{"id":1854,"date":"2019-07-25T18:45:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T18:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2019-07-25T18:45:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T18:45:46","slug":"apple-shares-algorithm-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Shares Algorithm Secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you keep an eye out for all news ASO, then you might have seen a little article published by the Wall Street Journal about Apple<\/a>. In it, the authors go after the tech giant, accusing Apple of rigging the App Store to promote its own apps and thwarting competitors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The basic premise of the article is that Apple\u2019s apps rank in the top spots for a lot of relevant (or slightly relevant) keywords. This makes it difficult for the App Store to be a free market \u2014 especially since competitors don\u2019t have anywhere else that they can put their apps on iOS.<\/p>\n

Whether or not Apple is gerrymandering the App Store to generate more revenue for itself is still up for debate. However, in their attempts to cover themselves, Apple did let slip a few helpful ASO tips. The spokesperson that spoke to the WSJ said that Apple\u2019s apps are subject to the same ranking algorithm that every other app is subject to. Their algorithm takes into account “42 different factors” to determine where apps rank in search results. They didn\u2019t divulge in all 42, but Apple did give us the top four.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the four heftiest App Store ranking determinants \u2014 according to Apple itself:<\/p>\n

Downloads: <\/b><\/h2>\n

This one is pretty self explanatory. Does your app have a high download rate? Perfect, consider yourself a top candidate for a top spot in app rankings. This might sound like it favors bigger apps, but that\u2019s not necessarily true. Even if you get just tens or hundreds of downloads a day, but your conversion rate is high, then Apple\u2019s algorithm will look upon you more favorably.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/b>Ratings: <\/b><\/h2>\n

If users hate your app, then Apple hates your app. It\u2019s next to impossible to have a high ranking for keyword searches if your app has low reviews. By using the StoreKit SDK, developers can easily invite users to leave a simple star review of your App<\/a> on the App Store. If you have a slew of users leaving bad reviews on your app listing, then focus on responding to reviews and fix the problem. If your app already has a top tier star rating, then congratulations! Keep doing what you\u2019re doing!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/b>Relevance: <\/b><\/h2>\n

When a user searches for a [non-branded] keyword, they’re presented with a number of options that satisfy their request. The goal of the user is to now determine which of those results is actually what they were looking for. Apple considers the behavior of users post-search to understand the apps they actually end up downloading. If a “CoolApp” has a conversion rate of 50% for “cool” and “KoolApp” has a conversion of 20%, Apple’s algorithm is understanding that the higher converting app deservers to rank higher based on the relevance.\u00a0Having an app that is relevant to the keywords<\/a> that you\u2019re trying to rank for is, understandably, a very important factor. Apple is all about the users, so it\u2019s important to make sure that users think your app is relevant to the search results you\u2019re trying to rank for.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/b>User Behavior: <\/b><\/h2>\n

How appropriate that user behavior is one of the top things determining your app ranking! If you missed our latest blog post on deciphering your user behavior data, check it out now<\/a>! Basically, what user behavior entails is are people using your app and how long are they using it for.<\/p>\n

As Apple and Google\u2019s app store algorithms evolve, more and more factors are coming in to play for App Store Optimization success. The focus is dramatically shifting to app quality and user behavior of your app. The algorithms are quite literally determining if your app is relevant, and if users like your app.<\/p>\n

How do they make this determination? The algorithms are factoring in your app\u2019s usage statistics, and app vitals including things like: engagement, sessions, deletions, crashes, etc\u2026 Apple has gone so far as to define (per spokesman) \u201cThe four factors that most influence the rankings are\u00a0downloads, ratings, relevance and user behavior\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Historically, Apple has been extremely tight lipped on what goes into its App Store ranking algorithm. But Apple has finally shared “the four factors that most influence the rankings” with us and now we know definitively that downloads, ratings, relevance and \u201cuser behavior” are atop that list.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Need help tackling the heavy hitters of Apple\u2019s app ranking algorithm? Contact your ASO Pros today.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you keep an eye out for all news ASO, then you might have seen a little article published by the Wall Street Journal about Apple. In it, the authors go after the tech giant, accusing Apple of rigging the App Store to promote its own apps and thwarting competitors.\u00a0 The basic premise of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19],"tags":[198,5,7,210,296],"yoast_head":"\nApple Shares Algorithm Secrets | The ASO Project Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Liv Ade\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/\",\"name\":\"Apple Shares Algorithm Secrets | The ASO Project Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-25T18:45:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-25T18:45:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cc7941de242fb5fac81177e766e7a0c7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/apple-shares-algorithm-secrets\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Apple Shares Algorithm Secrets\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The ASO Project Blog\",\"description\":\"App Store Optimization News, Tips and Best Practices\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/cc7941de242fb5fac81177e766e7a0c7\",\"name\":\"Liv Ade\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theasoproject.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/909ca00bea311ea0046ffd2d34cefaa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/909ca00bea311ea0046ffd2d34cefaa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Liv Ade\"},\"description\":\"Graduating from Wheaton College (IL), Liv started working with the ASO Project in 2019. 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