SEO is important for any app marketing strategy. More searches are performed on mobile devices and not on desktops. There are various ways in which the apps might appear in search results. Hence, it is very important to be visible in mobile searches. Getting the mobile apps found in mobile search results will help in acquiring new users and retargeting the existing ones. In some cases, the user might look for something you might offer in your apps. Doing SEO for apps would make the visitors return to your app by clicking a search result. If you are looking for the services of an SEO company or Android application development in Australia, an online search could fetch you the details of many agencies. You could shortlist and pick the right one that you feel is the best.
The common method to discover an app
To download an app, people make use of the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. However, many apps are discovered out of these platforms. Most of the apps are found by people when they are searched on the app store. They also come from different channels like colleagues, family, friends, search engines, company websites or even television ads. Out of this, most people discover and install apps from search engine results. If you have not considered implementing SEO for your app other than the website, it will not be visible in search engines and as a result, you might lose some traffic. Other than organic search results, ads could be effective in boosting app downloads. Out of the types of ads used for promotions, half of the downloads are influenced by search ads and the other half with the help of different kinds of ads. Search is an important driver of app installs and every marketer should invest in app SEO.
SEO ranking Factors for Apps
SEO for mobile apps is very important like optimisation. Take a look at what influences the app ranking in search results. Influence majorly by the factors like keywords, ratings, quality backlinks and reviews.
Keywords: For all SEO strategies, mobile apps should give importance to using the right keywords that would help to rank at the top of search results. Right keywords could be implemented with the help of a third party and those keywords could be strategically placed in the description and title of the app. This would help when the app package has relevant keywords and branding.
Ratings and Reviews: They are not only an effective ranking factor on mobile app stores and search results but also is an important factor in SEO. The driving factor of search engines is highly dependent on what users might think about the app. Hence, having good reviews and ratings is very important.
High-quality backlinks: An SEO strategy will not be complete without the presence of backlinks. You can begin by adding a link to the download page from your website and try to get various media promoting your app. Domain strength is important here. If there are high-quality backlinks, you have a better chance that the search engines would rank the app higher in search results.
How users find apps with the help of mobile search
The methods that are mentioned are generic for ranking the app on search engines. There are various steps that you should check to make sure that the app is ranking high.
- Generic search and app packs
One of the most common methods on how the apps would come up in web services is through app packs. An app pack could be a set of suggested apps that appears in search results when you send an app-specific query. If you look up a health tracking app, you would find an app back result that contains various suggested health apps.
- Organic search with single results
When someone looks up an app in specific (this could be by looking up the app with the brand name), a preview of the app in-store listing would be shown. The search engine results page would show the app information in a single line provided from the App Store or Google Play. This would include the app name, icon, rating of the app, information and the first line of app description and an install button to prompt for installation. When a user ends up clicking the install button, they will be redirected to the App Store or Google Play to install the app.
- Searching app-specific content – App Indexing
The search engine will rank all the apps and allow crawling and ranking internal app screens as a result of app indexing. More specifically, it means that if users have your app installed, they could find specific app content through a search. When they click on the results, the users could open the particular content directly in the app. This would help you engage with existing customers to make use of your app.
Most people prefer making use of app rather than checking out the website and finding information for opting for products or services. Apps are more convenient for a user as they can read better and find what they are looking for easily. However, the brand should make sure that they tailor the app that would be compatible with various devices and various platforms such as for IoS and Android users. They should also make sure that the app gets proper and timely updates so that existing customers get updated information regarding the products, services, offers and so on. Some apps might identify automatically if a newer version is available and would prompt the user to update the app for a much smoother and better user experience. Other than updating the mobile apps and performing mobile SEO, the brand should make sure that they are active on all social media platforms. The brand should interact directly with the customers and potential customers and should be ready to help out and address the queries and issues they have. Direct interaction of the brand with its customers would create a positive impact on the brand among the existing customers. A brand should aim not only at making new customers but also at keeping the existing customers happy.