases your downloads by 767 %.

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➤  USAGE METRICS :

Google has been in the business for a long time so they know very well what they are doing.

Suppose, you get people to download your app by faking things like lying about your apps features or promising incentives and when your customers come to know that the app is not up to the mark, they uninstall it. Now, if you think that Google is only going to be looking into your app’s installs, you probably should know that they keep a tab on the number of uninstalls of your app too.

Suppose an app has 5000 downloads and there are 4000 uninstalls and 1000 active users, then Google comes to the conclusion that your app is not up to the mark and hence it directly puts its rank down.

So lesson learned : Don’t scam your users and be genuine.

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➤  FREQUENT UPDATES :

Google also checks how frequently you update your apps. It’s better to update it twice every month. When they realize that you are genuinely involved in trying to make your app better and not just scamming for money, they are definitely going to recognize your hard work by giving your app a better rank.

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➤  CATEGORY :

Choosing you app category is also very important for your ASO. Find out which are the categories which is frequently used by target audience.

However do not choose a category that is less-competitive and easier to rank if your app does not belong there. If Google takes notice of it, they will penalize you!

Perhaps, this might help you if you haven’t build an app yet and are looking for categories which sell well.

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➤  PROMOTE YOUR APP FOR FREE ON SOCIAL MEDIA :

You can create content related to your app and promote it on social media. For example, you can put up a video on YouTube or Instagram about a feature of your app and then link your app so that people can avail the features.

Example, if you have an app that shortens URLs, you can make a video about how easy it is to shorten URLs with your app and then get people to download it.

You can also write blogs or get your niche related blogs to advertise your app by giving them free in-app purchases.

You can get your app reviewed by free review websites, YouTubers and bloggers by giving them free in-app purchases and exclusive features.

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➤  DEDICATION :

Keep working on making your apps better and useful. The best way to rank your app quickly and to make it popular is only by the users review. If your users find your app useful and satisfactory, then your app will become popular.

To keep your users happy, keep updating your apps to fix bugs, keep improving the graphics and most importantly try to include the latest trends in which ever way possible so that your app does not lose its relevance.

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Being an app developer is hard work 24/7 but the end results is what we all are after, right? Well, these were some ways to reach that end result a little faster.

So, hope these techniques help you in ranking your app and getting people to give your app the attention it truly deserves.