APP promotion: low-cost ASO optimization improves app store ratings!

When promoting an APP, you often face the situation of how to improve its ratings and reviews. The author of this article combines his actual experience to share with us how to improve ratings from two perspectives: how to reduce negative reviews and increase positive reviews, thereby assisting product growth.

In the process of APP promotion , there are many small problems that are not taken seriously, but they are of great help to the conversion rate of the product. In some teams, because there are no full-time ASO students, operations students or developers often overlook the app store , a channel with great value. For example: the score is low, the full score is 5 points, but the APP score is less than 3 points; the comment section of the APP details is full of negative reviews. However, some apps with similar product experience can easily score above 4 points.

The author once improved the score of an APP from 3.2 to 4.8 through a series of ASO optimizations , and brought very significant new user growth to the product. This article will introduce you to low-cost, high-yield growth methods from two aspects: why should we improve app store ratings and specific operational cases?

1. What is the role of APP ratings and reviews?

Affects the exposure of the APP in the app store, such as its position in the rankings. It affects the user's first impression of the product, and even if there is good exposure, it is not easy to generate effective downloads.

For example: When a user is faced with "APPs with a score of 2.5 and negative reviews are displayed first" and "APPs with a score of 4.5 and positive reviews are displayed first", without considering other factors, the APP with better reviews will inevitably be easier to acquire this user.

II. Specific measures to improve scores

Next, let’s talk about how to improve ratings from two perspectives: reducing negative reviews and increasing positive reviews, thereby assisting product growth.

1. Praise pop-up window guidance plan

To put it simply: set up a rating or experience inquiry pop-up window within the product, and the pop-up window will pop up after the user completes a certain action. When the user clicks a positive review, the app will be redirected to the rating page of the app store; if the user clicks a negative review, the user will be guided to the feedback channel.

This will guide more users who are willing to give positive reviews to contribute high scores to the app store, while making it easier for dissatisfied users to provide feedback, helping developers obtain information and optimize products.

However, the following points need to be noted in the implementation of this plan:

1) Trigger node and frequency

Pop up pop-ups when users are satisfied, don’t interrupt them:

When users are at a satisfactory point in using a product, they are more likely to give good reviews. Users of community Q&A are more likely to give positive reviews "after finding a satisfactory article collection" than "when browsing search results."

Similarly, the trigger point should be selected at the node where the user completes a certain behavior, so as not to interrupt the user's daily experience. If it pops up while the user is browsing an article, it is likely to have a negative effect.

To set up multiple popup nodes:

To increase the possibility of the pop-up window being triggered, you can select multiple behavior nodes. For example, in community question-and-answer products, collecting or sharing text can pop up inquiries and trigger a pop-up window for positive reviews.

Select the most effective trigger point and control the frequency to avoid disturbing users:

In order to avoid disturbing users, the number of pop-up windows that appear within a period of time should be limited. At the same time, in order to get a better score improvement within a limited number of times, the conversion effect of each trigger point should be observed to maximize the effect.

2) Experiment and verification

In order to avoid a bad experience, it is recommended to conduct small-scale trials, optimization, rapid iteration, and verify the effect before launching the full version online. For example, through user behavior analysis, we can observe the conversion effect and user perception of each trigger point.

As product functions are optimized, the pop-up window plan for positive reviews should also be adjusted from time to time.

3) Whether to use app store resources

For example, Apple's App Store directly provides a product rating pop-up window embedded in the product, but this pop-up window cannot filter out negative reviews, and all ratings will be recorded in the store. However, the development cost is lower, and whether to use it depends on the developer's product status.

2. Show more positive reviews by default

1) During the cold start period, use the comment section as part of the promotional platform

During the cold start-up phase of a product when there is no significant growth, the comment section is often blank for a long time. During this phase, you can communicate with users in a targeted manner, actively guide seed users to write positive reviews, and briefly introduce the highlights and uses of the product in their reviews.

2) Improve the default ranking of positive reviews

Encouraging users to mark positive reviews as “helpful” in the comments section can also make it easier for positive reviews to appear in the default display area. However, considering that many stores have clear regulations prohibiting inducement behavior, try not to encourage user actions through rewards or other means within the product.

3. Reduce negative reviews

1) Why do users choose to leave bad reviews in the app store?

In addition to the bad experience during use, one point that is easily overlooked is that users have not found a more appropriate outlet for venting. If dissatisfied users can contact developers directly, negative reviews in the app store can be greatly reduced to a certain extent.

2) How can we get users to contact the developer instead of leaving reviews on the store?

Provide a lower-cost feedback channel and let users contact you first:

Such as in-product feedback portals, user communities, etc. (For this point, the layout should also be reasonable depending on the product situation).

Try to block users who are preparing to give bad reviews:

For example, leave feedback channels or contact information in the app description. Alternatively, you can set up a feedback jump entry such as "APP Support" in the developer background. For example, Apple's App Store already supports providing developers with "APP Support" settings, but some developers only jump this entry to the official website.

Respond positively to existing negative reviews:

Some app stores support direct replies to user comments in the developer backend, where feedback channels can be described, etc., to encourage users to contact developers for better communication and product optimization.

At the same time, you can also use the comment area to let more users know about feedback channels and other information you want users to know.

Improving the score is a long-term task and may not have very quick results in the short term. Continuous verification and optimization are necessary steps to improve the score.

Author: Li Sili

Source: How Youth