App Discovery Optimization

•Nathan Mellor

•CritterMap Software LLC

•Follow up at http://eepurl.com/d9tZj

App Discovery Optimization

http://eepurl.com/d9tZj

•About search

•Keyword Research

•Optimizing for app searches

•Use that optimization in:

•Paid promotion

•Organic promotion

Agenda

• Formerly software engineer at Hewlett-Packard

• Independent App Developer since 2009 as an apprenuer, not a contractor or consultant

• Author of Top grossing Android App

• Trained in Internet Marketing at University of San Francisco online program

My Background

Book Signing

• http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJHIGY0

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJHIGY0

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJHIGY0

Target AudienceTarget Audience(potentially interested)(potentially interested)

Target AudienceTarget Audience(potentially interested)(potentially interested)

ProspectProspect(aware product exists)(aware product exists)


The Internet Marketing Funnel

LeadLead(has tried product)(has tried product)


CustomerCustomer(paid for something)(paid for something)

CustomerCustomer(paid for something)(paid for something)

Loyal CustomerLoyal Customer(repeat sales)(repeat sales)

Loyal CustomerLoyal Customer(repeat sales)(repeat sales)

AdvocateAdvocate(recommends (recommends

product)product)

AdvocateAdvocate(recommends (recommends

product)product)

Target Audience = Outdoor Navigation usersTarget Audience = Outdoor Navigation users1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day

Target Audience = Outdoor Navigation usersTarget Audience = Outdoor Navigation users1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day1% of 1.3 million activations per day = 13,000 per day

Prospect = see my app listingProspect = see my app listing????? - figures not available????? - figures not available

Prospect = see my app listingProspect = see my app listing????? - figures not available????? - figures not available

App Market Funnel + Numbers

Lead = installs demo productLead = installs demo product500 per day500 per day

Lead = installs demo productLead = installs demo product500 per day500 per day

Customer- bought paid appCustomer- bought paid app20% =>100 per day20% =>100 per day

Customer- bought paid appCustomer- bought paid app20% =>100 per day20% =>100 per day

Loyal Customer= bought an Loyal Customer= bought an addonaddon

22 per day22 per day

Loyal Customer= bought an Loyal Customer= bought an addonaddon

22 per day22 per day

Advocate= 5 starAdvocate= 5 star2 per day2 per day

Advocate= 5 starAdvocate= 5 star2 per day2 per day

App Discovery(knowing a product

exists)Target AudienceTarget Audience

(potentially interested)(potentially interested)Target AudienceTarget Audience

(potentially interested)(potentially interested)





App DiscoverySearch Search MarketMarketSearch Search MarketMarket

Browse Browse MarketMarketBrowse Browse MarketMarket

List of List of AppsAppsList of List of AppsApps

App App ListingListing

App App ListingListing

Search Search InterneInterne

tt

Search Search InterneInterne

tt

Your Your WebsitWebsit

ee

Your Your WebsitWebsit

ee

Browse Browse InterneInterne

tt

Browse Browse InterneInterne

tt

Some Some Other Other WebsitWebsit

ee

Some Some Other Other WebsitWebsit

ee

Ad Ad CampaigCampaig

nn

Ad Ad CampaigCampaig

nn

InstallInstallInstallInstallGoogle PlayGoogle PlayGoogle PlayGoogle Play

The State of App Discovery

•For some, App Discovery is about paid campaigns.

•Burst Advertising

•Spend all your advertising budget at once

•Spend your way into a top ten chart

•Hope you stay there.

Is Burst Advertising dead?•What does that mean?

•Have people stop spending their way to the top?

•No, most of the apps in the top ten charts on the appstore have bought their way there.

•That includes Candy Crush and many other well known apps.

Is Burst Advertising dead?•What has changed

•Estimates are upwards of $96,000 per day to reach the top ten in the appstore

•Not as much money is spent in Android yet, but it is coming

•It requires continuous spending to stay there.

What does that mean to you?

•Most small to medium developers don’t have $96,000 per day.

•You are better off focusing on search queries, which drive over 60% of installs.

Are New Apps Special?

•Mostly Not.

•Top complaint of IOS Developers that port to Android

•No human review process like Apple

•Top New Paid/Top New Free

•Last 30 days (globally)

•Ordered by downloads

Searches in Google Play

•12% search for apps daily

•50% search weekly

•6 million unique search phrases are used each week.

•(Source: Google I/O 2013).

Differences from iOS

iPhone Google Play

Apps per page 1 7-8

Reaching app #25 25 flicks 1 Flick

App TitleVery Important

(approved by Apple)

Very Important30 characters

(25 seen)

Tags (secret keywords)Very Important

(approved by Apple)100 characters

Not used.

Description keywordsUnclear if used in

search

Important in search

4000 characters

Other factors in search Unclear

Installs and UninstallsRatings

Links from outside Google

Play

Success story• Fall 2010

• Managed to track keywords from Android Market (even Google said that was impossible)

• Description was 250 characters

• But I knew exactly which keywords were making me money

• Made it to the top of my category

•A keyword is generally a multi word search phrase

•You want to evaluate

•RELEVANCE

•TRAFFIC

•COMPETITION

Keyword Research

Relevance

•How likely someone using a particular phrase is looking for your app

•Determined by your knowledge of the target market of your app.

Traffic

•How many people are using a particular search phrase

•Can generally only be estimated with tools

Competition

•How likely you can actually attain a top position for a particular search phrase

•Is context dependent

•Can be evaluated with tools

Rookie Mistakes•Thinking that there are only six or so

phrases for your app

•Thinking that you already know the two most important ones.

•There are always more phrases than you think

•The ones that you think are most important may not be

•Try for 500, then narrow it down to 50

Broadening your scope

•Come up with a number of seed words

•Think of synonyms and variations

•Think of related products or services that your target customer would search for

•Think of how they would search for your competitor’s app

•Consider common brand names in the field.

Example: Video Chat App

Video Chat example

• describe it in a few ways

• Video chat,Video conferencing, video call, video conference

• Add popular brand names

• skype,google talk,google hangout, facetime,

• Add related apps

• oovoo, tango, and camfrog

• Put in Adwords Google Keyword planner

Where can we use these keywords

•Title

•Description

•Outside Links

•Paid Promotions

•Organic Promotions

Title

•Most important keyword

•More influential than description

•Only 30 characters (no paragraphs like iOS titles).

Branded Title vs Keyword Title

Branded Keyword

Examples

PandoraAmazon

BackCountry Navigator

Music PlayerOnline Book Store

GPS and Maps

Recognizable Trademark

Yes Often not

Word of Mouth and reputation

Helpful Less helpful

Functional conveyance

Maybe Probably

Search term?Only if already

familiarValuable

Can you do both in 20-30 characters?

Description•Your primary and secondary keywords

•Keep it short if you have a small number of very important keywords

•Longer if you need to target more keywords.

•Mentioning a keyword about five times might be about

•Use the full phrase if possible.

Targetting keywords

Do’s and don’ts

• Do: use in a grammatically correct way

• Don’t - violate other trademarks in title

• Don’t keyword stuff - against Market terms

• ie “keywords: angry birds,fun app,games,fun,temple run, candy crush”

• Do: understand limitations and tradeoffs

• Do: review if you are winning

Other factors

•Google Play knows your installs and uninstalls.

•They can track whether a keyword triggers an install that stays active.

•They’ve said you can include helpful anchor text in links outside Google Play

Other phenomenon

•Google will make app suggestions for people in Google search.

•These are starting to show up in Google Analytics.

Sources in analytics

Tracking Keyword Victories

•Gets a bit hairy if you are targeting 50 keyword phrases

•You want to target more keywords without losing ground on the ones you have.

•Time to use tools

ASO tools

•App Store Optimization

•Searchman.com

•mobiledevhq.com

•appnique.com

•sensortower.com

•appcodes.com

What you can do

•Track 50 keywords over time

•Find more by adding competitors or doing searches

•See what keywords may be valuable.

Using keywords in Paid advertising

•Test keyword phrases

•Test Calls to Action

•Find the perfect message for your first line

•Test out images and icons

Paid advertisement

•You want to track it all the way through user conversions

•You can define an app install as a conversion in Adwords

•But track it past the install

•Do this by monitoring Goals and Ecommerce in Analytics

Adwords

keyword

targetting

Defining install as a conversion

Paid Advertising - ROI

Text

Drop the losers and keep the winners

Results from paid experiments

•Find the high converting keywords

•Target them more aggressively in Google Play

•Use them in internet marketing promotion and links

Using keywords in Internet marketing

Traffic from Your website

• Can come from search engine

• Can be tracked much easier (can measure the prospects better)

• Do NOT keep this traffic at your site

• Have a BIG OBVIOUS BUTTON that will go directly to the market listing

• Do not use a wimpy little hyperlink

• Do not say “Search the market for . . . “

Your button• Create link at

• https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/android/devguide#google-play-builder

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crittermap.backcountrynavigator.license&referrer=utm_source%3DWebsite%26utm_medium%3DLink%26utm_term%3Dtopo%2520maps%26utm_campaign%3DAnDevCon

• You can set campaign, source, to whatever you want.

• This will track in Google Analytics.

https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/android/devguide#google-play-builder



•From your list of Keywords

•Choose one keyword phrase

•Make one web page optimized for that keyword phrase

•Get links to that page

Web page marketing

Example: Traffic

Attainable: The Top Ten

"To rank on the first page of Google, you must replace a page that’s

currently there." Market Samurai

• Mentions the phrase (ie Android Topo Maps)

• In the url

• In the <title> tag

• In the <meta Description> tag

• In an <h1> tag

• In the first sentence

• In the first sentence of the last paragraph

• 2-3 times in between the first and last parag

• Has about 250-750 words (ave 500).

• That’s all!

An Optimized Page ..

•The most creative part of internet marketing

•The best links:

•Have keywords in the link (anchor text)

•Are from “important” websites

•Are from relevant websites

•Have traffic

•Should link to you own site OR to Google Play listing.

Getting links

Getting Links

•Optimized Press releases

•Article Marketing

•Directories

•Review sites

Check Results (Google

webmaster tools)

•Establish a blog with wordpress

•Add a post every day

•Get some links

•At the end of a year, you will have 200+ keywords in the first page of Google.

Rinse and Repeat

Keywords in the world’s second biggest Search

Engine

What is the world’s second biggest Search Engine?

Use keywords in title, description

and tags

URLURLURLURL

Benefits include:•Blended search

•Embedding in other websites.

•YouTube is a social network.

•Get your newsletter subscribers to watch and comment

•Find friends

•Find subscribers

•Consider tools like TubeToolbox or Tube Assist.

Get views and traffic

Find similar videos and

interested users by keyword

Collect them into lists

Send them a video you madeInvite them to comment or

friend.

Tube ToolBox

Questions

Technology

App Discovery Optimization