App store optimization and SEO

While our blog post App Store Optimization – the recipe for success already gives you an insight into the topic, this article sheds light on the subject from a new and perhaps surprising perspective.

Of course, the download of an app always takes place within the App Store (or Play Store). However, your website is usually one of the biggest sources of traffic to the App Store, which is why it is important to take this channel just as seriously and include it in your marketing concept:

Your app probably satisfies a need of some kind for your customer. Of course, it is possible that they will go directly to the App Store and search for a solution to their problem. But at least as often, they will simply ask Google for a solution. So it’s important to cover this case too and provide easy-to-find information about your app.

In addition, SEO and ASO are related – many of the thoughts you have about SEO can then be applied almost 1:1 to your app store optimization.

The goal of your search engine optimization efforts should be clear: You optimize your website so that you rank highly for as many high-quality search queries as possible (i.e. appear in the first few results).
In order to achieve this goal, it is important to understand the basic principles according to which Google works:

1. Google is a listed company. The main objective is of course profit, which the search engine giant generates mainly through the sale of advertisements
2. To generate as many ads as possible, you need a lot of search queries, as every search query offers an opportunity to target ads
3. You retain customers with high-quality results. For this reason, Google tries to answer every search query with the best possible results

So what helps the user also benefits Google. But how exactly does the company define “quality”? Quite simply: with technical “crutches”. The company uses certain characteristics to define whether the content of a website is of high quality or not. There are around two hundred of these characteristics – or ranking factors. Not all of them are officially known, but the most important ones are an open secret:

Google makes the following assumption: If a word appears frequently and prominently on a page, it is probably the topic of the page. So try to ensure that your main keyword appears in the URL, the website title, the meta description, in the main title (H1) and several times on the entire page.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of your potential users. It’s all well and good if you stand out from your competitors, but if nobody finds you that way, you’re not helping yourself. An example: Let’s assume you are marketing an app that rents out motorhomes in Scotland. Even if “Experience the picturesque north of the UK in a home on wheels” sounds nice as a title – “Campervan hire in Scotland” is guaranteed to be searched for much more frequently and will therefore generate significantly more traffic and therefore leads and app downloads. The Google Keyword Planner helps with the selection and evaluation of keywords.

The presence of certain layout elements is considered to improve readability and thus the user experience. Therefore, pay attention to the following factors:

• Text length: More text = more information
• Videos, images, graphics = more vivid content
• Formatting: subtitles, paragraphs, bulleted lists, lists = clearer and easier to read

Your website should be state of the art in order to offer the user a good experience. Google naturally recognizes this when crawling and evaluates the following properties, among others:

• Responsive design
• Loading Speed
• Sitemap available?
• SSL certificate (security)
• Accessibility

Links are one of the most important SEO factors because they give the search engine information about who you are referring to and who is referring to you. For example, if NASA links to your site, Google assumes that you are reputable and important. If, on the other hand, you link to an online casino, your website will be devalued and considered dubious. So the more and better links you can “collect”, the better.

• App store optimization starts with your own channels. The most important one is your website. That’s why ASO starts with SEO
• Try to change the perspective: What concerns the user?
• An eye for detail: there is potential for optimization everywhere
• Motto: The worm must taste good to the fish, not the angler