ASO Strategy for Explore Traffic
Traditional App Store Optimization (ASO) strategy involves optimizing for Search result traffic. Even the results of the ASO are measured based on the ranking improvement of the keywords we are optimizing for. However, organic traffic in App Store and Play Store is now more than the search traffic.
Even today, if your ASO strategy is only about optimizing for Playstore/Appstore searches, it is wholly outdated.
Today, for most brands, a higher percentage of their store traffic comes from the explore section than the search. And they are increasing over the last few years and will continue to rise in the coming years.
Let's understand why it is happening.
User Behaviour Change
Social media apps have changed Online user behavior over the last few years. Today more people are comfortable scrolling the apps instead of searching for any particular information. So they also tend to show the same behavior while looking for apps in the app store.
Better monetization opportunity
The changes mentioned above in user behavior provide more avenues for showing ads, increasing revenue for store owners (i.e.) Google and Apple). Also, users tend to spend more time in the app when they're exploring freely compared to when they are searching for something particular.
So they support and promote it.
Source Explore Traffic
Because of its very nature (low intent), Explore traffic will have a slightly lower conversion rate than search traffic. However, it has high potential because of its growing nature.
There are three primary sources of 'explore' traffic.
1. 'You may also know' & 'Similar app' sections of other apps in the store
This is the most prominent source of Explore traffic. Users exploring a specific category of apps tend to check these sections quite often, leading to our app store visits.
App icons, long descriptions, and reviews & review replies(significant) are where you should concentrate on influencing & increasing this traffic.
2. Daily 'Top app' section
This source has more significance after the introduction of the 'For you' tab in the play store. One of the essential factors to crack the top app section is 'Net install velocity.' Not the absolute number of installs but the net install velocity, which is installs minus uninstalls.
3. Traffic from the featured section in the Playstore
Tapping this part is a little challenging. Good associations, consistent ASO effort, and a fair amount of luck are needed here.
Planning ASO Strategy
So next time you plan your ASO strategy, think about exploring traffic as much as the search traffic and plan for it effectively.
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