The App Store is a place where the small can outrank the big with a little bit of optimization.
Ariel from AppFigures recently shared an interesting finding: apps that try to “keep their name clean” on the App Store are making one of the biggest ASO mistakes.
And by clean we mean not using a keyword in the app name on the Store.
Here’s why this is one of the biggest technical mistakes…
Ariel analyzed apps that rank for the keyword “loan.” It has a high popularity score and almost 1M downloads a month. Huge competition, so you’d expect heavy optimization…
But the first-placed app only has 22 new ratings in the past month. The app in second place has 30 new ratings, while the third-placed app has 4.7k new ratings.
How on earth is that possible?
It’s all about optimization. The two top-ranking apps have a pretty low score so you can presume they aren’t the best of the bunch, which explains low ratings frequency.
But they have the common sense to include “loan” and “loans” keywords in their name.
You don’t see that same keyword in the names of any other app below them.
Despite having thousands of rankings and a higher average ranking, the quality apps are still a few rows lower than the lesser quality apps.
So what can you do? First, start researching Keyword Inspector for relevant keywords and check how the results page looks.
If you see an opportunity like this—where most competitors aren’t placing keywords in their names—grab it with both hands.
You’ll help App Store’s algorithm understand your app and in return, it will place you better.
Long story short – there’s no spring cleaning in the App Store. Instead, “mess things up” by adding relevant keywords and watch your app outrank some of the big players.
Try to hop on this while it’s working and you may reap the ranks… and rewards.