7 Ways To Get Your App Visible on Google Play

PlayBytes, an online series by Google shares some helpful tips about getting discovered on Google Play search, here’s the inaugural episode by Dan Lavelle followed by tips we’ve summed up:

Many assume that there shouldn’t be so much to do other than coming up with a good app. Isn’t a good product jusr enough to sell itself? Well, the sad truth is – no, it’s not. There is a lot of research and strategic thought that have to be done to ensure that an app will be visible for the right target group or during a search on the Google play store.


 

1. Test Your App

There is nothing like first impression, and users that experience a bug (Crash, UI not showing right or usability issues) in an app will most probably drop it right away, 96% of the straggling users will write up a bad review, and 44% will immediately delete the app says a recent mobile app survey.

It is crucial to test your app prior to the launch and with each new update. Try services as TestObject to conduct mobile app testing including stress testing, Install and launch on multiple Android versions and devices and custom UI testing from your browser in a matter of minutes.

Good app reviews starts with a good user experience – TestObject

2. Get Your App Out There

Beginner’s tip: If it’s your first time publishing, verify that your app is actually published (not on draft) and available on the production track (not on the alpha or beta tracks). If you recently moved your APK to alpha or beta tracks, make sure you click the “Move to Prod” on the version you want to push to production.
Remember: it may take up to a few hours for your changes to appear on Google Play.

get feedback on your new app or app update early in its development and make sure your users are happy with the results

3. Target Your Audience

Double check your configurations to make sure your app is visible for the right audience you have defined. Check your app’s pricing and distribution page to make sure you have targeted all the countries you want to distribute to, click show options to verify you haven’t restricted distribution to any particular wireless carrier

Double check your country targeting

4. Define Compatibility

Make sure your configurations don’t exclude any device. From the APK page under supported devices click “see list” to view the device compatibility list. By default you will see all the supported devices but you can also filter your list to see unsupported devices (due to your configurations) or devices you have manually excluded.

Narrow down the target group of you app by your app’s specifications

To show in search results for a specific device consider its feature requirements. click the APK version number to get a summery of your app’s details:

Get as much information form the user when looking at compatibility

For some of the criteria, devices that don’t support your APK will de automatically omitted.
For example: if your app’s minimum API level is 16+ only users of JellyBean and above will see your apps on search results when searching Google play on their device.

5. Title and Description

Google encourages us to come up with titles that are focused, unique and avoid too many common words (Why? They obviously won’t tell). The description should be thorough but remember that most of the text will be hidden under a “Read More” button. Make sure you include what’s most valuable and important to users above that fold.

Don’t be afraid to think about your app marketing with SEO mindset. Keywords will get your app to the people who are looking for it. Search makes the vast majority of installs, so help your users find you by incorporating the most important keyword in your app’s title and as early as possible in your app’s description.

Check out this great talk by Google Play’s Ankit Jain.

6. Research For Insights

Getting more data about user behaviour can be critical to improving your apps. You can integrate mobile app analytics from Google Analytics to insights about your user behaviour, judge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and get a better understanding of your audience.
Read more here: On Which Devices Should You Test Your App?

App statistics about installation performance over time

7. Nothing Like User Experience

Lastly and most importantly you should aim to deliver a high quality and lasting experience for users. Encourage users to provide feedbacks and +1 recommendations. Remember to respond to users that have had a bed experience that can be the difference in making a 1 star review into 5.

User ratings play a huge role in visibility

I know it’s obvious, but if Google takes the time to note this, There must be some misunderstanding regarding those basics. Good Luck and don’t forget to Test at all times! 

 

 source:https://testobject.com/blog/2014/01/7-ways-to-get-your-app-visible.html