Tips for getting your app noticed

Would anyone mind sharing their tips for getting their app noticed in the App Store?

Comments

  • SnapFireStudiosSnapFireStudios Member Posts: 1,603
    Toucharcade is a good one. Also check out the Useful Links post by SSS.
    - Thomas
  • wpatenwpaten Member, PRO Posts: 281
    1) Design a really good, really polished game.

    2) Spend a good amount of time on the icon. Look at other apps that have proven themselves to be successful and study what they did with their icon. Try to mimic the basic principles that they applied.

    3) Spend an EXORBITANT amount of time determining the VERY BEST KEYWORDS that you feel people will use to search for your kind of game/app. I cannot stress this highly enough, especially for the iOS market. One little trick I have recently discovered is to search the itunes market and only type in the first word or two of a search string you may be considering. Let itunes finish the search for you with what other people are searching for. So for me, I design children's games. My latest game called Tizzy Driving Adventure, I typed in Driving Games. And then itunes came up with Driving Games "for Kids". It never occurred to me that people might be doing a search with the words "for kids" in the search field. That little addition made a massive spike in sales for all my apps.

    4) Design Screenshots that really showcase what your game or app is about. Itunes, Google Play, and Amazon all let you add creative text descriptions to your screenshots. Use that to your advantage. No one else will brag about your game better than you will.

    5) Use the first 2 sentences of your description to really hook the audience. 85% of all buyers never hit the "More" tab that shows the rest of the description. That means the part that they do see has to be the most important. Make it count.

    6) Create a Video if you can for your game and submit it to Youtube.

    7) Submit your game/app to any and all review sites you can get your hands on. Most will need to see a video that you created of your game before they will download the game and try it, so make sure it looks good and really showcases what your game can do. Also look for reviewers in other countries. I have found that Russian and Sweden are fantastic with this kind of thing. The day a review comes out in Sweden, I notice a considerable spike in sales from that country.

    8) Spend the extra money and have your text description and keywords localized to the top 8 languages. If your keywords are in english but people in China are typing in Chinese, then they wont see your app except by accident. Make it easy to for them to find your game.

    9) Update your app often. If people see that you released your app a year and a half ago and it is still on version 1.0, they will assume the same thing I would. This is a dead project. When you do update it, don't just put "Code Tweaks" , write what you did in the space provided. Make it look like you really care about your app and want to make it better.

    10) Incorporate social media whenever you can.

    These are the big ones. I am sure there are more.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited March 2013
    1) Get arrested for a series of bizarre murders, first hiding out in the woods for 4-6 weeks as a massive manhunt across the country is broadcast 24/7 on rolling news.

    2) On your eventual capture a 6 hour shoot out is always good, as are hostages (someone famous is a nice touch, but failing that a local store owner should do the trick).

    3) Demand to speak to the press (have your promo codes ready).

    4) When it's all over and you are dragged off by the police keep shouting out the name of your app, it might even be a good idea to have the app's icon tattooed onto your forehead as an extra visual prompt.
  • SingleSparqSingleSparq Member Posts: 1,339
    edited March 2013
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    @Socks - great info!

    @wpaten your a very bad man :D
    Thanks.
  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    1) Get arrested for a series of bizarre murders, first hiding out in the wood for 4-6 weeks as a massive manhunt across the country is broadcast 24/7 on rolling news.

    2) On your eventual capture a 6 hour shoot out is always good, as are hostages (someone famous is always a nice touch too, but failing that a local store owner should do the trick).

    3) Demand to speak to the press (have your promo codes ready).

    4) When it's all over and you are dragged off by the police keep shouting out the name of your app, it might even be a good idea to have the app's icon tattooed onto your forehead as an extra visual prompt.
    @Socks
    =))
    Man your humor always cracks me up! :))

    @wpaten
    Nice info :)

    Chakku
  • ElfizmElfizm Member Posts: 489
    On a serious note, @wpaten knows what to do and not just taking a guess because thier apps are successful.

    Do what @socks mentioned you will get a lot of downloads but will prob be taken down from apple because they will not support that. But google play might ;) but it is indeed frowned apon.

    You just do what it takes to get noticed but it all sounds good in theory but you need a good game.
  • SolarPepperStudiosSolarPepperStudios Member Posts: 754
    @socks
    Hahaha good one! =)) I agree with @elfizm in the fact that before the user can download the app Apple would take it down. Any one here volunteer to take @socks plan into action? :P
  • wpatenwpaten Member, PRO Posts: 281
    edited March 2013
    @Socks - great info!

    @wpaten your a very bad man :D

    Very well Mr. "Socks", if that is indeed your real name...you have won this round. But I shall return!!!!

    Return I say!!!!!

    Return!!!!!
  • SolarPepperStudiosSolarPepperStudios Member Posts: 754
    In all seriousness thanks everyone for the great tips! This should help out not just me, but other newbs on the forums as well. Thanks for answering! (Including you @socks )
  • whompywhompy Member Posts: 27
    @wpaten- How did you go about getting keywords and such in the top 8 languages? Great tip, but how did you do it? You said that it cost money, so you must not have utilized free language websites to translate yourself. Did you contact local universities or something?
  • PBEmpirePBEmpire Member Posts: 676
    Toucharcade is your friend to get your game noticed!
    So is google play to implement @Socks idea and to contribute to the already very stinky ''fart app situation''
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