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The Biggest App Store Optimization Changes in iOS 11

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App Masters14:35Open on YouTube
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The bottom line

iOS 11 spreads App Store indexing across more fields, with a shorter 30-character name, a new indexed subtitle and indexed in-app purchase names. Optimizers must now place keywords in each of these fields instead of cramming them all into the app name.

Key takeaways

  • Apple is cutting the app name to 30 characters to stop keyword spam. 2:51
    • The limit was already cut to 50 characters last year, and 30 leaves room for the brand name and maybe one more word.
    • Google moved the other way and raised its app name limit from 30 to 50 characters.
  • A new 30-character subtitle is indexed, so it takes over part of the keyword work. 3:01
    • Name and subtitle together give 60 characters. The 200-character keyword field stays as it is.
    • The subtitle is already indexed on iOS 10, though users only see it after upgrading to iOS 11. Clients are getting good results with it.
  • In-app purchase names are indexed and shown in search results, so they should carry target phrases. 7:36
    • Up to 20 items can be displayed, and each name is limited to 30 characters.
    • A Baywatch stickers app could name a purchase Dwayne Johnson stickers to target a phrase with good traffic and low difficulty.
  • Reviews now accumulate across versions, so frequent updates no longer cost an app its ratings. 10:21
    • Search results show overall reviews instead of resetting with each version. Indie developers used to hold back updates to protect their ratings.
    • A new in-app review API replaces custom pop-ups, but it can only appear about three times in a given period.
  • The description may become indexed, though this is not yet confirmed. 7:10
    • Descriptions can no longer be edited without submitting a new build, which hints that Apple will index them. The speaker plans to test this.
    • The new 170-character promotional text can change without an update but is not indexed, so it suits offers and conversion rather than keywords.

Apple is really cracking down on the whole spamming app name thing, so really be careful with that.

Steve P. Young

Chapter summaries

0:00 Which fields iOS 11 indexes

iOS 11 arrives around September and changes which App Store fields count for search.

  • Apple now lists the fields it indexes 2:56
    • In-app purchases are now officially indexed.
    • Primary and secondary categories are indexed too.
    • The speaker believes in-app purchases were always indexed, and Apple has now confirmed it.
    • Promotional text is the one new field that is not indexed.

3:54 The subtitle and the new search result

The search result layout changes, and the subtitle gives keywords a new home.

  • The subtitle can be filled in today 4:04
    • It sits right below the app name in the new search result.
    • Put the target keywords that no longer fit in the name there.
    • The slide shows the name shrinking from 50 to 30 characters as the whole result changes.
    • Waiting for iOS 11 is unnecessary, since it is already available to use.

5:34 Promotional text and the description

Promotional text serves conversion, while description edits will now need a new build.

  • Promotional text suits offers, not keywords 5:37
    • It sits at the top of the description and changes without an update.
    • Use it for a pay-to-free campaign, such as remove ads is currently free.
    • It also fits a discount on a subscription.
    • Apple Search Ads let you control no text, only keywords. Promotional text can make the tap more likely to convert.
  • Description edits now require a new build 6:52
    • On iOS 10 you can edit the description at any time.
    • Apple now says a new build is needed.
    • The speaker is only hypothesizing about what this could mean.
    • Apple may be preparing to index the description.

7:18 In-app purchases and the new search results

Search results now show more of each app, so more of what an app contains gets indexed.

  • Search results now show overall reviews, the subtitle and in-app purchases. 8:11
    • A catchy subtitle matters because users see it in the results.
    • In-app purchases start appearing in the results themselves.
    • The layout has changed little. Results once showed about eight apps and now show about two.
    • That puts the weight on ranking in the top two or three.
  • The exact phrase in an in-app purchase name is indexed. 9:12
    • Existing purchases can be renamed to match the phrases being targeted.
    • Each purchase also has a description. Whether it is indexed is not known yet.
    • Only the name, as an exact-match phrase, is confirmed.

10:06 Reviews that carry over and an in-app prompt

Reviews no longer reset, and a new prompt makes collecting them easier.

  • Ratings no longer disappear with each new version. 10:06
    • Before, only the latest version's reviews showed, so a fresh version looked empty.
    • Small developers can now update more often.
    • Reviews also affect ASO rankings, so losing them cost visibility.
    • Indies relied on reviews most, so they delayed updates to let them build up.
  • The new review API lets users rate the app without leaving it. 11:09
    • It replaces custom pop-ups. Developers should be asked to add it.
    • Apple wants to stop constant nagging, so the prompt is capped.
    • The exact time frame (a year or six months) is unclear and should be checked in the docs.
    • Early results from the mastermind group are good.

In the growth library

Steve P. Young, Founder of App Masters, presenting an iOS 11 ASO breakdown built from a Phiture (ASO Stack) presentation. Covers the iOS 11 App Store changes that affect app store optimization: a 30 character app name, a new indexed subtitle, indexed in-app purchases, cumulative ratings and the in-app review API. Shows which of these can be used now, before iOS 11 ships, to gain keyword coverage and conversion.

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

Transcript370 lines
0:00

coming up you're going to discover the biggest most impactful changes coming up in the App Store for iOS 11 that will have a dramatic impact on ASO stay tuned

0:23

what is up app nation it is Steve P young founder of app masters Co you know the place you go when you want action-packed content related to the app marketing business space with things that are happening right now with strategies that are working today today I want to cover the things that are happening from an ASL perspective and that are changing especially with Apple's recent announcement of iOS 11 and how that impacts apps are optimization there's some tremendous huge changes that are coming up and I'm going to highlight just a few important ones that we've seen from our clients that I think will be the most impactful to you and helping you increase your downloads so without further ado let's go into the slideshow full disclosure guys this is a presentation that the guys from ASO stack in Essos techcom put together it is a full-blown presentation on all the different changes from an ASO

1:29

perspective so they've done a really tremendous job and if you want to check out the full presentation I'm going to link it up go to app masters Co ASO 11 that is f masters Co ASO 11 okay that's a so one one you'll get to the full presentation that these guys really put together tremendous tremendous stuff I've actually distilled and take taken out some of the other parts that I didn't think were impactful for ASO and just sort of highlighted now I was going to create my own but they've done such a beautiful job that I just was like hey why don't I use their stuff so make sure you check it out ASO STATCOM this is their presentation I've just distilled some of the most important parts all right let's get to it so these are the guys I think this is an ASO agency as well so they do a lot of cool stuff it's fit sure I think I'm saying that right calm fetcher calm is I think the website without they'll be went up in the show

2:27

notes to so you guys can check it out these are the guys behind this presentation so I wanted to make sure you knew that wasn't me that put this presentation out I'm just taking bits and pieces of it that I think are the most valuable all right here we go so from an ASL perspective a lot of huge changes I think you know as you saw last year Apple have really caught on to the fact that we were spamming the app name and they shortened the they shortened the app name to 50 characters now with iowa's at 11 coming out probably in September it's going to go down to 30 characters 30 characters is the app name they added a brand new subtitle with 30 characters as well and that's being indexed and it's actually available right now if you guys want to start using it but that's going to be index as well so 30 characters 30 characters you sort of have now 60 characters to play with but the app name obviously Apple

3:20

wants it to be really short so with only 30 characters available for the app name the keywords are still the same 200 characters still being indexed now the in-app purchases are being indexed I believe they were already always index but officially now being according to Apple they're they're being indexed the description for the longest time it has it been indexed but we believe that now they're going to start indexing and I'll get to that a little bit later and then primary secondary category index promotional text new field not index okay so that's just a brief summary of that the key important things is the title is now going down to 30 characters and now there's a subtitle that you can start using today today subtitle field that's available that's also being indexed okay so right now as you can see this is the app name it's going down from 50 to 30 and as you can see though the whole search result is changing so

4:17

this is the app right now that you're seeing and you're starting to see where the subtitle is here on my brilla my my my mouse right here this is where the subtitle is going to be so you can then put in some of your key words that you want to target into your subtitle funny enough Google actually went from 30 characters to 50 characters for their app name one Apple linked up down to 30 it's pretty funny but anyways just just so you know that it's now down to 30 so you really with 30 characters you only really have enough for your app name and possibly one more word so Apple is really cracking down on the whole spamming app name thing so really be careful with that but you still have subtitle that you can play around with and we're playing around with that a lot for our clients it seemed pretty good results with the subtitle okay so here's a new app subtitle as you can see index 30 characters you can start using it today

5:14

it appears right below the app store name and it's a great way now you can't see it with iOS 10 that you currently have unless you've up get upgrade to iOS 11 but it is indexed right now for iOS 10 so it's being indexed if you're using it but you still get off the wait but your users will never see the subtitle I hope that makes sense okay there's this new promotional text field that's up to this promotional text field is a new field that can be changed without an update so that's sort of like a description right now and it's limited as you can tell you can read through this as well so I won't read it to you but it's at the top of the descriptions limited to 170 characters so if you run my favorite campaign to pay to free campaign then you can then say like hey you know remove ads is currently free check us out check us out right now so you can add those little things in there or if you're giving a discount on your

6:06

description or subscription you can add those promotional text fields right now it's not indexed so it doesn't matter if you put keywords in there or not but it's just for things that are changing within your app that you want to highlight to potential customers and this might be valuable if you're running Apple's search ads right so because Apple search ads you don't you can't have text right you don't control much you just say here the keywords I want to bid on an Apple just shows your your stuff your screenshots your app icon and so forth so having this promotional text when people click through make it more engaging to get people to actually convert when they click when they tap on your app to actually convert and download your particular app right so that's how I would use it promotional text the description I won't go through it so much I think the few things that you have to realize

6:57

here the most important part is you can only now because before right now as of this recording iOS 10 you can update your description anytime you want you don't need to submit a new build but Apple is now saying you need to submit a new build to update your description now we're only sort of hypothesizing here but that could possibly mean that the app description is going to be indexed by Apple we don't know yet for sure we'll probably run a bunch of tests on rn2 but likely since they're making this change that it's going to be indexed to the App Store description okay the other thing they got to know is in app purchases one you can actually see in-app purchases in search results and then two you can have a maximum twenty items displayed and they will actually be indexed by the App Store so you know come up with clever in-app purchase names moving forward so that you can actually be indexed so if you have

7:57

certain phrases that you're targeting I probably renamed my in-app purchases targeting those particular phrases from an ASO perspective okay so here's search results it's moving away as you can see you know it's a lot cooler I think the things that I want to highlight is now you're going to see overall reviews you're going to see the the subtitle as well so have a catchy subtitle and then the the in-app purchases are now going to be in the are going to start appearing in the search results so as you can see this this is right here the in-app purchase they're going to start appearing for it as well so those are the most the biggest highlights from the search perspectives they haven't changed much remember the I think it was iOS 8 or something like feels like years ago but you saw a ton of different apps and now they've shrunk in that which really sucks for us because it went from really like eight

8:52

search results to now really to search results but so it's putting emphasis on being in the top two or three but right now that hasn't changed it's just more things within your app are now being indexed by Appl they're highly a few different things like the subtitle and app purchases alright this is a cool part about in-app purchases now so the name is actually indexed you're limited 30 characters and you have a description for your in-app purchase and we're not sure if it's going to be indexed but definitely the name the phrase the exact match is going to be indexed so let's say from an ASO perspective if I'm targeting that certain keyword phrase let's oh here here's a good example just because the movie came out I'm a big fan of the rock but let's say I have a Baywatch stickers app for example and then one of the in-app purchases in there is Dwayne Johnson the rock so rather than saying you know the

9:49

character or whatever it is I might put Dwayne Johnson stickers because I'm targeting Dwayne Johnson phrase because I know that it has good traffic scores and low difficulty so that's how I would play around with the in-app purchase name and try to optimize for that okay this is the other cool part the ratings currently they showed only the latest version right as you can see with what they've as you can see on the screen eight fit they only they don't show any reviews because the current version has none but now Apple is going to show all the reviews overall all the time they won't reset it every single version which is phenomenal Thank You Apple thank you for doing this because people you know it hurts it hurts as a Hindi because you're reliant on reviews and it impacts actual ASO rankings too so most of the Indies right now they wait because they want their reviews to accumulate but now we don't have to wait

10:50

so much we know that our reviews are not going to reset now it just mean more Indies can update more often than they are right now so the next thing this is the cool another cool thing and we've seen some really good results from what I hear with the mastermind that we run is definitely do this so implement this this is way easier to now review apps now this is Apple showing you how to review the app right within the app store search but there's also a sorry release there's an reviews API that makes it easier and Knobble wants you to start using that rather than pop-ups so that is really helping apps get more reviews just a little quick little pop-up says hey you want to review this app and you can actually review the app within the app this screenshot is showing you within the app store but there's a new API that you can put into your app that allows users to review your app while they're still in the app they don't have

11:51

to go to the App Store anymore alright so that is key I would definitely ask your developer to put it in the only things that you have to know from about that is it can only pop up three times I think I don't know what the parameters are but it could only pop up three times within a given time frame so you can't just like constantly nag users like you used to do Apple doesn't want you to do that anymore you could just pop this up and then you have three times I think within a year or six months forget the time frame so you'll have to look it up but within that time you can't do it any more than that all right but is showing really good results so far and that's it guys hope you enjoy like I said this presentation beautiful presentation has been put together by the guys from fetcher so check it them out as well and I'm going to link up the full iOS 11 participation that they put together I deleted most of the plot

12:45

things and I just wanted to highlight the very key important things so help you distill what's really important iOS 11 so thank you to the feature guys for putting this together and for letting me use it as well and if you guys are interested I am the last thing I'll plug is there's an event that I'm doing on September 13th and 14th it is a phenomenal event really meant for you to build meaningful connections make those connections that are going to help your business grow it's helping my business grow it's a format that I've been doing a lot with my close friends and close app friends and I wanted to see if I can bring it up into a bigger scale because I love connecting everything I have is because of the connection because if you listening watching and because of my guess and just all the different networks that all the people in my network have helped me really have a great business and I

13:40

learn from so many different people as well so be there if you want to connect if you want to take your business to the next level and you want to connect with really successful other successful app entrepreneurs it is the event for you it's happening September 13th and 14th at masters connect com literally I'm going to be honest with you guys the price for the ticket is the price I would have to pay for you for the event space the food everything else is literally our breakeven price you know I lost money in our Vegas event I'm hoping to break even here but I'm not doing this for the money I'm really doing it because one legacy and two because I believe in connections so wholeheartedly wholeheartedly that I'm going to work so hard to put this event together for you alright hope to see you there it is at masters connect dot-com I'll catch you guys later bye