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Can press releases help with Google Play ASO?

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The bottom line

Keyword-linked press releases lifted Google Play rankings in only one of two tests, while review-based black hat ASO reached number one. Press coverage and relationships drove May's bigger wins, and hiring for the task keeps a small team working.

Key takeaways

  • Google Play counts keyword links from other sites as a ranking signal. 7:32
    • Sites that link to a Google Play listing with a phrase like "photo filters" can raise its rank for that phrase. Google said so at Google I/O a few years earlier.
  • A press release with keyword links raised rankings in one test. 8:41
    • The client's rank jumped about 10 to 15 spots on the day of distribution.
    • It never reached the top ten, because it started low and the links were forced.
  • Black hat ASO with app store reviews beat the press release approach. 9:46
    • A press release linking a made-up app name to its listing produced no increase and no indexing.
    • The review-based strategy on the same keyword took the app to number one.
  • Press coverage and relationships drove May's biggest wins. 4:47
    • Being one of five apps in a Mashable weekend roundup has brought a 40 to 50 percent rise in downloads.
    • The TechCrunch story on Steve the jumping dinosaur grew from a podcast interview and a shared interest in podcasting.
  • Hire for the task, not the role, and let people go fast. 14:09
    • A contractor hired for organization skills did not work out. A product manager and a PR person should have been two separate hires.

I'm trying to clone myself. I can't do it and you can't do it.

Steve P. Young

Chapter summaries

0:00 May's wins came from features and press

A small number of launches still produced big wins, because pitching editors and writers directly works.

  • Apple featured Paintball Rush in China after a direct pitch. 1:47
    • Young pitched the US App Store manager and sent a filled-out spreadsheet.
    • The feature brought about 30,000 downloads in a week.
    • He had hoped for a worldwide feature and settled for one big country.
    • He started a game publishing company to use his client tactics on his own apps.
  • Pitching a writer's weekly roundup gets apps covered. 4:04
    • Mad Hat reached Mashable through Carissa Bell's roundup, now seven apps.
    • She favors creative apps, such as photo and video tools.
    • His pitch is short: here's a great app for your roundup.
    • Steve the jumping dinosaur lets you play from the notification widget, and Generic Games acquired it.
  • Saying yes to everything in May led to new opportunities. 5:19
    • He joined a webinar on five reasons apps fail, run by Konima.
    • He hosted a one-day in-person mastermind with six people.
    • The mastermind was held at a friend's house in San Jose.
    • He organized it by asking a few friends, and all said yes.

6:28 A hiring loss and the press release test

Hiring the right person is a growing pain, and an SEO link tactic was tried on Google Play.

  • Hiring well is the hard part of growing the business. 6:31
    • He let go of a contractor brought on to fill a role.
    • He now asks podcast guests how they hire.
    • He is still working out his own hiring process.
  • Press releases can carry keyword links to a listing from big sites. 7:04
    • The idea comes from SEO: link target keywords to the page you want to rank.
    • Distribution reaches high-ranking sites like Yahoo News.
    • The test linked several phrases to a client's Google Play listing.
    • Rankings began rising on the day of distribution.

9:16 A natural link still failed, and one feature fell short

A natural app-name link in a press release could not lift a keyword the app did not rank for at all.

  • The made-up app name had no ranking for the keyword, and the press release changed nothing. 9:16
    • The client was not ranking at all for the target keyword.
    • The release was written for the app launch, with the app name linked to the Google Play listing.
    • This link was more natural than the forced keyword link in the first test, and it still failed.
    • The black hat ASO result is promised as a future case study.
  • Paintball Rush won a China feature but missed the worldwide one. 10:15
    • The China feature counts as a win worth celebrating.
    • The worldwide feature was the goal, and it was not planned for.
    • The lesson stated is to celebrate the small wins.
    • The miss is logged as a loss for the month.

10:35 Relationships and Product Hunt open press doors

Small shared interests build relationships, and a Product Hunt feature gives a pitch angle that other press coverage does not.

  • One or two things in common are enough to start a relationship. 10:42
    • Interviews work best when the guest is the focal point and the host is curious about them.
    • Shared podcasting gear and photos of their setups was all it took with Steve-o.
    • Finding common ground is hardest at the very start.
    • The approach is to start with the small thing and let it grow.
  • A Product Hunt feature is worth mentioning in a press pitch. 11:51
    • Mad Hat was featured on Product Hunt after a well-followed moderator submitted it, with few upvotes.
    • The pitch to Carissa at Mashable still mentioned the feature and asked for a spot in the weekend roundup.
    • If the app does well there, add a screenshot to the pitch.
    • Reporters dislike coverage from big rivals, but Product Hunt is community driven, so it is fine to cite.
    • A past client covered by TechCrunch was told the reporters found it on Product Hunt.

13:28 Fire fast and hire for the task

Acting quickly on a bad hire and splitting the work into separate roles keeps a small team effective.

  • A hire who is not working out should go quickly. 13:28
    • She was let go last month, quickly, despite seeming organized.
    • The advice comes from Chris Ducker's book Virtual Freedom.
    • Steve read the book for just-in-time learning while building this team.
    • The idea is paraphrased as hiring for the task, not the role.
  • The next hire is a creative PR and growth person. 14:41
    • Organization will be covered by someone else.
    • Growth hackers are often weak at organization, and that is fine.
    • The goal is a hire for the task at hand.
    • The weakness is covered by a separate person.

15:00 An in-person mastermind proves its worth

A small, open, in-person mastermind created enough value that the group wants to repeat it.

  • Six people sharing real numbers made the first in-person mastermind a success. 15:03
    • Half the group already knew each other, and Steve was the connector for the rest.
    • Everyone shared what they earn and where they want to be.
    • Each person took a hot seat and filled out a sheet.
    • The same six plan to meet again in three or four months to review their goals.
    • Everyone started planning the next one, which Steve takes as proof they loved it.

In the growth library

Steve P. Young, Founder of App Masters, app marketing agency and game publisher. A monthly recap of app marketing wins and losses from May 2016, including a test of whether press releases with keyword links can lift Google Play rankings, and PR and hiring lessons. The standout results are an Apple China feature worth about 30,000 downloads and 40 to 50 percent download lifts from Mashable roundups.

More from App Masters · The whole library, and ask it anything

Transcript472 lines
0:00

coming up I'm going to share some wins and losses from the previous bump and also can press releases help improve your keyword rankings on Google Play you'll find out stay tuned what is up at nation it is the P young founder of masters CO and in this video I want to talk all about what happened last month may 2016 and talk about some of the lessons I think I want to do this on every month I want to try to do this every month because it will force me to run a lot of experiments for you and I want to share some of these experiments that we ran in May and some of the lessons that we learned through that and the key and I'm going to put a blog post together about this case study because I want to run one more test but we're trying to test out if press releases can help you with your keyword rankings on Google Play so if you want to get access to this blog post and know when it comes out make sure you subscribe to the app

1:08

masters email list right now go to app masters CO and click on any blog post and sign up for that email list and you'll be the first to know if press releases can help you rank better for keywords on google play all right but let's get to this the content of this video let's talk a little bit about what happened in may 2016 last month so just some of the winds all right we had some really really awesome winds in May and we didn't have too many app launches which actually makes it a better story because we had a lot more wins given that there weren't that many launches so our percentage are win percentage was huge right so number one our app so i started for those who aren't familiar or following along that closely which is fine i don't expect you to know everything about me but i started this game publishing company because I'm leveraging some of the tactics I've used for clients and now using it from my own

2:05

apps and this app paintball rush was actually featured by apple in China now we actually pitched the US app store manager and I think what happens after that is he was receptive to it so I sent over the spreadsheet filled it all out and then he I think internally sent it out to the rest of the editors and China loved it and just so you guys know in China from that feature we got about thirty thousand downloads from that whole week so it was just in China now unfortunately this I'm going to share this in the losses I was actually hoping for a worldwide feature but heck I will take one country feature and China is a pretty big country so it was a really really good win and I was hoping for the worldwide but I'm gonna settle for China and if you're not familiar with this I'm going to link up the blog post that I highlight how to get featured by Apple and tap and says the same strategy that we use to pitch the apple of contact

3:00

there the other huge win was one of our clients Steve the jumping dinosaur if you're not familiar with this game you gotta definitely go check it out it's a game that allows you to play straight from the notification widget so it's a really really cool app but Steve the jumping dinosaur it was featured on techcrunch so really really cool and in my lessons so little tease my lessons part of this video I'm going to tell you how this all occurred steve-o here is the one who actually if you guys are familiar with the podcast he was interviewed my passive one of my past guess is interviewed on the podcast so I told Steve about the story and he wanted to cover it so it was really really cool but this app was acquired from acquired by generic games really really cool indie success story and if you heard Yvonne if you haven't heard that podcast I didn't interview with Devon and you can hear how he created the game and his

3:56

whole backstory to really brilliant story really cool another success story was mad hat another client of ours got covered on Mashable so little PR tip for you guys following along Carissa Bell is a writer on Mashable and she writes a round up every weekend of 5 I think it's now recently 7 apps you have you have to definitely check out this weekend and I generally use that to pitcher and I say hey Krista here's a great app for your round up and you can do the same thing and we got mad hat on there and she really likes a lot of the creative type of apps so photo video type of things generally make it on a few games we've gotten onto Mashable but anything sort of creative and that fits the Mashable sort of brand you can likely get it on to her round up and we've seen some really good results by being featured on Mashable we've seen anywhere from I think it's forty to fifty percent increases in

4:52

downloads just by being on Mashable even though you're one of five so really really helps to be on Mashable but like i said i think we had officially 3 or 4 launches right if you include our app and almost so you see two of our apps got featured on some really prominent sights so from an agency standpoint I feel like we're good we're doing really well from just a PR and promotion standpoint all right last thing is a personal thing so in May I actually said yes to everything everything you're going to ask me anything in May if I wanted to do this or that this I just said yes so one of the things I was asked to do was to actually be part of a webinar five reasons why apps fail and it was a roundup it was me and a few other people around the app industry and it was brought it was put on by konima so call me ba-- is a what app development shop I think and they asked me to come on I said sure you know I'd

5:51

even ask any questions like I said I may I said yes to everything does it yes let's do it so I did do it and the other thing I want to tell you about before I go sort sort of into the lessons part of this is I had a one day Matt mastermind retreat and it was stinking awesome i'm gonna share that a little bit sort of the format later bit a little bit in the video but it was so awesome it was in person and it was just it was something I wanted to do so I just asked a few of my friends they were interested in doing it six it was all in total six of us who were involved and they said yes so we did it at intended in San Jose my friend Gonzales house but it was awesome alright so some things that did not work okay hat I had to actually let go of a contractor that I was using I brought her on because I needed somebody to fill this role and unfortunately it just didn't work out and some of the pains

6:43

that the growing pains of running my own business that I'm starting to learn is how do you hire the right person so as you might be sort of listening as you listening to the podcast you might hear me ask a lot of my Pat interviewees how do you hire what is your process look like because that's something that I'm having to kulti doing so Ida let her go the other thing that I did nice sort of alluded to it earlier was I was testing a lot on google play and ASO so with the press release this is strategy I used on SEOs days where you sort of link the the keywords that you want to your website and you start increasing keyword rank right for on an SEO basis so I wanted to know if this would work on google play because i know on google i/o a few years ago google actually uses that to factor in your keyword rankings so if you're let's say hey let me rephrase if let's say you have a site or an app that is

7:47

photo filters for instance right and people websites are using photo filters that keyword to link to your Google Play listing then you will start increasing keyword ranks for photo filters so with the press release is that SEO hack with press releases you can get distribution on some really really high end sites like yahoo news and all these other things right and so I thought hey could I do the same thing write a press release link up special key words and then distribute that or link up special keywords to the ones that we're targeting to the Google Play listing and then distribute it that so that we get this press release on some really high ranking sites like yahoo news and so forth and because we're on there will we increase our rank for those particular keywords so what happened is I need to do more tests but one worked one worked we actually helped our client increase rank for some terms that he was using it

8:49

was a phrase right we had a couple of different phrases than press release linked to his google play app listing all right that one worked I can see it on the day that we distributed the press release you're starting to see an increase in keyword ranks and it wasn't high you know we didn't get into like the top ten because we started from a low barrier but this was again a test we got it we got it up there I think we jumped maybe 10 to 15 spots the other time we did it we did it for an apt name now this particular client wasn't ranking for let's say Instagram right he made up this name he wasn't ranking at all for this particular keyword and so I said okay let me try the same strategy I did a press release because we're launching his appt anyways i wrote a press release for him and i linked up his app name to the Google Play listing now this is more natural right from from that perspective it's

9:39

more natural to have your app name linked to your Google Play listing unlike the first one which isn't so natural we kind of you know forced it in but it worked this one actually didn't work we didn't see any increases we didn't get any indexed at all but i'll tell you what did work so i ran the plaque hat ASO strategy on that particular keyword and boom we're now in number one so I'm gonna do a future case study but it seems like the black hat ASO strategy where I use app store reviews to sort of play around with ASO that works a lot better than just this press release press release strategy okay and the other loss that I kind of looted to earlier too was paintball rush was not featured worldwide was featuring China which is a win I'm going to take it okay you got to celebrate the small wins but unfortunately I wanted the worldwide feature and we didn't plan that so didn't work that all right on in

10:35

with this some of the lessons that really really mattered now this was a video a couple of weeks ago relationships matter I mean gosh it matters steve-o here wrote about that because he did an interview I really started to nurture that relationship build that relationship and heck I really like the guy right and so it's all about relationships I know it all matters and it's so powerful right because of this podcast because I get to interview a lot of people on this podcast and really take a what's the right word I'm very curious about them right i want to make them the focal point of the interview it so matters now always trying to find one or two things that we can we have in common so that we can build upon that especially in the very start right it's so hard to figure out what you have in common those common things are what separates it and for Steve we had something in common where we were podcasters I knew he was a

11:34

fellow podcaster too and he had a mic and so we're kind of sharing after the interviewer sharing photos about what our setup look like and that's that's all it took right that's how you nurture a relationship find that a little one or two things that you have in common and just that's it we'll start there and will grow out right the other thing is something that I've talked about a lot but I want to remind you is to leverage product on for more press that's what we did with mad hat it was featured on product ton of submitted by a moderator or somebody with a pretty big following on product time we didn't even get damming up boats frankly on product time but the same time when in my pitch to carissa for Mashable I said hey carissa this is an app that's being featured by product hunt right now and I said would love for you to consider it for your round up post this weekend but out of that and i went to the pitch what the

12:23

app was about here's some links and so forth right you really have to leverage it if the app was doing really well on product ton i would include a screen shot if it's one or two i include a screen shot when i'm reaching out to the press to try to leverage product time because unlike other publications right if you went to Mashable said hey I was just featured on techcrunch masters bills is going to say why do we need to feature but unlike that product on is sort of community driven so they then they'll compete Mashable's not going to think oh well you're a bid on product on why do I have to actually look at you and a past client of mine who was featured on techcrunch actually got covered by TechCrunch and said hey how did you figure find us a find us find out about us he said look we saw it on product time we saw in different publications and then decide to feature it so you don't want to mention i think

13:16

what I've heard from reporters is that they usually don't like that you've been featured on other websites especially big websites that they might compete with because then what's the point of covering you but if for product on it is okay all right the other thing is higher slow fire fast it's I'm sure you've heard a thousand times and I almost needed to go through it myself to do that but I hired this person that I let go of last month pretty quickly based on I thought her organization skills were good but I said forget it I lesson learned fire fast so I did let her go really fast so it's not working out you made two critical mistakes I did not appreciate I just let it go really quick and the other thing i'm reading the virtual freedom by chris ducker because i'm a big fan of just-in-time learning right I'm trying to go out this this team and so this is a really critical book for me but he

14:11

says higher for the task not the role I think that's how he puts it I'm paraphrasing here but higher for the person that is for the special task I should have hired somebody who is a product manager or a project manager and a PR person that those are two separate people I should hire instead of trying to find somebody just like me who can pretty much I'm trying to clone myself I can't do it and you can't do it so really hire for the task rather than the role and that's what I've learned do this so now I'm just hiring somebody just who's really creative and PR / growth hacker right and we may not be a good the good opposite meaning like we as growth hackers are not good with organization which is fine but I could find somebody for that but the other at the same time I need is higher for the actually the task at hand and lastly in person mastermind holy cow so phenomenal my mind was blown it was six people most

15:12

people had met half the group had met each other already the other half hadn't obviously I was the glue the connector that I knew everybody there but we got very intimate we shared all our numbers how much we're making here's where we want to be and we had a sheet where we had to fill it out as each person got into the hot seat and it was phenomenal so it is something that I definitely want to do more of if you're interested just email me because I don't know what I'm going to do it but I think I'm gonna do it with just the people in my mastermind now and say hey you guys interested do this let's have this other retreat and let's do another one in person but the same people the same six of us we want to do it again in probably three or four months just to get caught up with what our goals were for from leading from this particular mastermind but it was very very cool stay in tune for the blog

16:06

post and I'll share the the script and the way we structured it in the format because that's something i really really love i'm going to share that in the future blog post but really really cool i'm a big proponent of masterminds and doing it in person for the very first time wow I was blown away and the fact that we got so personal and we opened up really really took it to another level and I think it helped a lot of people everybody said they loved it they really had a good time and the fact that I know that they had a good time is everybody started planning the next one right that's when you know people loved really loved that particular masterminding the idea alright guys that's it for now like I said if you're not already a part of the app masters email subscriber list go sign up because you're going to be the first one to know all about these blog posts i've been writing some phenomenal

16:57

blog posts that get if you like the broadcast you know i get into the weeds very detail-oriented blog posts that you can use step-by-step to grow your app business and if you are struggling with anything feel free to please reach out to me i do calls every single day depends on the day but usually wednesdays every single week to get on calls to help people with whatever they may be struggling with so if you got something you struggling with or just want to talk to me feel free to reach out to me my email is easy to find go find it because i want hustlers I'm not just going to tell you but go find it really really easy and that's it tune in oh if you've joined this podcast do me a favor if you haven't already go into itunes it's at masters co / itunes leave a review be honest if you don't like it great if you want to give me some feedback in there great but leave me a real review about what you think of the

17:51

podcast so other people can find this particular podcast a lot of people have come to me and said Steve I can't find your podcast I need to do a better job of making sure discoverability is fit for this particular podcast because I know I know this is one of the very best podcast in the app space because nobody does it like me nobody gets as in-depth as I do nobody cares as much about the interview process as I do alright guys that's it for now thank you so much for tuning in your attention means the world to me really really appreciate really really appreciate it and I'll see you on the next video bye