Apple Search ads

Apple Search Ads (ASA) are ads that appear when someone performs a search within the app store on their iOS device. They look similar to a normal search result, except they appear at the top, in blue, with a small Ad tag. See below for an example.

App Store optimization

The App Store and Google Play algorithms care about relevance, clicks, and installs. The fundamental concepts are the same for both.

In other words, they want to serve the user the app that best matches what they’re searching for, so that once the user navigates to the app’s page, they install the app and never go back to the search results. We call this concept “finality”. The same idea applies to SEO.

The search algorithms only use the words in the title, keywords and description to a limited extent. Instead they’re going to want to optimize for how suited the app is for satisfying a query.

So if someone clicks an app listing, reads it, installs it, and then opens it, uses it, and reviews it positively, they probably got shown the right thing.

With this in mind, the app icon, app images (screenshots and app previews), rating, and description content are all important to increase your ranking. Far more than keyword stuffing.

In fact, if you look at big apps like AirBnb, the title is “AirBnb”. The subtitle is “Vacation rentals & Experiences” which are more for branding than keyword optimization. But they still crush rankings because they’re so popular.

To summarize, having compelling images, copy, and creative is more important overall than keyword stuffing.

Title and subtitle

The title should include the product’s name. Then it should include a hint at what it’s for.

The subtitle should summarize your app in a concise phrase in a specific and compelling manner. Nothing generic like “world’s best app” or forceful and generic like “Download it now.” Explain the value of the app in 30 characters.

Note: Google Play doesn’t have subtitles.

Description

From Apple itself:

Provide an engaging description that highlights the features and functionality of your app. The ideal description is a concise, informative paragraph followed by a short list of main features. Let potential users know what makes your app unique and why they will love it.

The first sentence of your description is the most important — this is what users can read without having to tap to read more. Every word counts, so focus your description on your app’s unique features.

If you choose to mention an accolade, we recommend putting it at the end of your description or as part of your promotional text.

The first sentence is critical. This is what people will see in the search results AND it’s the first thing they’ll read when hitting the app store. Make sure it’s concise, compelling, and informative.

This is especially important for Google Play because there’s no subtitle that can add more context.

Treat the rest like you would landing page copy. Tell them what your product does and what they’ll get from using it versus another app/site.

App images

These should be treated like ad creatives. Their purpose is to rope in the users and compel them to click through and download the app.

Screenshots

Put headlines in every image to contextualize what’s happening in the screenshot. Here’s an example from Service, one of our clients:

Without the headlines, it’s hard to know what’s going on in the screenshot.

• The headlines also serve as “ad copy”.
• Choose the most impactful and interesting parts/features of the app.
• Add them on an on-brand colored background.
• Include a short headline describing what’s happening in the image.

Screenshots (Technical)

Conversion gets a small boost when you include screenshots (what you see on the app detail page) and app previews (the images you see in the search results) tailored to each type of Apple device. Most clients only upload screenshots for the most widely-used devices. Add them for all other devices as well.

App Preview video

In addition, a concise and clear App Preview video draws a user’s attention and tends to increase conversion over a static screenshot. With iOS 11, App Previews will autoplay when the user scrolls through the search results — giving them an added boost.

15-30 second videos perform best.

Make sure the video is compelling with and without sound. Not everyone will listen to the video, but in iOS 11, at least everyone will get a glimpse of it.

Reviews

You’ll need a solid rating in the app store (4.8) and enough reviews (over 100) to look credible. More reviews will help push you up the rankings even higher.

Walk through your app and look for natural moments where the user:

A) Just got a ton of value from your app

B) Won’t be distracted from getting even more value from your app because they’re leaving the app to leave a review.

Then, also email your happiest users to leave you a review. Here are some templates we use:

Reviews - Email copy draft

Version A Sequence (Thank You + Link):

A1:

From: #{CEO’s Name} Subject: Thank You

Hi __________________,

#{Personalized Blurb based on your app data/public twitter/etc.. I hope the flight you took was awesome, I loved the joke you tweeted about your dinner, etc.}

I’m #{CEO’s Name} and I wanted to personally say thank you for being such an awesome {App Name user} — I saw that you’ve used us a bunch so I wanted to reach out.

If you like #{App Name}, I’d really really appreciate an App Store review. The problem with most apps is that the extreme voices tend to be the only ones who leave reviews — I’m trying to have some of our usual users leave reviews as well.

Would you be willing to leave a review? The link is here.

Best, #{CEO’s Name} CEO

A2 (a week later):

From: #{CEO’s Name} Subject: Re: Thank You

Hi __________________,

Just following up here (this is really me!).

Did you get a chance to leave a review? I won’t bug you again.

Best, #{CEO’s Name} CEO

Version B Sequence (Thank You + No Link):

B1:

From: #{CEO’s Name} Subject: Thank You

Hi __________________,

#{Personalized Blurb based on your app data/public twitter/etc.. I hope the flight you took was awesome, I loved the joke you tweeted about your dinner, etc.}

I’m #{CEO’s Name} and I wanted to personally say thank you for being such an awesome #{App Name} user — I saw that you’ve used us a bunch so I wanted to reach out.

If you like #{App Name}, I’d really really appreciate an App Store review. The problem with most apps is that the extreme voices tend to be the only ones who leave reviews — I’m trying to have some of our normal users leave reviews as well.

Would you be willing to leave a review?

Please only do it if you really, genuinely want to. We’d love you to give back, but only if you really mean it.

Best, #{CEO’s Name}

B2 (four days later):

From: #{CEO’s Name} Subject: Re: Thank You

Hi __________________,

Just following up here (this is really me!).

Did you get a chance to leave a review? I won’t bug you again.

Best, #{CEO’s Name}

P.S. The link is here if you need it.

Keywords

Compelling copy and creative will dwarf any keyword stuffing. That being said, if you can naturally fit some keywords into the copy, you’ll expand your reach.

You can use a tool like AppTweak to figure out what keywords have significant volume. You’ll also want to make sure the keywords are relevant and have relatively low competition.

The problem with using data like this is that, fundamentally, Apple doesn’t tell you how many people, total, are searching for keywords (the “absolute volume”). (Google does, but Apple doesn’t.)

Apple only shows you a relative volume compared to other keywords. Which means you’re flying semi-blind when it comes to figuring out keywords to go after.

Apple frowns upon using trademarks, such as team and league names, in keywords. However, a lot of the ASO opportunity is exactly in those keywords. So it’s up to you how much of a risk you want to take; it’s not worth delaying your app release with a rejection.

One last note: when you search through the app store, you’re searching with intent for a specific type of app; you’re not trying to discover new related apps. So it’s not usually worth trying to rank for related keywords. Only keywords that are directly related to the problem you’re solving.