For some organizations, mobile apps can be an important means to capturing new leads and customers, so it can be alarming when you notice your app visits are declining.
However, while there is content on how to optimize your app, otherwise known as ASO (App Store Optimization), there is little information out there on the steps required to diagnose a drop in app visits.
Although there are overlaps with traditional search, there are unique factors that play a role in app store visibility.
The aim of this blog is to give you a solid foundation when trying to investigate a drop in app store visits and then we’ll go through some quick fire opportunities to win that traffic back.
We’ll go through the process of investigating why your app traffic declined, including:
- Identifying potential external factors
- Identifying the type of keywords that dropped in visits
- Analyzing app user engagement metrics
And we’ll go through some ways to help you win traffic back including:
- Spying on your competitors
- Optimizing your store listing
- Investing in localisation
Investigating why your app traffic declined
Step 1. Identify potential external factors
Some industries/businesses will have certain periods of the year where traffic may drop due to external factors, such as seasonality.
Before you begin investigating a traffic drop further:
- Talk to your point of contact and ask whether seasonality impacts their business, or whether there are general industry trends at play. For example, aggregator sites like SkyScanner may see a drop in app visits after the busy period at the start of the year.
- Identify whether app installs actually dropped. If they didn’t, then you probably don’t need to worry about a drop in traffic too much and it could be Google’s and Apple’s algorithms better aligning the intent of search terms.