If you are an app developer, the first thing you should do is decide what kind of app you are going to develop. Is it going to be a game or an app that tracks movements and the heartbeat rate of joggers? This looks simple to you, but you should keep in mind that targeting the right audience and knowing their needs or demands is a very important stage of the developing process that should not be taken lightly.
So, you build a great app and submit it to one of the major app stores. At that point, you are going to face another challenge; According to Statista there are 1,600,000 apps in Google Play, 1,500,000 apps in Apple App Store and 340,000 apps in Windows Phone Store. There are probably thousands of apps in the same category as your app, so getting found when users are looking for your app will be a little difficult. According to another piece of research (Nielsen Survey), 57% of users found the app they are looking for via search pages. It shows us the importance of app store search pages and one of the best ways to make your app appear at the top of search pages is by performing ASO.
The first thing you need to perform ASO is finding the right keywords that people use to find your app. In our previous article, we explained how to use the most effective keywords in your ASO efforts. Here are a few tips for how to find them.
* The first and most obvious method is brainstorming about the keywords that people use to find your app. For example; if you need a PDF reader for your smart phone, what would you type to find it? Maybe you type “download free PDF reader” or “PDF reader free” to find the app you need. You should also enlist the help of your family and friends for more suggestions.
* You can always use free tools like Google Keyword Planner tool, Ubersuggest and WordTracker to get some keyword ideas. All you need to do is enter the subject and they’ll generate the short and long tails keywords you need. Here is an example from WordTracker for hotel booking subject:
* When doing your keyword research, you can always look at your competitors’ keywords to get a few ideas. You can use tools like Mobile Action to get the job done. With this tool, you can track your competitors’ keywords with parameters like search score and current rankings. Here is an example:
You should also consider looking at your competitors’ positive and negative reviews to find which words people use to describe their problems or demands.
* Lastly, you can always look at major review sites like App Advice, Appy Zilla and TechCrunch for more keyword ideas. You can find all kinds of apps and reviews about them on these sites. If you know how to describe the app and its features, you can find the words that people use to find it. These sites are valuable keyword caches, but only if you know how to mine them.
As said before, ASO is one of the most effective ways of making your app appear at the top of search pages and the first step of ASO is to find the right keywords to optimize your app. If you don’t find the right ones, you can’t get the best results from your ASO efforts. In this post, we tried to explain how to find the right keywords. If you know anything we missed, please be sure to leave a reply in the comments section.
