作者：Puneet Yamparala

增加应用下载量的重要因素之一就是该应用页面出现的大量积极评价以及5星好评。

尽标题和关键字是用户在应用商店中进行检索时发现应用的一个关键因素，我们还需要通过应用描述来证实产品的独特性，而评价则是创造用户对产品印象并说服其下载应用的最终推动因素。

这都是人的心理作用。想想看，假如你正在搜索一款关于提高办公效率的应用。你所运用的检索关键字产生了大量搜索结果。你会如何对这些应用进行筛选？当然是先从最顶端开始，然后是看其评价等级（评价）以及下载量。

许多开发者都在绞尽脑汁为应用增加评价，在应用正式发布之前的时期尤其如此。有一个方法就是与博客主分享预发布版本，让他们做出评价，而第二个方法就是与其他应用开发者交换评价。

第二种方法可能会对应用的生命周期产生致使危害。

我将在本文探讨和说明如何从真正的用户那里获得评价，而不是与其他应用开发者交换评价，因为这样才能帮助开发者的应用获得成功。

App Reviews(from tuicool.com)

评价对应用的重要性

从搜索角度来看：评级和评价可以算是搜索的元数据，甚至有助于应用在搜索结果中的分类（据TechCrunch报道，这涉及苹果所使用的应用搜索引擎Chomp的相关功能，该功能会采用用户反馈情况，从而影响搜索结果）。如果这一消息成真，获得评价不但将成为开发者获得有效反馈的一个关键，还能确保他们的页面具有丰富的关键字，这样就有利于提升他们在搜索结果中的排名。

从下载角度来看，评级和评价可能决定着用户究竟会下载你的应用还是竞争对手的产品。

获得评价的最佳来源

以下是一些获得有意义评价的好方法：

*向博客主和记者推荐应用

*向评价网站推荐应用，并获得该网站“本周/月最佳*类游戏”的推荐

*撰写软文

*新闻炒作

向博客主和记者推荐应用

博客主和记者总是在寻找能够吸引读者的有趣内容。一款能够解决其访客需求（可以是医疗健康，娱乐，也可以是游戏等）的新应用就会受到欢迎。

向评价网站推荐应用

放心，这并不是非法途径。可以看看一些有趣的评价网站甚至是reddit，它们相当于志在为应用领域清理门户，将糟糕应用拒之门外的游戏评论员。

通过它们的分类进行搜索，找到你的应用可能获得推荐的类型。它们的月度和分类列表以及评价，应该就是最佳选择。要找到那些每月都会推荐最佳新应用，以及会根据不同类型划分搜索结果的网站，并向其推荐你的应用。

围绕应用撰写软文

人们想看富有吸引力的内容。可以撰写一些关于你应用所瞄准的主题，创造攻略和资源，并在该博文末尾附上你的应用所为范例。你已经了解关于创造这类应用的许多情况，所以可以通过博客、文章更详细地说明其中的问题，或者通过其他专家所撰写的内容来介绍你的应用。记住，介绍和推销可是两种完全不同的概念。

新闻炒作

人们总是在追随最近发生的新闻。为何不借助当下最火的新闻，找一个角度切入介绍你的应用？这种手法类似于编写软文，只不过你利用的是当下最新潮流来提升应用知名度。（本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao）

How to Build Your App Reviews without Resorting to Review Exchanges

by Puneet Yamparala

One of the most critical factors in increasing app downloads is the number of positive and high-star rated reviews the app has when the customer lands on the app’s page.

Though the app’s title and keyword usage play a key factor in bringing up the app during customer’s search in the app store, and the descriptions substantiates the app’s uniqueness, reviews play the final nudging role in creating a perception of the game or the app that makes it download-worthy.

Let’s call it the popularity problem.

It’s human psychology. Think about it this way, you’re searching for an app related to increasing productivity. A number of apps appear for the search keywords you have used. How do you sift through the apps? The ones at the top, followed by the ones with the most star ratings (reviews) and number of downloads.

This has many developers searching for ways to add reviews to their app, mostly during the period before announcement and official launch. One way of doing that is to share a prelaunch version with niche bloggers and let them review it for you, the second one is to exchange reviews with other app developers.

The later can be devastating for the lifecycle of the app.

In this post I will discuss and argue how getting reviews from actual users instead of exchanging reviews from app developers can help app developers make their app successful.

Importance of Reviews for App

From a Discovery perspective: ratings and reviews are considered as metadata for search and can even help to categorize your app in search results according to news which broke this week on TechCrunch on possible enhancements Apple is making from their recent acquisition of Chomp, a leading app search engine, which uses customer feedback to influence discovery. If this is true, then gaining reviews becomes key for app publishers not only to get valuable feedback but also to ensure that their page is rich with keywords which can help them be found in search results.

From a Download perspective: ratings and reviews could mean the difference of a potential user downloading your app over direct competitors – especially in list view on the device.

The Best Sources of Getting Reviews

Some of the best methods for getting meaningful reviews include:

Pitching the app to bloggers and journalists

Pitch it to review sites and get featured on their “best of [category] for [month/week, etc]”

Content creation

News-jacking

Pitching Your App to Bloggers and Journalists

Bloggers and journalists are always looking for engaging content for their readership. A new app that  can answer some of the pressing concerns of their visitors (health, entertainment, games, etc.) will be welcomed.

However, choose who you pick carefully. You want to leverage their trust and fan base to boost your app’s reach for reviews. This means their website should have an active community base, one that willingly engages in discussions through the comments section. Select niche bloggers and journalists and pitch only if you believe their target audience is the right match for your app.

Pitching Your App to Review Sites

Relax. They’re not illegal. Check the list of youtubers that review sites, some interesting review sites, or even a reddit. They are like the movie and game critics “committed” to keeping the app world clean and to weed out the bad ones from the mix.

Search through their categories and find the ones where your app can get featured. The best options would be their monthly and category-based listicles and reviews. Find sites that feature every month’s best releases and discoveries for different categories. Pitch it to them.

Create Content around Your App

People want to read engaging content. Write authoritatively about topics the niche your app is targeting, create guides and resources, and pitch your app as a CTA at the end of the post. You already know a lot about the niche to have created the app, so talk about the problems in more detail through blogs, articles, or curate content from other niche experts and introduce your app through them. Remember, introducing an app is far different from selling the app.

News Jacking

People want to remain abreast of the latest news. Why not get on the bandwagon of the current raging news and use it to get an angle on your app? It’s similar to writing content, except you’re leveraging the latest trends to boost your app for the short haul.

All the best!（source：gamasutra）