Improve the number of users that visit your platform store app page and download your app.

Usually while promoting a mobile app, we focus on getting people go to the platform market (App store or Google Play, for instance). We try to maximize the users that click links to the stores to improve the number of downloads.

It is very important, but there are more steps where we must focus our efforts. In this post we are going to see the conversion rate at the markets. The ratio between the number of users that visit the market app page and the users that download it. This rate can be calculate using this trivial formula:

Ratio = number downloads / market visits

The problem of this metric is that is difficult to have data about the market impressions, because you have to track all the users that visit your links, and you can’t separate the downloads from your links and the organic downloads of the market.

If you use a system like tapstream.com or adxtracking.com, you will be able to get the data of the links you track. In that case, you can work hard to improve the ratio and check if you work improves the ratio. If you don’t use any track tool, you won’t be able to check your work, but you can anyway work on it to try to get more downloads.

As large as this ratio is, better the situation you have. If your ratio is very high (>60%), you can focus in getting more clicks and this post won’t be very useful.

But probably this ratio will be low, usually 20%, in that case you can try some things to improve it.

Tips to improve the conversion ratio

This are some of the tips you can work on:

Take advantage of the market

Each store has different type of resources, some of them are compulsory but some are optional (title, description, screenshots,…). Use them, if you can set a video to show the users how work the app, use it. If you can upload a promo image, design an effective one. Use all the resources the market offers you.

A big part of the potential users won’t read your description, instead, they will look at the graphics (screenshots, promo images and videos), maximize your possibilities to have a new user.

At the current Google Play, you must analyze if you prefer to show a featured photo or a featured  video. If you can show the value of your app in a single image, maybe you can chose the image. Most of the users avoid the video (especially without wifi). But if you have really fancy features that are difficult to explain in a image, use the video.

Fresh information

It may sound stupid, but it is really important to have all the data at the app page up to date. To get more downloads is not very useful to have developed big features or make big redesigns of your app, if you don’t show them at the app page in the store.

Is difficult to update all the screenshots each time you upload a new version. This problem get worse as much languages you support. You have to evaluate when to update it, maybe its a good idea to update it each major upload, or each major update that affects the main features of the app.

Why I should download it?

Try to think as the user and not the developer. Look at your app page and ask yourself “Why I have to download it?”. Can you answer it with the information you see there?.

You can not assume that the user knows anything about the app. Include at the description and the graphical resources each of the features your app has.

It is very important to do that in case you have a website (or another type of system) that can make the same thing as the app. In that situation you must remark each of the features of the app that the other system doesn’t have. Show the benefits of the app in contrast to the website  to the potential user.

Conclusion

It is difficult to improve the conversion ratio, but is important to at least try it. The most important aspect of this post that I would like to remark is that you should use the conversion rate metric.

To get more downloads is important the metric of the number of clicks (CTR), but it is as important the conversion rate. Before working on improving the page, try to have the most accurate conversion rate metric as you can.

I’m sure there are a lot more tips you can use to improve the conversion rate, do you know anyone? Please comment to share it with everybody.