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分享使用ASO提升App Store排名的技巧

发布时间:2014-05-19 12:31:16 Tags:,,,,

作者:Fernando Vaquero

曝光度,是所有资金短缺的开发者让自己的游戏进入市场的一大短板。

那么你该如何在App Store获得曝光度?如果你认为ASO是一个选择,那么你就走对路了!

更多用户主要是通过检索来发现应用。通过这一途径获得曝光度的应用数量远甚于口头传播,以及浏览热门榜单等途径。

关于如何使用(ASO)应用商店优化策略,大家已经形成了不少共识。我们将与你分享利用检索“Ludo”这个字段推动我们自己的游戏进入美国App Store榜单第二名的一些最佳做法和经验。

A - ASO new app discovery methods(from Forrester Research)

A – ASO new app discovery methods(from Forrester Research)

令你的游戏进入App Store榜单前十名可能是项棘手事务,但如果参照一些指导建议并付出一点努力,这还是有可能达成的目标。

较少时间投入,较大回报

我们是一家小型的二人工作室,工作量较为庞大,所以我们没有太多时间投入自己想做的一切事情。我们是花了半天时间取得了这些成果。

对所有独立开发者来说,好消息就在于你只需要在ASO上投入一点时间,就可能获取比其他应用更好的结果。所以这一做法的确值得你一试。

关键词虽然无趣,但你提升排名就是离不开关键词。

关键词决定了人们在App Store进行搜索时,你的应用出现在检索结果列表中的排名情况。

因为较高的排名可以让你的游戏获得更高的曝光度,所以有必要知道如何在为应用命名时,以及在iTunes Connect表格中使用关键词。

为了获得最大数量的关键词,你必须分析自己的竞争对手,看看最适合它们的关键词是什么。我们还要查看行业顶级工作室所使用的是哪类关键词,以借鉴他们的关键词策略。

在此方面你可能还需要用一点小技巧。我们使用了Sensor Tower这款极为实用的工具来研究竞争对手,它还能够推荐一些能够让你的应用提升App Store排名的关键字。

最佳普遍做法

这里有三个位置可以让优化关键词在App Store中取得最佳成效,它们分别是应用标题,100个字的关键词域……

但你可能不知道的就是应用内置购买(IAP)也是App Store的一个可利用索引,所以要对此加以利用。

不幸的是,应用描述在iOS App Store并非可索引的内容。

最后,拥有优秀的评分和评价,以及可观下载数量也会对你的App Store排名产生影响。这两者是你最不可控的选项,但你还是可以在没钱的时候令其发挥作用。

应用标题

*你的应用名称是VITAL,尽量简化它。

*虽然它并不一定是独特的,但要让它具有描述性。

*要令其与应用类型或者你的目标用户想要的结果相关。例如:“象棋,经典战略游戏”这种描述。

*你的应用名称字符在检索结果中只会出现25个。要确保显示其中最重要的信息,以免漏掉重要内容。

A - ASO 25 character shown(from gamasutra)

A – ASO 25 character shown(from gamasutra)

*你并不需要使用“免费”一词。如果你的应用是免费的,App Store在分类时会自动将其归入“免费”类型。

(我们针对英语和西班牙语使用不同的应用标题。这两者都使用了人们在检索此类经典家庭游戏时会用到的关键词。二者都是总会显示在搜索结果,并且不会截掉应用标题的字符。)

Ludo, the funniest board game to play with your family

Parchís,
el juego de tablero familiar más divertido

应用描述

*虽然它并不会编入App Store索引,但仍然会发挥作用。

*文本的第一行内容相当重要,因为它代表你从群体中脱颖而出的机会。

*描述你应用的内容,并重复你应用中最重要的关键字。

(我们针对英语和西班牙语再次使用了不同的内容。但我们这此是使用不同文化与该游戏相关的术语来开头。例如“Ludo”在西班牙语国家中对应的就是“Parchis”,而在法语中则是“Petits chevaux”或“Le Jeu de Dada”。

100个字符关键字域

*在此你要用100个字符来描述与应用最为相关的关键词。

*不要使用空格,要用逗号隔开关键词。

*用普遍的语言和简短的文字。

*要从玩家角度出发,想想如果是你在寻找一款游戏,你如何检索?

(我们所做的第一件事就是检索行业最成功的工作室的顶级应用所使用的关键字。解析他们为何选择会这些(乍一看甚至有点奇怪的)关键字,这有助于我们理解其目标用户的行为。

如果你的应用也属于同种类型,不妨采用这一做法。你就会发现自己的竞争对手使用哪些关键字,以便找到自己的阵地。

现在,如果你的应用已经在App Store发布,你可能想投入更多时间用ASO来提升下载率。

在你掌握关键字的要领之前,通常都需要进行一翻调查和测试。不断试错是唯一的途径,这也正是你优化和提升排名的方法。)

人们没想到的是,IAP名称也很重要!

IAP名称

*你的IAP名称也会编入索引。因此要精心选择其中的词语。

*不要将你的IAP内容包命名为“付费内容”,它太普通常见了,并不能描述其中的内容。

*要令其名称具有独特定,并且与应用具有关联性。例如:“高级定制”、“特殊武器”,“困难谜题”。

最后两个是资金匮乏的开发者最难掌控的情况,但你还是有可能对其施加影响!

评分和评价

*你无法完全掌控它们,但你还是可以让形势朝有利于自己的方向发展。

*创造优秀的内容可以产生好评。

*在用户“感到快乐”的时候请求其评价,例如,在用户完成一个奖励任务或者击败一次高分时。记住要引导,而不是强迫。

下载量

*你可能没有足够的财力购买安装量,所以在设计上多花点心思吧。

*让你的应用图标在同类产品中脱颖而出。

*用截图来显示应用的自然流程,以便用户一眼就能看出它的运行方式。

总结

我们有幸在游戏一发布时就获得了可观的下载量,这有助于它因为检索行为而跻身榜单前列。另外,如果我们没有遵从ASO的最佳做法,这款游戏在App Store上的曝光度可能没有这么理想了——最终也不会有理想的下载量。

因为下载量开始缩减,我们“Lido”这一检索字段中的排名也会下降。

一定要记住要同时运用这些影响ASO的不同层面,不可偏废其中之一,它们是相辅相成的!(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

Use ASO to Rank Higher in the App Store

by Fernando Vaquero

Discoverability. The bane of all developers without deep pockets to market their games. Naturally, this includes us in Divertap.

How do you plan to gain exposure in the App Store? If you think using ASO is the way to go, you’d be right!

More apps are discovered through search than any other method. More than word-of-mouth. More than browsing top ranked apps.

There is a lot of common knowledge of how to rank higher using App Store Optimization. We’ll refresh the best common practices and share with you the techniques we used that resulted in our game to rank #2 in the US App Store for the search term ‘Ludo’.

Positioning your game in the top 10 in the App Store can be tricky, but with some guidance and a little work, it can be done!

Small time investment, big reward

We’re a small two person studio with a heavy workload, so we don’t have enough time to dedicate to everything we’d want to. The results we got come from the tiny investment of a half day’s work.

Good news for all fellow indie developers! Just dedicating a small amount of time to ASO will get you better results than other apps who don’t. It’s really worth the small time investment.

Keywords are boring, but you need them to rank high

Keywords determine how high your app shows on the search result list when someone does a search on the App Store.

Because placing high is what gives your game better exposure, it’s important to know how to use keywords at the time of naming your app, and on the iTunes Connect forms.

To get the most of your keywords, you have to analyze your competition and see what words are working best for them. We also looked into what type of keywords are used by the top studios of the industry to get ideas for our own keyword strategy.

You may need some intel to do that. We used Sensor Tower, it’s a really useful tool to study competition and it also recommends keywords to improve your app’s ranking in the App Store.

Best common practices

There are three common places where optimising your keywords turns in big results in the App Store. These are the App Title, the 100 Character Keyword Field…

What you might not be aware of is that the In-App Purchase Name is also indexable in the App Store, so take advantage of that as well.

Unfortunately, the App Description isn’t indexable in the iOS App Store.

Finally, having good Ratings and Reviews and the Number of Downloads also have an impact on your ranking in the App Store. These two are the ones you’ll have the least control, but you can still make them count even with no money.

App Title

Your app name is VITAL, make it simple.

While it doesn’t have to be unique, make it descriptive.

Refer to the category of your app or to the outcome your audience wants. For instance: “Chess, classic strategy game”

Only about 25 of your app’s name characters show up in search. Make sure the most relevant are visible so nothing important gets cut off.

You don’t need to use the word FREE. The App Store automatically categorizes your app if it’s free.

We used different app titles for English and Spanish. Both use keywords that people use when searching for this kind of classic family games. Bolded are the characters that are always visible in the search results and that aren’t cut off the app’s title.

Ludo, the funniest board game to play with your family

Parchís, el juego de tablero familiar más divertido

App Description

Although it doesn’t index in the App Store, it still has a useful role to play.

The first line of text is paramount because it represents your chance to stand out from the crowd.

Describe the essence of your app and reiterate the most important keywords for your app.

Again, we used different copy for English and Spanish. What we did here though, is opening the focus using the terminology that different cultures use to refer to the game. Just like ‘Ludo’ is known as ‘Parchís’ in Spanish-speaking countries, they know it as ‘Petits chevaux’ or ‘Le Jeu de Dada’ in France.

100 Character Keyword Field

You have 100 characters to fit in the most relevant keywords around your app.

Use no spaces and separate keywords with commas.

Use common language and short words.

Think as a player. What would you search for if you were looking for a game like yours?

The first thing we did was to research what keywords are working for the top apps of the most successful studios. Deciphering why they choose the words they do, even if they seem a little odd at first, made us understand the behaviour of their target audience.

Do that for the apps in the same category as yours. You’ll see what keywords your competition use and are worth picking up a fight.

Now, if you get your app rolling in the App Store, you might want to dedicate more time to ASO to improve the download ratio.

It usually takes several iterations of research and testing before you can get to a point where you are happy with your keywords. Trial and error is the only way, and it’s how you’ll be able to refine and improve your ranking.

Surprise, the In-App Purchase Name is important too!

In-App Purchase Name

The name of your in-app purchases are indexable too. Choosing the words carefully is common sense.

Don’t name your IAP package “premium content”, it’s too general and it doesn’t describe what it contains.

Make the name specific and in context with the app. For instance: “power-up costume”, “special weapon”, “hard puzzles”.

The last two are difficult to control without money, but you can still influence them!

Ratings and Reviews

You can’t fully control them, but you can sway them to your side.

Creating good stuff prompts good reviews. Shocking.

Ask users for a review at a time of happiness, for example after she’s completed a rewarding task or beat the best score. Pull, don’t push.

Number of Downloads

If you’re reading this you probably don’t have the money to buy installs, put your efforts in designing

Your app icon to stand out from competition in the same category.

Let screenshots reveal the natural flow of your app, so users recognize how it works at a glance.

Wrapping up

We were lucky to have a decent amount of downloads just after our game launched, which helped it rank higher for some searches. At the same time, hadn’t we followed the best common practices for ASO, the game likely would’ve had less visibility on the App Store —thus less exposure— and ultimately had gotten less downloads in return.

As the downloads started to dwindle, so did our ranking for the search term ‘Ludo’.

It’s important to bear in mind that all the different aspects that influence ASO work together as a whole. You shouldn’t discard any of them, they’re connected!(source:gamasutra


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