The Secret to Unlock More Exposure through App Store Search Optimization

In the App Store ecosystem, every developer faces significant challenges in terms of traffic, due to high customer acquisition costs and limited organic traffic. While some apps primarily rely on certain display positions within the App Store to gain organic traffic, navigating the intricacies of the App Store is a multifaceted challenge for developers. Consequently, many apps utilize various positions to enhance visibility and attract users: Today’s Recommendations, Top Charts, Apple’s Picks, and Search.

The App Store is a global marketplace where 650 million people discover and download apps.

  • 70% of App Store visitors use search to find apps.
  • 65% of downloads occur directly after a search.

In the App Store world, being discovered by users is crucial, and the autocomplete search list plays a significant role in user behavior and app discovery. This explains why Apple initially prioritized search ads, as they represent the largest source of revenue growth. However, the search tab also becomes a battleground because it includes trending searches, app suggestions, recommended searches, paid searches, and free searches. Apple needs a delicate balance, requiring a deep understanding of user behavior, algorithm preferences, and the evolving landscape of the App Store.

Today’s focus is on sharing “The Impact of Unlocking Search Features on Exposure.” For users, they are more accustomed to searching for brand terms they have heard of elsewhere. According to a 2017 study by John Tintle, App Store users almost exclusively search for brands, unlike web searches where users might search for long-tail keywords, such as: Netflix, Netflix games, Netflix watch party. This behavior significantly narrows the range of effective target keywords for app developers. Therefore,identifying and optimizing these selected keywords is crucial for driving meaningful impact and maximizing app visibility. In most searches, 9 out of the top 10 keywords in the autocomplete list are brand keywords.

For example, when users start typing a brand, the autocomplete list comes into play. Once typing begins, it suggests 10 keywords, and if typing continues, the list refreshes.

The Secret to Unlock More Exposure through App Store Search Optimization

Compared to searches that include only the brand name, brand searches that also contain keywords beyond the brand name have an average conversion rate (CVR) that is 20% higher.

The Secret to Unlock More Exposure through App Store Search Optimization

How many users click on the “extended search suggestions” that include keywords from the app title?

A keyword-based study of 100 apps in the top 200 of the US App Store’s Entertainment, Lifestyle, Finance, and Productivity categories shows that, on average, 17% of brand searches can be attributed to extended search suggestions.

Among the top 200 apps on the US App Store, a quarter of the apps that have keywords in their titles, in addition to the brand name, have two extended search suggestions.

The Secret to Unlock More Exposure through App Store Search Optimization

Therefore, keywords in the title are not only important but should be occasionally changed to improve visibility through multiple brand suggestions. However, frequent changes are not recommended; it is better to wait until the keywords truly become extended search suggestions, a process that may take some time. Even the slightest title change can disrupt this process. If this never happens, it indicates that the CVR is not good enough. Hence, there is an optimal interval between title changes. In summary, adding keywords to the app title can increase the CVR by 20% for 17% of the traffic (from brand searches), leading to a 3.4% increase in downloads.

Apple uses a priority indexing score to sort keywords by relevance, likely employing an internal ranking mechanism to determine the relevance and ranking of search results and autocomplete suggestions within the App Store.

If your product has a certain brand presence, it is recommended to perform brand defense through Apple Ads to prevent competitors from gaining visibility with your brand terms. Although brand defense may inevitably lead to cannibalization—since store visitors will see both the ad and the natural search result and might click on either—this can be a good way to build brand image and maintain consistency. This means that the cost per install might be higher than what Apple reports, as it does not account for cannibalization.

When ads appear for brand terms, they display the first three screenshots of your app (or landscape mode screenshots), with the natural result below showing the next three. This provides you with six screenshots on the first screen of search results to highlight your brand, without any competitors being visible. In this scenario, Custom Product Pages (CPP) can be very useful, as they allow you to customize the app page creatives to effectively showcase your app to interested store visitors.

The Secret to Unlock More Exposure through App Store Search Optimization

Additionally, brand defense can increase the bidding costs for competitors. This strategic approach involves responding to competitors’ aggressive activities based on brand terms. In this case, setting a low bid for your own brand terms can (hopefully significantly) increase the cost per install for competitors bidding on their own brand terms. Since Apple Ads’ bidding process heavily prioritizes conversion rates, and your app naturally has the highest conversion rate for its own brand terms, competitors will need to increase their bids to surpass you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *