APP overseas promotion, detailed explanation of ASO skills!

For apps that are promoted overseas, the current promotion is mainly based on buying traffic, including in app stores. In other words, overseas promotion methods are more limited than those in China.

In fact, in addition to buying traffic, the traffic brought by app store searches and rankings cannot be ignored. In order to obtain maximum traffic through the app store, in addition to being seen by search users, your app must also be ranked high on the list.

At present, there are not many ASO teams in the United States, and many fields are in a non-competitive state, so the dividends do exist. Whether it is optimizing its own metadata or placing points wall, overseas apps will gain a large number of users as long as they do it.

Today we will focus on the principles of Apple App Store ranking optimization.

Taking the United States as an example, the ASO operating principle of the App Store is the same as that of the Chinese region.

The list is the general term for all App Store rankings. Currently in the App Store, the "Apps" list includes 23 categories such as business, tools, social, travel, etc., and the "Games" list includes 16 categories such as action games, adventure games, arcade games, etc.

The list optimization we are going to talk about today is for free lists and paid lists. Before iOS 11, the App Store included free list, paid list and best-selling list. Later, it was changed to "Games" and "Apps", with the paid and free lists embedded in these two parts, and the best-selling list was cancelled.

In the latest version of iOS 12, the top three apps are displayed in the paid and free lists in the "Games" and "Apps" menus. The paid and free charts for Games and Apps show approximately the top 200 apps.

This indicates that the number of lists displayed in the App Store is limited and concentrated. If an app wants to appear on the list and rank high, it needs to optimize the list. Ranking optimization is an optimization method for apps to gain exposure through rankings, and is more suitable for apps with high brand awareness or high budget.

So, how to optimize the list?

1. What factors influence the ranking of the list?

Chart optimization refers to the act of achieving the effect of improving the chart ranking by a large number of downloads within a period of time, thereby obtaining a better chart display position. What factors should be taken into consideration to improve ranking on the list?

1. Overall ranking

The overall ranking refers to the App Store’s overall ranking, including the paid ranking and the free ranking. Apple has its own algorithm for ranking apps, but it is still unknown. Based on industry experience, it is found that the main factor affecting the ranking of the list is the number of downloads, followed by user comments, active users and other factors.

① Downloads

In fact, the higher the number of downloads, the higher the product ranking, just like an entrance exam, the higher your score, the higher the ranking. The higher the download volume, the more it means that users like it and it is a good product, so it is natural for the App Store to rank it higher for exposure.

Increasing downloads is the most important way to optimize the rankings. You can attract users to download through marketing activities, or purchase real user downloads from the points wall. For example, in one of Bobo’s previous articles analyzing the Ji Ni Tai Mei App, it was mentioned that the App took advantage of the popularity of Cai Xukun’s basketball playing that was criticized by netizens, modified the product name and icon, and used the B station ecosystem to achieve a high position through a surge in downloads without buying traffic.

②User comments

User reviews include the number of reviews and review star rating. If you want to increase comments, you can do so by guiding users to comment, buying comments, and exchanging comments.

Guide user comments

Sometimes, when we open an app, we receive a pop-up window asking us to write a review. Usually we ignore it. Some of them will guide you when closing the App, but they will still be ignored. In fact, there are only two types of users who can write reviews for an App: users with a particularly good experience and users with a particularly bad experience. Therefore, improving product quality and guiding user reviews are the key.

Buy Reviews

Buying reviews is a heavy blow from Apple's side. If discovered, it will be cleared from the list or removed from the shelves. So pay attention when buying reviews. However, nowadays, the reviews you buy are posted by real people. That is, ASO optimizers write original articles themselves, which are relatively long and can reflect the authenticity of the comments. It is best to highlight the highlights of the product in the comments to attract users to download.

Change Comment

To exchange comments, you just need to join a lot of App promotion groups, CP groups, game groups, ASO groups, etc., and send group messages to find App to exchange comments.

③Active users

In addition to ranking based on download volume, another important factor for the App Store is user activity, which is also Apple's consideration for the healthy development of its own ecosystem. A large number of active users means that the product is of high quality. Just like the short video app Tik Tok, which has over 100 million daily active users, it is naturally ranked high.

2. Category ranking

Category rankings are also mainly determined by download volume. You can choose the category of your product when it is launched or updated. You can make a lot of money by choosing a category that is close to your own products and has less competition.

For example, a group buying app can be classified into the lifestyle category, the food and drink category, or the shopping category. Next, we will study the competition in the three categories. Similarly, how are the download volumes ranked under the three categories? Finally, choose a suitable category to give the product maximum exposure and maximize download benefits.

2. Rules for optimizing rankings

By testing the update time of the list on a third-party ASO data platform, it was found that the update time of the list is not fixed. The time interval between two list updates can be as short as 2 hours or as long as 6 hours. As shown in the picture.

As can be seen from the figure, the ranking list is updated 3-7 times a day, and the interval between each update is 2-6 hours. In addition, we can also see that the update time of the paid list and the free list are mostly consistent.

Note: The update frequency of the above rankings is not fixed, and Apple will also change the update frequency due to adjustments to its own algorithms. But most of the time it's the above situation.

3. What are the main ways to optimize the ranking of the list?

A third-party data platform shows that there are currently two million products on the App Store, but users can only see a very small number of them. If a product wants to gain exposure among millions of products, there are two ways: one is through keyword search, and the other is list optimization.

Let’s take a look at the main ways to optimize the list and improve rankings.

1. Points Wall

Using the offer wall to optimize the free list is to improve the list ranking through downloads. At present, the offer wall is an optimization method with the lowest cost and the best effect. However, the specific timing and amount of release will require long-term experiments and observations. Our optimizer has developed his own set of ranking plans through continuous exploration, but this is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Ranking plans still need to be made based on specific circumstances.

2. Optimize the ranking by changing the App category

As mentioned earlier, choosing a suitable category will also bring about changes in product rankings. When launching or updating an App, developers can choose the App category on their own, and then choose a more appropriate list type, which will also be of great help in improving the ranking of the category list. For example, the transition between paid and free. Free for a limited time can quickly attract users to try the product in a short period of time, and also help users download the product.

3. Optimize the ranking list by planning activities

In most cases, when a product is launched or a new feature is introduced, you can plan an event to promote the product, write a press release or soft copy, use information flow (WeChat public accounts, Moments, Fans Channel), invest in media resources, and get celebrity or internet celebrity endorsements. Attract users to download through online + offline linkage, so as to achieve the effect of rising ranking on the list. For example: the game app Shanhai Yiwenlu. The delivery trends are as follows:

The ranking changes are as follows:

As can be seen from the above figure, the ranking has increased significantly since the App released media resources.

4. Analysis of the ranking optimization process

1. Warm-up period. During the 1-3 days of ranking, you can improve the ranking of your product in the keyword search results by optimizing keywords, which can also improve your product ranking in the list accordingly. After all, the higher the keyword search ranking, the higher the conversion rate will be. The higher the download volume, the higher the ranking on the charts.

2. Ranking period. In the 2-3 days of ranking, you can put a large amount of points wall on the map and try your best to move up the ranking.

3. Maintenance period. The maintenance period is usually 7 days to 3 months. When the App ranking reaches a high position, there is no need to invest a large amount of money. Instead, choose the most cost-effective amount to maintain the existing ranking.

4. During the ranking period. Continuous rise in rankings.

Note: Keyword optimization is carried out throughout the entire ranking process. In fact, the relationship between keyword optimization and rankings is mutual. Keyword optimization will change from quantitative change to qualitative change, and the ranking on the list will be improved. The increase in the ranking of the list will also drive keyword coverage.

5. Detailed explanation of ASO algorithm by Apple account

Previously, ASO operations mainly achieved the desired effect through "search keywords + display page clicks". Later, Apple changed its algorithm, and the simple "search + display page click" would not produce any effect. At present, the main ASO operation method used is "search keywords + display page click + download". This operation method can monitor the download data in the Apple background, and then optimize the list. Whether it is the former algorithm or the latter algorithm, both white accounts and weighted accounts are effective. One weighted account can be equivalent to the effect of 3-6 white accounts.

Conclusion

The list is an important display platform for apps. Apps that can make it onto the list can get enough exposure. However, there are limited places on the list. If you want to stand out among more than 2 million apps, in addition to having excellent products, you must also optimize the list. The best ranking optimization method is the points wall.

Points wall promotion: e.xiaomaowan.com/