作者：Peter van der Graaf

应用商店领域就像是过去的有机搜索结果。掌握应用商店优化的相关知识能够让你获得竞争对手所没有的有利条件，利用原先的SEO技能能够让你从中受益匪浅。这里的算法仍然不是非常高级，主要竞争依然在于寻找胜出方式。

app search from searchenginewatch.com

各种应用搜索引擎

和过去的SEO一样，我们需要基于各种平台进行优化，但幸运的是，这次你可以通过独立应用版本完成操作。规模最大的平台是苹果App Store和Android Market，Blackberry App World、Samsung Apps 、Nokia Store、GetJar和Windows Phone Marketplace只是若干替代选择。

所有应用商店都要求你根据他们的技术和政策创建应用。只要应用入驻商店，你就可以着眼于争取较高排名。

获得大批应用粉丝主要通过社交媒体推荐、应用商店热门榜单及搜索引擎的较高排名。在很多情况下，它们会相互影响，你可以从其中某方面着手。

应用商店排名因素

决定应用搜索引擎排名的元素可以划分成语境元素、热度和评级。虽然所有平台都有自己的排名因素权重和算法特点，但这些因素的理想情况非常相似。

语境排名因素

应用名称

应用名称是最重要的关联因素。除引人注意外，名称应该包含具体内容及最重要的搜索短语。“愤怒的小鸟：谜题动作游戏！”要优于“愤怒的小鸟！”。在某些引擎中，字母排列顺序也被应用至排名列表中，所以名称以A或数字开头将是明智之举。

应用发行商

发行商名称应该包含关键字，你甚至会想要以公司细分机构的名义发行内容。“Badabing Financial Apps”和“Badabing Navigation Systems”能够让你在这些搜索词条中获得较高排名。

关键字和描述

富含关键字的描述的运作方式和标准SEO文本相似，但由于安装热度也是一大排名要素，你还可以在其中引入既有热门主题（游戏邦注：热门应用名称、受欢迎人士及新闻宣传）。描述中的优秀文本、截图、应用图标和指导视频都要能够促进用户安装你的应用。

热门排名因素

多数应用平台的最重要排名因素都是基于安装趋势和安装基础。

当前安装数量

多数平台会记录和显示目前已安装应用的设备数量。庞大安装数量能够让你获得更高排名，说服用户下载内容。

若安装数量是唯一因素，那么下载量高的应用会越来越受欢迎，后来者完全没有机会。幸运的是，后来者可以利用安装趋势，这通常也被多数应用商店监测和利用。

安装量增长高峰

若你在短时间内收获许多新安装量，那么你将出现在常规热门榜单及分类热门榜单中。这还能够让你在应用描述和评论关键字中取得较高排名。

多数应用商店会参照增长数量，前一周的数据比前一个月重要。由于这有时会令后来者处于不公平地位，因此有些商店还参考增长幅度和一段时间里的稳步增长趋势。

当前安装量、卸载量及活跃安装量

为防止出现操纵情况，查看当前安装基础，而非历史安装用户数量会更合理。能够监测这一情况的应用商店将得以查看用户对于应用的满意度，及有多少用户选择进行卸载。

应用商店的有些算法试验会显示，在安装量出现急剧下滑后，应用在哪个平台的排名也出现急剧下滑。似乎只有少数平台会着眼于活跃下载量。若设备从未要求更新内容或没有同服务器进行沟通，那么它们就属于不活跃状态。

以评级和评论作为排名因素

评级和评论在多数应用商店都可以看到，但它们对于应用排名的影响截然不同。其中只有少数内容会通过评论文本回应搜索引擎中的关键字搜索。

基于附近独特词组进行测试能够获悉哪个平台搭载应用。多数商店通过评级提高或降低你的排名，但强度有所不同。Android Market也会将Google+推荐作为一个考虑因素。

特殊列表

仔细查看各应用商店呈现的附加排名列表，判定它们各自的排名决定因素是什么。“用户还安装了的其他应用”和“用户还查看的其他应用”的影响力似乎不大，但根据关键字进行排名是个好的开始。“Editor’s choice”依然难以进行操控，但我们已逐渐发现这些榜单的利用方式。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

App Store Optimization

By Peter van der Graaf

The arena of app stores is much like the way organic search results used to be. Knowledge on app store optimization (ASO) can still provide a big advantage over your competitors and it can be a very lucrative way to exploit your old fashioned SEO skills. Algorithms aren’t as advanced yet and the competition is still discovering ways to game them.

Various App Search Engines

Like in the old days of SEO there are multiple platforms to optimize for, but luckily this time you can do it with separate app versions for each of them. The biggest ones are Apple App Store and Android Market, but Blackberry App World, Samsung Apps Store, Nokia Store, GetJar and Windows Phone Marketplace are just a couple of the alternatives.

All app stores require you to build an app according to their technical and ethical guidelines. Once your app has been added to an app store, you can start to focus on a high ranking.

Growing a huge following for your app is mainly done through social media recommendations, popularity lists on the app stores, and a high ranking within their search engines. In many cases they all lead to each other and you can start with any one of them.

App Store Ranking Factors

The aspects that determine your ranking in an app search engine can be divided in textual aspects, popularity, and rating. While all platforms have their own ranking factor weights and algorithm particularities, the ideal situation of these factors is quite similar.

Textual Ranking Factors

App Name

The name of your app is the most important relevance factor. Besides a catchy name it should include what it does and represent the most important search phrase. “Angry Birds: Puzzle action game!” would be better than just “Angry Birds!” In some engines alphabetical order is also used in lists, so starting with an A or a number might be sensible.

App Publisher

The publisher name can also include keywords and you might even want to publish under several subdivisions of your company. “Badabing Financial Apps” and “Badabing Navigation Systems” would help you rank for those respective search terms.

Keywords and Description

Keyword rich descriptions work similar to normal SEO text, but because install popularity is a huge ranking factor you could also include existing popular themes (popular app names, popular people, news hypes and more) that you could also rank for. Great text, screenshots, app icon and instruction videos in the description all need to get people to install your app.

Popularity Ranking Factors

The most important ranking factor for most app platforms is based on install trending and install base.

Installs so far

The amount of machines that have installed your app so far is logged and shown by almost all platforms. A huge amount of installs provides you a higher ranking and evokes trust for additional installs.

If the number of installs was the only factor, then the big would keep getting better and newcomers would never stand a chance. Luckily, newcomers can benefit from install trends that are also monitored and used by most app stores.

Install Growth Spikes

When you receive a lot of new installs in a short timeframe you end up in both generic and categorized popularity lists. It also helps you to rank for the keywords in your app description and reviews.

Most app stores use the amounts you grow and the previous week is more important than the previous month. Because this isn’t always fair to newcomers, some stores also use the percentages you grow and the steady growth you show over time.

Current Installs, Uninstalls, Active Installs

To combat manipulation it’s much smarter to look at current install base instead of the amount of people that once installed the app. App stores that are able to monitor this can see how satisfied people are with your app and how many people uninstall it.

Some experiments on app store algorithms show which platforms conclude a big drop in ranking after a big drop in installs. Only a few platforms seem to look at active installs. If a machine never requests update availability or communicates with a server they can also be seen as inactive.

Ratings and Reviews as Ranking Factor

Ratings and reviews are available in most app stores, but there is a huge difference in their affect on your ranking. Just a few of them use the review text to answer a keyword search in their search engine.

A test with near unique phrases shows which platforms use it. Ratings are used by most stores to aid or ruin your ranking, but all in varying strength. Android Market also uses Google Plus endorsements and “mark as inappropriate” opinions.

Special Lists

Take a good look at the additional lists that each app store seems to show and figure out what their respective ranking determination is. “Users also installed” and “Users also viewed” might not seem that easy to influence, but ranking for related keywords are a great start. “Editor’s choice” is still something hard to manipulate, but we’re slowly discovering ways for all of them.

Lucrative?

Mobile business models are already great, volume is enormous, customers are loyal, and app store competition is still relatively low. This new frontier holds great opportunities for people familiar with all aspects of SEO and social media. Let the battle begin!（Source：searchenginewatch）