3 optimizations to rank your app higher in the Apple Store

In the previous article, we tackled the optimization of app in the case of Google Play. When it comes to the optimization in the Apple Store, the process remains the same with an optimization based on keywords. Nevertheless, there are some différences that you should take into account.

In order to increase the brand awareness and the number of downloads of your app in the Apple store, there are 3 key attributes that you should optimize. In this article, we will enumerate them and highlight their importance.

Key segments for ranking your iOS app

1.Title

The title provides the most important information for the app and is often the eyecatcher in search result pages. In general, it has been understood and recommended that a mobile app maker should include the most pertinent keywords in its app title in order to rank higher into the search page results.

It is recommended to include in the title the brand and the main USPs. In terms of characters, you are limited to 30. The order between the brand and the USP does not matter much. Nevertheless, in case you are a well know brand, we would rather recommend putting the brand first followed by the USP.

Here are the different combinations you could have for the title:

Name of the app - USP
Name of the app: USP
UPS - Name of the app
UPS: Name of the app

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2. Subtitle

Following the above reasoning of not including extra keywords into the title of the application, the subtitle brings the solution. The subtitle complements the title and allows for an additional short description to the title of 30 characters. In terms of content for the subtitle field, here, it is important to focus on providing a clear message on what your app is about. Often informative phrase is applied using strong keywords putting forward the functionalities of the application as can be seen in the example below. Additionally, it is important to note that the subtitle is only available for iOS 11. However, since the release of this update mid-2017, most Apple devices are compatible with this iOS (iPhone 5 - newer models).

Subtitle iOS Article 2 - EN

3. iTunes Connect Keyword fields

When setting up the app within iTunes connect, keyword fields are a crucial part to pay attention to as they, next to the app title, greatly influence the findability of the app within the app store. However, the keyword field is limited to 100 characters which means keywords should be selected carefully. Here below you can find a list of best practices to keep in mind when adding keywords to this section. Avoid using spaces between the keywords. Instead, use commas as a separator.

Avoid using both singular and plural versions. For example, say we would include house as a keyword, there would be no need to include houses as a 2nd keyword. Apple, by
default
will include variations on the keyword. This further allows you to focus on other keywords.
Don’t use the app name in the keywords. This is already taken into account and would only lead to double counting and less room for other keywords.
Avoid using phrase connectors (for, or, of) and never use the word “app”..
Avoid using very long keywords unless they are seen really relevant. Long keywords take up a significant amount of the 100 characters limited. Often, people are also seen to type in combinations of short keywords.
Avoid focusing all keywords fields on high volume keywords with high competition. While it is definitely beneficial to include these, including keywords with less
competition
can still be beneficial. However, avoid adding keywords with no or very limited search volume as it, of course, impacts visibility negatively. In order to select your keywords, there some parameters that could you consider:
- The difficulty to be ranked with regards to those keywords;
- The score of those keywords;
- The total number of applications that target the same keywords.

They are tools that help you to evaluate those parameters but a specific article will tackle this topic.

In summary, the selection of the keywords used in the iTunes Connect Keyword fields should be done with care. Then, those keywords should be subject to an analysis in order to distinguish the competition using the same keywords. The next step is to monitor them taking into account the competition. Recap - Apple App store

Recap - Apple App Store

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AUTHOR

Placide Mugenzi

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