The Google Play store hosts more than 2.8 million Android apps. In the last couple of years, there has been an incredible growth in the number of Android apps on Play store. And also, the more a mobile OS-ecosystem has apps, the more it will have users. On the other hand, the ever increasing number of Android apps on the Play Store makes it harder for app-owners / developers to get their apps noticed among users.
No doubt that the Google Play store has become a large ocean of apps. And it’s easy to get lost here, but experts can still make strategies to dive into it successfully.
Build an app as Google says.
In March 2012, Google renamed Android Market as Google Play. Many experts suggested that the renaming was just a Google’s gimmick of marketing and promotion. But the search engine company had broader plans behind doing that. Apart from apps, the new store was now also providing other content like books, movies, and music in online form. Google turned its store as its own version of iTunes as claimed by many experts that time. But the ultimate objective of Google was to have more potential Android users who would be using the content available on Google play store via their Android mobile devices.
But as there are so many apps, what developers want is that they can get their apps listed in the top listings on Google Play store. Unfortunately, Google has never hinted how the app owners and the developers can get the place in the top lists.
So how apps get to the tops lists on Google Play store? Well, if your apps have got some special traits, there may be chances that Googlers can choose it to show up on the top list segments. The lesson is – try too hard to add as many traits you can add to your app. Make your app fast and make sure it does not go loose with Google’s rules. Do not add pointless permissions that the app will never use. Make a UI that looks great on any device. Don’t apply the thumb rule ‘one size fits most’ which is actually a wrong approach. Yes, this makes resource management quite simpler, but it also damages app’s visual appeal. The best approach is you include graphics that are tailored to the screens of targeted devices. The app must also scale nicely between phones and tablets which mean it should be fully responsive, with cross-device compatibility.
For publishing an app on Google Play Store, your app must abide by certain rules which are as follows:
An Android app –
– should not cross the line in terms of restricted content;
– should not interfere the intellectual property right of others, be not engaged in; deception or spamming;
– needs adhering to the best privacy and security terms to ensure app safety;
– needs following standard monetization practices to encourages a healthy ecosystem;
– should not use unfair tactics to get to top listing and promotion or attract users;
– should be suitable for kids and families;
– needs managing policy violation and;
– needs to be updated with latest development.
There are other places than Google Play
Why don’t you plan an app for Amazon’s Kindle Fire, and other third-party Android app stores? Launched in March 2011, the Amazon’s Appstore had more than 600,000 apps as of April 2016. Opera browser also has its own Android app store and in early 2014, it had 200,000 apps for Android devices. There are other popular third-party Android app stores like SlideME, Mobile Market, Samsung Galaxy App, Mobile9, etc.
There isn’t tough competition on these third-party app stores and, an app has excellent opportunities to get to top lists. Some developers say that the third-party stores are good place to make a sale, not for getting customers in bulk. But it is not true. Many developers have a fair amount of sales from third party stores too. If your app has good features, it has chances to easily get noticed in third-party stores and generate revenue too.
Run campaigns for promotion and marketing
You can begin promoting and marketing your app with building a one or two-pager micro-site like created for Snapchat and Path. Also, creating a teaser website will help you collect email addresses of people who like to know about your app. But make sure you launch such website at least a month or two before the launch.
You can also start a blog attached to the website and there, you can share content on regular basis. Then share these blogs on social media sites Twitter, Facbook, Google, and LinkedIn.
Create an interactive and thought-provoking product video that tells the story behind your app in a way that people like to watch to.
Connect with those who will acknowledges your app
Another way to get an app noticed is to identify online places, such as blogs, websites, and magazines with a devoted user-following. There are many tech-blogs and, you can write for them to tell everything about your app. You can contact these bloggers and request them to write about your app or to publish a story.
You can also reach out to journalists and detail them about your app who will then publish stories in news papers and magazines. You can also pitch your app to app review websites like 148apps, AppStoreApps and AppAdvice and may certainly contribute to a lot buzz for your app.
You can apply for awards such as Kiip Build Fund or The Mobileys. If your app manages to win even a single award, you will also get to a ton of press without any efforts.
You can follow the above given tips to circulate your Android apps in a better way. This information is brought to you by expert Android mobile application developers.
Author Bio :- Sofia is a digital marketing expert in Rapidsoft technologies, a prominent mobile app development company which provides iOS and android app development services across the global. She loves to write on latest mobile trends, mobile technologies, startups and enterprises
HEY ! I’m Nil (Founder of OnlineDrifts.com), Digital Marketer, Affiliate Marketer and a blogger writing about blogging tips, SEO, Tech Tips etc.