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Top factors influencing app installation - or why you're not installed.
After the launch and a long (or not so long) period of waiting for moderation, the long-awaited publication of the app in the selected market takes place. You look at analytics, track indexing, and, of course, start calculating the conversion rate, but the numbers are not encouraging. Let's see what could be causing it.
At the end of the article, you can find a 40% discount coupon for the first month of using ASOMobile - a tool for creating ASO and researching competitors in the mobile app market.
Check up on the health of your application.
First, we test our text optimization. A lot of guides, checklists, instructions, etc. have already been written for that. But we will use one handy tool that will demonstrate to us:
- visibility in the search, namely, at what position our application is located.
- the number of indexed queries.
- indexing dynamics - how many new words were indexed, what was improved, worsened, and got into the TOP of the result.
- semantic core analysis, keyword distribution.
- and what search queries your app is installed by.
ASOMobile ASO Dashboard is a clear picture of what is going on with your app in the marketplace.
Once you have checked the indexing and made the appropriate conclusions (for example, that everything is fine with it and the reason is something else), let's move on to a short list of factors that affect the installation of the application.
Top Factors Influencing Installation
But before revealing everything, let's clarify the following: we are not going to talk about the user's path to your app page on the App Store or Google Play (about organic and paid traffic, positioning, etc.). We will talk about the moment when the user has already met your application or mobile game and decides to install it, i.e. when the icon has already appeared on the screen of your device, but it is still possible to click the Install button or not.
App icon
It is the app icon that means a lot when meeting your app for the first time. This is where recognition, attractiveness, and brand come into play. What do we mean by that?
If the icon contains elements that are familiar and understandable to the user, this is a plus one on the scale of the installation decision. If your app has a very recognizable and well-known logo, then your user's loyalty is much higher than for new, albeit cool, but completely unfamiliar applications. For the latter, it is worth paying attention to a/b tests, namely - try different visual concepts, and find your users. If you are interested in this moment, we recommend that you read more detailed information on the topic:
The icon directly affects the conversion of your app to the stores. If it is attractive enough for users, they will visit the app page, and we will achieve our first goal: getting attention. Thus, the icon also has a direct impact on the conversion to installation, affecting the CTR - click-through rate and CR (conversion rate).
App name
Naming is the cornerstone of success or failure in marketing, and we are not just talking about mobile games or apps. Now let's narrow down our interests and move on to the moment when the next link comes up - the icon + name of your app. After all, this is what the user can see when viewing search results. So when choosing, both one and the other, be sure to pay attention to their compatibility. It's very cool when it works out with one attempt to attract the user's attention with an icon, and in combination with the name, he already gets an almost complete impression of the functionality or, at least, of the purpose of your application.
After looking at these 4 examples of search results, I think it will not be difficult for you to guess the search query, right?
It is these combinations that we are talking about when looking at the icon + name, so the user will not have room for imagination - what is this game or app about? This is not the time to be mysterious - try to formulate your message to the future user as clearly and specifically as possible.
In our article - How to choose an app or game name, you will find 15 tips that you can safely guide when you brainstorm in search of the perfect name. But in short:
Did you know that approximately 70% of users search the App Store for the name of the application, and not for its functionality? If you are a big brand, you are lucky and many users are already looking for you, but if not, create a brand so that users are going to look for it.
App rating
We have not gone far from value judgment in the context of applications, this is not so bad. From 1 to 5, from being dissatisfied with a product to a great experience, the rating is the easiest way to figure out its quality. We mentioned the importance of working with ratings and reviews more than once or twice in our research and urged developers to pay attention to them. But in this case, we are looking at the rating of an app as potential users and need to understand how important this is for the installation decision.
This is an undeniable factor of influence, but not quite equivalent for both markets. Let's look at a simple example. On Google Play you are forced to go to the product page to install it, but you can see the rating of the application just in the search results (next to the name you will see the rating.
App Store users, on the other hand, have the ability to download without going to the product page and see the app rating as stars instead of numbers, which may not affect the download decision that much. The number and quality of ratings, as well as reviews, are also ASO factors that stores take into account when ranking an app, and also act as key factors when converting to an installation.
We remind you that according to statistics from Apptentive, the minimum app rating for its installation by a user starts from 3*.
Reviews
Speaking of reviews. As we already know, they are one of the visibility factors for an app on Google Play and are not taken into account on the App Store. But what about user reviews?
In the presented screenshots from the stores, we observe the rating and visible reviews (those that catch your eye immediately after rating the application). Please note that on Google Play (right screenshot), immediately after a positive review and a rating of 4 *, you can see a rating of 1 and a negative user experience. We notice the negative more easily than the positive ones (unfortunately, such a feature of human psychology) and the presence of a negative review right on the application page, especially in its visible part, will clearly play its role as a factor influencing the installation.
By reacting to reviews and ratings, we can accurately influence the conversion of our application.
According to Business Of Apps, 77% of users read at least one comment before downloading an app.
Visual Elements
In addition to the icon, the user interacts with the following visual components - promo videos, screenshots, and focus labels.
Only the lazy did not mention the importance of visual optimization and its impact on conversion (and we are certainly not lazy and we love to write about visual elements - in detail and with pleasure - 13 tips on how to create and optimize app screenshots for the App Store).
But the visual elements require serious work, and their effectiveness as a factor influencing the installation may not be so obvious. Why is this happening? The answer of a non-ASO specialist may be "it depends"... but, the answer of a specialist is usually "test it"!
Test user interactions with your app in the context of visuals conversion. And even if you, as the creator of a game or application, seem doubtful about certain color and design decisions, remember that you are not the target user and let them determine the fate of your visual design.
Text metadata
Now that we have talked about the importance of the app name as an install factor, let's take a look at the rest of the textual content of the metadata.
In this case, it is worth mentioning that there is a big difference between the App Store and Google Play since in both cases the texts are affected and displayed in completely different ways.
The App Store, apart from Title and Subtitle, will first let you know what is new in the app (update history), then it will show you a promotional text (if it is filled in by the developer, of course) or show you a piece of the full description line.
Google Play will immediately show you, in addition to the name, only the subtitle, but if you are curious enough, it will also acquaint you with the full description of the application.
Some Top factors influencing the installation can serve as a check-up list for you to pay attention to if you are not satisfied with the dynamics of the installation of your user application.