Ultimate Guide: How to do SEO for mobile apps in 5 steps

Think there’s no connection between your mobile app and search engine optimization? Think again, because Google is changing that! Now is the time to take SEO for mobile apps seriously, and ensure that your apps and content rank as highly on search engines as they can.

Google decided in 2019 that the mobile-first index would be enabled by default for all new websites. With the majority of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, Google will direct searches to mobile-friendly sites first, and importantly, offer suggestions matching mobile apps with related search terms.

Why is SEO for mobile apps important?

SEO for mobile apps is crucial in today’s digital landscape. With the majority of internet traffic stemming from mobile devices, understanding the ins and outs of SEO for mobile apps is vital for achieving visibility and user acquisition. Geting a good search engine results page (SERP) ranking allows your app to be organically discovered by users actively seeking similar solutions.

This increased visibility not only leads to more downloads but also encourages brand recognition and trust. Neglecting effective SEO for mobile apps can leave your app hidden in the vast app stores, limiting its potential reach. And as we all carry out more and more work using our smartphones, enterprise apps are going to become the norm for businesses with staff on-the-go.

By mastering SEO for mobile apps, which includes optimizing app titles, descriptions, keywords, and user reviews, you can differentiate your app and boost its chances of ranking prominently in app store searches and recommendations. In essence, SEO for mobile apps goes beyond traditional SEO, encompassing a comprehensive approach to enhance your app’s discoverability, user engagement, and long-term success in the mobile ecosystem.

So how can app publishers make sure their apps rank highly on Google and increase your brand’s search engine ranking? Here are five key ways to improve your SEO for mobile apps through organic search:

1. Make sure your in-app content is optimized for search engines

It’s important to place an emphasis first and foremost on the quality of your in-app content. Google launched app indexing in 2013 and it essentially allows mobile apps to appear in Google searches, taking users directly to the app in their respective app stores.

This means that the content within your apps has to be optimized and of high-quality to ensure that your mobile apps rank highly on search engines.

Google can search deep within your mobile apps to find, and take the user to, specific pieces of content. What’s more, the importance of app indexing has only increased, with more users than ever using search to find new mobile apps.

2. Create an optimized landing page for your mobile app

Creating your app is not the final step by any means. To ensure that you drive as much traffic to your app you should create a landing page which links users to the app store where they can download it. Optimizing the landing page for your mobile app is crucial to ensuring that it ranks highly on search engines.

You can use traditional SEO techniques to ensure you optimize the landing page appropriately e.g. keywords in the title, in headings and throughout the page. write an optimized meta description for the page, include images with alt tags containing the keyword, and more.

Whilst it is important to have traditional keywords on your landing page and in your mobile app, Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords add value by helping search engines identify exactly what your page is all about.

According to Brian Dean of ‘Backlinko‘ there are three ways you can identify LSI keywords for your mobile apps:

• Enter your keyword on Google – any drop-down suggestions are potentially LSI keywords
• Check the keywords that Google has highlighted in bold in these search results. These are relevant to the search.
• At the bottom of the page, Google will suggest additional keywords, which are also LSIs. Check them to see what they suggest.
  

3. Optimize the title and description of your app

Boost your mobile app ranking and stand out from the pack by optimizing your app title and description. This ensures that you can get key information into your app title and description, which is often the only thing users will read before decided whether to download an app or not.

This is a chance for your app to take a position previously given to a website, therefore improving the SEO for your mobile app. 

“In some cases,” Emily Grossman and Cindy Krum say, “being an indexed app may be the only way to rank at the top in mobile Google search. Keywords like ‘games’ and ‘editor’ are a common trigger for app packs and app carousels, but Google is also prominently surfacing apps for queries that seem to be associated with utilities or verbs.”

4. Don’t forget about app store optimization (ASO)

Justin Briggs tells us mobile app store search rankings are based on a combination of App Store Optimization (ASO) and traditional SEO. Titles, descriptions, and device and platform keywords all count. Additionally, dynamic success metrics impact the ranking of your mobile app. The best way to judge your success is to track multiple metrics, including:

• Number and quality of ratings, average rating score, and content and sentiment analysis of reviews
• Number and frequency of app downloads
• Engagement and retention
• Internal links in app store
• Freshness

“For iOS, the primary public metrics are ratings and reviews,” Briggs says. 

“However, app performance can be inferred using the app store’s ranking charts and search results, which can be leveraged as proxies of these performance metrics”

Increasing your app’s average rating number, increasing your volume of ratings, and increasing downloads of your app will have the greatest influence on your mobile app search ranking and therefore SEO for mobile apps.

5. Promote social sharing

Another great strategy to increase your SEO for mobile apps is to encourage users to share your app on social media platforms. Social signals can indirectly impact your app’s SEO by increasing its online presence. You can:

• Include Share Buttons: Integrate social sharing buttons within your app, making it easy for users to share content, achievements, or updates with a single tap.
• Run Contests and Promotions: Organize contests or promotions that incentivize users to share your app on social media. Offer rewards, discounts, or exclusive features to users who share your app with their networks.
• Leverage User-Generated Content: Encourage users to create and share content related to your app, such as reviews, testimonials, or user-generated videos. Repost or highlight this content on your app’s official social media profiles.
• Engage with Users: Actively engage with users on social media by responding to comments, addressing queries, and acknowledging their contributions. This fosters a sense of community and encourages more sharing.
• Use Hashtags: Employ relevant and trending hashtags when sharing your app-related content on social media. This can increase the discoverability of your posts and encourage users to engage with your app.

Remember that SEO for mobile apps is an ongoing process, and staying updated with the latest trends and algorithm changes is essential for long-term success. Continuously refine your strategy based on user feedback and evolving SEO practices will maximize your app’s visibility and reach.