Four reasons your app store listing has a poor conversion rate
A bad conversion rate is a very common ASO concern.
App businesses spend a lot of time working on enhancing their app listing. A poor conversion rate spoils the party and minimizes your efforts to improve the app listing.
Anyone can create an app these days. You only really need a reliable and free Android & iOS app maker to launch an app.
Making people download your app is a seperate challenge altogether. A good conversion rate can ensure that you have a good shot at getting a new user every time someone visits your app listing.
To optimize your conversion rate, you need to strengthen your app listing. Here are four reasons your app listing has a poor conversion rate.
#1 - Inconclusive app title
If there is one fundamental rule you can rely on, it is this - your audience doesn’t have the time or patience to understand your app.
No prospect is going to scan through your entire app listing to learn more about your app. No one owes you three to four minutes of unbridled attention.
Realistically, you only really have 3-4 seconds to make your prospects understand your app.
The best way to immediately make people understand your app is creating a sharp and focused app title.
The app title should itself be enough to convey the basic functionality of your app. Let’s look at Spotify’s app title as an example -
Image source: Google Play
The app title here clearly states what Spotify is all about - listen to podcasts and find music you love.
This is an example of an optimal app title. Even someone who has never heard of Spotify can understand its basic functionality here.
Make sure your app title is itself sufficient enough to convey the basic features and functions you are offering.
Big brands like Facebook and Amazon don’t need to advertise their basic function in their app title because most people are already familiar with them.
When you are launching an app from scratch, you cannot hope that your audience will recognize your brand. Draft a simple and informative app title to inform people what your app is all about.
#2 - Poor screenshots
Screenshots appear just below the install button and help your app listing visitors get an inside view of your app.
A lot of businesses tend to showcase their app design in the screenshot gallery. They naturally view this as an opportunity to impress people with their app design and appearance.
This approach is not entirely flawed. However, you must strike a balance between showcasing design and functionality.
The screenshot gallery can also help visitors see how your app works, not just how it looks. You risk losing many visitors if you devote too much attention to design and ignore showcasing app functionality altogether.
Let’s say you create an app for your WooCommerce store and launch it on Google Play. Before adding screenshots, make a list of the things your visitors would want to see before installing your app.
This can include giving your customers a glance of your product range or highlighting expedited delivery options. Showcase the features and functions people expect from your app in the best possible design aesthetic.
#3 - Bad app ratings and reviews
A bad app rating will always make incoming visitors think twice before downloading your app.
Managing app ratings is a fairly complex exercise. Unhappy customers are always more motivated to give bad reviews than satisfied customers are in giving good reviews.
This always creates a ratings gap and you have to bridge it by deploying a range of tactics.
The following points highlight how you can manage your app ratings-
● Soote unhappy users - The best way to manage your app rating is to stop the flow of bad reviews. Create a customer service system that deals with unhappy users. Resolving the issues of your customers internally will stem the flow of bad reviews.
● Incentivise good reviews - Start reward programs to incentivize happy and satisfied users to leave good reviews. This can help offset the bad ratings you get from unhappy customers.
Review management is very important. As your user base grows, you will have to find a way to deal with bad ratings and reviews.
#4 - No call to action
Call to actions are old-fashioned, but they still work. Your app listing lacks direction and purpose without a clear CTA message.
Look at the example of Spotify discussed earlier. The app title contains actionable words like ‘listen’ and ‘find’. Without these words, the app listing would lack any real call to action.
Every good marketing message should trigger a prospect to complete an action. This is why a call-to-action is important.
How can you create a good CTA for your app listing? The following points provide some guidance on the use of CTAs in app listings.
● Don’t write an overtly promotional CTA like ‘install app’ or ‘buy products’. Using action verbs that are relevant to your app. Spotify used ‘listen’ and ‘find’. Study your app’s offerings and select a CTA accordingly.
● Place the CTA in the app title. Adding CTAs to the title sets the tone for your entire app listing. Don’t make your visitors go through your app description to find a CTA.
● Experiment with different CTAs with A/B testing. App stores enable you to run A/B tests and find the best possible version of your app listing.
In conclusion
Your app listing needs to have a good conversion rate for a number of reasons. Firstly, your search rankings cannot go up with a poor conversion rate.
Secondly, you don’t want to waste the attention you get whenever a visitor arrives on your app listing.
It is easier to make your own app these days than making people download it. Competition has only increased as anyone can start an app business these days. Having a good conversion rate can help your app make the most out of every session.
