ios6 & iphone 5 app store discoverability: what changed? what can you do about it?
DESCRIPTION
Problem: Why do developers seem to hate iOS6 App Store Search? In iOS5, you see 5 apps in search results and can get to #25 with one flick of the finger in a second. With iOS6 search, you see only 1 app per page so it's really difficult for a user to discover which cool apps are in the top 100. Solution: If you assume that web user behavior will transfer to mobile, then when it gets cumbersome for users to browse results, they will enter more descriptive phrases to get relevant results fast. eg search for "free video poker game" vs. "poker". Longer phrases are 70% of search volume on the web (as an indicator), they're less competitive, & and probably see higher post-click conversion (download) rates because the user explicitly searched for "free video poker game". Therefore, developers have a chance of capitalizing on this and taking steps to rank #1 under each of their long tail keywords and phrases. For developers without access to a giant ad budget to boost-market their App into the Top Apple Charts, App Store SEO might be the best bet to improve discoverability inside the over crowded App Store. SearchMan is SEO for Apps, helping developers with App Store Search tracking and keyword optimization. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter for more content.TRANSCRIPT
Ios 6 and iphone 5 App discoverability:
What changed? What Can you do about it?
By searchman.com
September 25, 2012 Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 1
In ios6, “categories” are hidden and harder to access
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 2 ios 6: “categories” hidden ios 5: “Categories” in menu
“Categories” also harder to use in ios 6. here’s ios 5
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 3 1st
2nd
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In ios-5, only 3 taps needed to access an app
Compare “Categories” in the last slide to ios 6 below
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1st
2nd 3rd 4th 5th
In ios-6, five taps needed, Almost 2x as much as ios 5
What else? Genius debuts, “search” stays on main menu.
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 5 New: ios 6 – “Search” Old: ios 5 – “Search” X
Search is biggest driver of app discovery…nielsen
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Search vs. In-App Ads
Wait. have We seen this movie before?
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 7
New: ios 6 “search” Old: ios 5 “categories”
But Ios6 Search: from 25 apps/page à1 app/page. Jeez!
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 8 AppStore Search: ios5 à ios6
Opportunity: enter “top 10” in search…and beat zynga
n Users likely to search longer kw phrases to get best results
n Competing with zynga on “poker” may get you nowhere
n but competing for less competitive longer kw phrases works
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 9
App
Category Ranking Search Ranking
Games – Casino (Top Grossing) "poker" "poker casino"
21-in-1 Casino and Sportsbook #212 #50 #1 Poker by Zynga #2 #1 #4
as of Sep 23, 2012. iphone, US appStore.
On the web, 70% of search queries are long tail. Why?
n Users get better search results with descriptive queries
n Marketers see better conversion & face less competition
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 10
Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved.
70% of search traffic
7 step to-do list to grow discoverability in “search”
1. Study kw rankings & competitors’ kw’s thoroughly
2. Create & fine-tune a shortlist of longtail kw phrases
3. Description: include all your shortlisted keywords in your upgraded app description
4. Itunes kw’s: select the strongest set of keywords and deploy within the 100 character limit (incl. commas)
5. App name: select the 2 or 3 critical keywords you will include in your app name
6. Submit to apple
7. Rinse, Go back to step 1, repeat Copyright 2011-2012 SearchMan & AppGrooves Corp. All Rights Reserved. 11
Thanks for your time more in-depth guides at
searchman.com/how-it-works/
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