Falling ranks is never a good sight. Both SEO and ASO professionals can attest to the same. No one likes seeing weeks and months of work to be rewarded with a drop off in rankings and downloads (or traffic).
And yet, rank drops are a common reality. App startups are perhaps the most vulnerable to this phenomenon. This is because organic app downloads is their only regular source of user acquisition. On Apple App Store alone, 65% of all app app downloads come from organic search.
They can’t spend hundreds of thousands on blanket marketing campaigns to create a buzz. Only decent keyword rankings and organic app store visibility can get them regular app downloads.
If ranking drops are common, ASO professionals need to find a way to deal with them. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problem of dropping ranks. There are different reasons why your app’s rankings can drop. It is first necessary to identify the specific reason behind a rankings drop before looking for possible solutions.
Mobile app builders have already made app development simple. App companies can go from WordPress website to Android app (or iOS apps) in a matter of minutes thanks to tools like AppMySIte. This makes app marketing and user acquisition the next big challenge.
This piece covers the five main reasons your app rankings are dropping off.
Table of contents
#1 - Algorithm updates
#2 - App meta changes
#3 - Ratings drop
#4 - Enhanced competitor visibility
#5 - Inadequate app store listing
#1 - Algorithm updates
The most common reason for a rankings drop is an algorithm update. Both Google Play and Apple App Store try to improve the everyday app discovery experience of their users. They introduce timely algorithm updates in an effort to improve search discovery and various other visibility related mechanisms.
These algorithm updates typically cause shifts in rankings as they reward some apps and drop others off. This generally happens because app stores want to reward lower ranked apps who’ve been working hard to improve their app store rankings.
Rewarding such apps naturally means causing a ranks drop for other apps.
If you’re following the prescribed ASO practices, your rankings should stabilize after a while. Some updates can even have the opposite effect and drive your app ranking upwards. You should only focus on getting the basics right and riding out the bad effects of a rankings drop.
#2 - App meta changes
ASO professionals often make changes to their app listing meta fields. This is normal practice. The entire point of keyword research in app store optimization is to find new keyphrases and add them to the app listing metafields.
The problem is this - app stores have their own way of responding to meta changes.
Let’s say you have a pharmacy app and currently rank high the keyword ‘buy meds online’. You discover another keyword that has a much greater volume than the one you’re currently ranking for. In an effort to boost ranking strength further, you add this new high volume keyword to the app description and app name.
One of two things can happen. The app store may reward you with higher ranking for this new keyword. The other scenario is the one you dread. You lose app rankings on the keyword you’re already ranking for. This generally happens because the app store assumes your relevance with the existing keyword has been diluted by the new keyword.
Unlike a website where you can write unlimited blogs and create endless landing pages, the metafields of an app listing are limited. Use the space you get judiciously and carefully create the perfect keyword mix.
#3 - Ratings drop
You don’t need someone to tell you why your app ranks have dropped in case your rating is down as well.
Ratings are a key ingredient in the app ranking puzzle. No app store is going to put up an app at the top rank if it has a poor rating.
Thus, a ratings drop causes a direct drop in app rankings. The simple way to approach this problem is working on improving your ratings and reviews. Create mechanisms to get happy customers to download your app. Soothe disgruntled app users and resolve their problems. Getting great app ratings and reviews is a marathon an app can never stop running.
#4 - Enhanced competitor visibility
Higher app downloads can also cause a jump in rankings. App stores tend to rank apps with more app downloads higher. Thus, when an app below you gets a sudden increase in downloads, it might get promoted higher at your cost.
There are a myriad reasons why your competitor could get a sudden increase in downloads. App stores are not the only avenue for mobile app marketing. Your competitor can leverage any number of techniques to enhance app downloads and jump higher in app search rankings.
There is even the possibility of the app store featuring your competitor in a featured collection or a popular Similar Apps section. This can also cause a jump in downloads and rankings as a consequence.
The solution? Don’t just sit on your app rankings to get you downloads. Marshall all resources and deploy mobile app marketing across all viable channels and keep growing downloads to offset any advantage your competitor gets over time.
#5 - Inadequate app store listing
Poor conversion is a major reason for poor app rankings. App stores don’t like apps that don’t convert a healthy number of visitors. As mentioned previously, app stores aim to improve the app discovery experience of users.
Every time an app listing fails to convert a visitor, the app store views it as a failure. Too many unconverted visitors eventually cause a fall in app rankings.
You can improve your conversion rate by optimizing your app store page. Add a great app icon, design an appealing set of screenshots, and wow visitors with a beautiful feature image at the top.
These things put together contribute to the visual appeal of your app store page. Along with the right copy for other meta fields such as app title and description, you can significantly enhance your conversion rate.
In conclusion
A decline in app rankings is a bitter pill to swallow for any given app company. No ASO exec works hard only to oversee a drop in app rankings. And yet, these difficult moments are a reality. The job of ASO professionals is to deal with these challenges and study their cause.
App marketing is the next big challenge as making an app is very easy. Even building an ecommerce app is simple now as tools like AppMySite now enable any user to make a WooCommerce app without coding.