5 ways to increase app installs organically
I have been building apps for some time, and this story comes after lots of hits and misses and is a first-hand account of how we have been building apps that are easily discoverable apart from other features. Organic Traffic of the app is something we all strive for, and by using these few ways we can achieve our target. My main focus in this article will be on how to increase app installs organically.
A few years ago, we built our first app for one of our clients. It was a parenting app that we published on the Play Store. In the first few months, we hardly saw any app installs. When we tracked the source of initial downloads, we found that most of the downloads were due to the posts, and banners that we had published on the social page.
At that time, we realized that we were doing nothing to tap the large audience that would be searching on the web for the problem we were solving. To fix this, we identified features and processes to make our app discoverable. Here I have listed five such features to enhance organic traffic, which we now implement in all of our apps as standard practice. I would add that it has made our lives much easier, and we really don’t have to worry much about the discovery of the apps we build.
1. App indexing
App indexing is a process by which your app appears in Google search results alongside relevant web results. By adding the App Indexing SDK, you allow Google to crawl and index your app as it would a web page. This enables your users to install or launch your app from search results when they search for relevant keywords. Indexing exposes our app to the search audience and massively increases the reach of our app beyond Play Store, App Store, and App Store searches.
2. Give website users direct access to your app
Ask your website user to enter their mobile number to send them the download link to the app. Surprisingly, this small feature, according to a branch.io report has the highest conversion rate to sign up compared to other app referral hooks. If you think about it, it is actually logical. If a user has shared their personal contact number to send them a link to the app, then they must have decided to use this app. This is why we see an install rate of about 42% when it comes to text-me-the-app link clicks.
3. Smart banners
A smart banner is a standardized method of promoting apps on the App Store from a mobile website. It has consistent looks and feels across the web that users come to recognize and trust. This increases the chance for the user to click on the banner and download the app. It is unobtrusive and shows up at the top of the webpage, which can also be closed by clicking on the close button. This is available only for the mobile site being opened on an iOS device.
4. Refer a friend
Nothing works better than a recommendation from a friend or relative. Does your app have any feature that allows a user to invite their friends, family, and peers? Create a referral feature in your app and give rewards to the user for referring it. Uber did a great job when they offered a free ride to the user for referring the app to their friends. You can do the same for your app too; it is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to acquire users.
5. Content sharing
Give the user the ability to share the content of your app, on social media, messenger apps, etc. with deep links. While sharing content increases your audience, Deep links allow the user to open the inner page of the app. If the app is not installed on the receiver’s phone, then they get the option to install it or read it in the browser. It increases the visibility of your app, and it also gives an easy way for the receiver to install the app.
These are the five tips that can organically increase the visibility of your app, leading to more installs. If you have used any feature that helped you organically increase app installs, then do share it in the comment below.
