How to improve App Store Search Rankings with Mobile SEO...for Beginners

1. How to implement SEO for Apps inside the App StoreDid you know ? 56% of users ﬁnd apps by searching the AppStore by SearchMan.com Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 1

2. FAQ: Is Search Important?Q I thought nobody used App Store search. Is it really that important?A 56% of users ﬁnd apps by searching for them Ranking Search 56% Word of Mouth Ads News / Blogs Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 2

3. FAQ: How hard is App Store SEO?Q We are 2-person team, too busy building Apps. Doesn’t SEO take a lot of time?A Well, if you can afford to buy ads for $2-$3 per download forever, then forget SEO. But if not, you just need 3 minutes a day of tracking and tweaking. We will explain how. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 3

4. FAQ: How many free downloads from SEO?Q I want to know how many incremental downloads we can get with App Store SEO. As these numbers are not made public by Apple, it isA impossible to attribute search-results-driven downloads accurately at this time. But based on anecdotal feedback from developers, and by watching volatile changes in search rankings under many important keywords, it is clear that between 100’s and 1000’s of free, high quality, organic downloads a day are indeed possible when you improve Search Results visibility inside the App Store. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 4

5. FAQ: Is Chomp integrated into the AppStore?Q Apple acquired Chomp for a reported $50M to improve AppStore’s search engine. Is it already integrated?A Yes it seems that way but so far, only affects the U.S. App Store. In other countries, the previous search engine seems to be still active. (As of 07/29/2012.) Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 5

6. FAQ: How big is Chomp’s impact?Q What impact has Chomp had on AppStore search?A Much more volatility. Here’s what we have heard: “My app was #1 under a certain big keyword. After the change, my app is no longer #1 under the same keyword. I lost 90% of our downloads in the U.S.” “Our app initially grew so nicely because of AppStore SEO. But after the change, our daily downloads decreased by 80%..”. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 6

8. What affects SEO in AppStore? (in U.S)1. External review sites seem to now matter for SEO. Places Limitations SEO Impact Apple review AppName 3-255 chars Super high Y Apple’s suggestion: < 35 chars iTunes Keywords 100 chars (incl. commas) high Y Description No limit low N External Review Sites - Super high - 2. Total #ratings seem to matter. i.e. Ask your friends to rate your app!3. “Freshness” of the app does not seem to matter much Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 8

9. AppStore SEO Strategy (in U.S.)1.  Assemble the entire list of keywords important for you.2.  Put everything into your description (in a human readable form.)3.  Sort the keywords ordered by the importance. 1.  Pick up 1-5 most important keywords in your App Name. 2.  Put as many as possible into your iTunes Keywords.4.  Ask external app review sites (like 148apps) to write a review for your app. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 9

11. Developer Best Practices?! ! SearchMan analyzed how thousands of ourcustomers ﬁx their SEO and we have outlined some of the best practices we are hearing about. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 11

13. Before your start, prepare 2 lists Keyword List Keyword1 Add keywords whenever you come up with a new Keyword2 idea of keywords. Keyword3 Grow this list as much as you can. Competitor App List Competitor1 Add Competitor app which you feel are competing Competitor2 against your app. Competitor3 Add to this list whenever you ﬁnd a new competitor. Grow this list as much as you can. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 13

14. Daily: Track Track n Simply track search rankings across allFix Rese arch Keywords x Competitors n If you ﬁnd new emerging competitors, add to Competitors Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 14

15. Once a week: Research Track n Check the ranking trends of your appFix Rese arch for all of Keywords n Check all Competitors in detail. n If you ﬁnd some keywords which Competitors are ranked better than your app, add these keywords to Keywords Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 15

16. Before submitting a new version: Fix SEO Track n By now you should have gathered allFix Rese arch candidates keywords. n Sort all Keywords in the order you see as important. n Author your new Description, App Name, iTunes Keywords. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 16

20. FAQ: How much is SearchMan?Q How much does it cost to use SearchMan?A It is freemium, i.e. sign up for free and pay if you like it. After free trial, it will only cost $20/app/mo to use full functions. (Of course, you can cancel anytime.) You can always use some limited functions for free. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 20

21. FAQ: How awesome is SearchMan?Q Tell me why you are better than other services.A SearchMan tracks 650K apps * 1M keywords both for iPhone and iPad every single day. Therefore there’s no need to wait to access data. Our data is robust and we make keyword & competitor recommendations every day. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 21

24. What affects SEO in App Store? (outside U.S)1. App Name seems to matter for SEO. Places Limitations SEO Impact Apple review AppName 3-255 chars Super high Y Apple’s suggestion: < 35 chars iTunes Keywords 100 chars (incl. commas) high Y Description No limit low N 2. “Freshness” of the app seems to matter too. i.e. Submit updates intermittently.3. #DLs, #ratings might not matter that much. i.e. Indie developer apps have better chances in SEO!! Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 24

25. App Store SEO Strategy (outside U.S.)1.  Assemble the entire list of keywords that are important for you.2.  Track search results for these keywords to verify who you will be competing with.3.  Put all words into your description (human readable = in sentences, not just a laundry list)4.  Sort the keywords ordered by the importance. 1.  Pick up 1-5 most important keywords and try to place them in your App Name. 2.  Put as many as possible into your iTunes Keywords (100 character limit)5.  Update your app as frequently as possible. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 25

26. Tips: How to choose your App NameGood Example: AppGrooves – App Discovery & Recommendations for Apps Human readable (not a spammy list), contains important keywords like “app discovery” and “recommendations”, and it makes sense.Bad Examples: AppGrooves Nobody searches by your brand name (unless you are Instagram!) AppGrooves, App Discovery, Recommendations, Apps Spammy. Apple might reject because of this AppName. Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 26