The challenges of driving growth on the Apple App Store
How the Search feature can impact both app discoverability and user engagement & lead to significant fluctuations in performance.
Navigating the Apple App Store's ecosystem is a challenge every app developer faces, but none more so than those reliant on the elusive autocomplete list. If you're unfamiliar with this feature, consider yourself fortunate; it signifies a smoother path to user acquisition than what many of us contend with. In the realm of the App Store, where visibility is paramount, the autocomplete list wields considerable influence over user behavior and app discoverability.
Exploring the intricacies of the Apple App Store presents a multifaceted challenge for app developers. While a few apps mostly rely on one placement, many use a combination of placements to build their visibility and drive user acquisition:
Today tab
Charts
Apple Featurings
Search
In this dynamic ecosystem, securing featuring spots from Apple has lost much of its allure with diminishing returns and unpredictable outcomes. Instead, the focus has shifted towards harnessing the power of search to cultivate organic growth and foster user engagement.
In this article, I'm going to offer you a full immersion on the impact Search can have on user acquisition and how limited keyword density can be in an environment as closed as the App Store.
The Apple App Store is a total market of 650 million people worldwide discovering and downloading apps.
70% of App Store visitors use search to discover apps.
65% of downloads happen directly after a search1.
The stakes couldn't be higher. This explains why Apple prioritized Search Ads initially as it represented the largest source of revenue growth.
You get it, Search Tab is the sinews of war. But it's not that simple.
It's a delicate balancing act, requiring a nuanced understanding of user behavior, algorithmic preferences, and the ever-evolving landscape of the App Store.
Users have a habit of searching for brands they’ve already heard about elsewhere
According to a 2017 study from John Tintle2, App Store users search for brands almost exclusively. Unlike Web Search, users use small keywords set for search such as: netflix, netflix games, netflix watch party
. This behavior significantly narrows down the pool of effective keywords for app developers to target. Consequently, identifying and optimizing for these select keywords becomes crucial for driving meaningful impact and maximizing app visibility.
Search on the Apple App Store is a fun world. On the vast majority of searches performed, 9 out of the 10 top keywords from the autocomplete list are branded.
When a user starts typing for a brand, the autocomplete list come into play. It suggests 10 keywords once you start typing and refresh the list if you continue typing:
Apple use the Priority Index Score to sort the keywords by relevance. While I conducted research for this article, I couldn't find the patent behind the Priority Index Score neither any literature on the topic and I was fine with it because this list doesn't work like it should (theoretically). It is believed to be an internal ranking mechanism used by Apple to determine the relevance and ranking of search results and autocomplete suggestions within the App Store (a dup of the PageRank3).
The autocomplete list is hackable
Learning #1. Brand awareness directly impact App Store searches.
Brand awareness is an infinite cycle. If you stop claiming how cool your brand is or how useful it is, people will lose sight and then interest.
We're used to look at search volumes and analyse a decrease as a market downturn. It's not that simple and how frequently a brand communicate can have a big impact on search. We measured a 15% decrease in searches when email marketing is turned off; a metric later confirmed by our User Research team: "I search for your brand on the App Store later in the day once I receive an email".
Learning #2. An In-App Event (IAE) name can be introduced in the autocomplete list.
Let's begin with a finding I made at the end of 2022. I spotted a weird keyword at the bottom of the autocomplete list app cvs photo print & pickup
. No way a user is searching for a long tail query and for such a weird one. I quickly discovered that this query was the In-App Event4 name used by one of our direct competitor.
As odd as this keyword may be it was still tapped by users and used to bring us lots of installs: a nice performance for a single keyword. This keyword wasn't always second in the autocompletion list, but its position strongly influenced the performance of our Search Ads campaign.
At that time, this competitor was the only one using the IAE feature. So the question remains open on how Apple would rank an IAE name in the autocomplete list among others.
Speaking about weird keywords: do you really think users search for cvs.com/app
?
Learning #3. Keyword prominence in autocomplete significantly impacts app discoverability and user engagement.
We measured a staggering 90% decrease in installs when a keyword dropped from the top to the bottom of the autocomplete list (from #2 to #8).
Monitoring the autocomplete list is a manual task that requires daily attention. There is no automatic alerting system for changes in the list. Consequently, if a keyword disappears or decreases in ranking, immediate action isn't always feasible, potentially leading to a deterioration in performance. While bidding adjustments can easily be made for Search Ads campaigns, the impact on organic rankings can affect overall growth. For instance, a shift from a high-ranking keyword to a lower one can disrupt organic visibility, resulting in decreased app discoverability and reinsurance driven by the combination of ASA + ASO. Thus, while addressing Search Ads concerns is relatively quick, the broader implications on organic performance necessitate a more strategic approach to mitigate long-term effects.
Additionally, it's essential to note that the autocomplete list remains static for the most part, with updates primarily revolving around shifts in the ranking order rather than the sudden appearance or disappearance of keywords. The brand name itself that always rank #1 in the autocomplete list is never updated so there's at least one secure spot. However, when changes do occur, they can lead to fluctuations that last several days. This dynamic nature necessitates a proactive approach to swiftly adapt.
Final thought
For app developers belonging to the Challengers category mastering the intricacies of the autocomplete list is essential for driving sustainable growth.
The autocomplete list is not a passive feature but a dynamic placement that can be influenced by factors such as in-app events and brand visibility. By strategically leveraging these elements, app developers can harness the autocomplete list to amplify their app's discoverability and drive user acquisition.
The profound impact of keyword ranking within the autocomplete list on app installs, with even minor shifts in position yielding significant fluctuations in performance. Understanding and adapting to these fluctuations is paramount for maintaining a competitive edge in the ever-evolving App Store ecosystem.
The symbiotic relationship between brand awareness and App Store searches highlight the ripple effect that marketing efforts can have on user behavior. By maintaining a consistent presence across various channels, developers can keep their app top-of-mind for users navigating the App Store.
1 Source: https://searchads.apple.com/advanced
2 Source: I Studied the Top 500 App Store Keywords So You Wouldn’t Have To
3 The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the Web
4Apple In-App Events: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/in-app-events/