What is search engine optimization (SEO)?
Introduction
Search engine optimization (SEO) for apps refers to the practice of optimizing various digital assets to improve visibility and discoverability on search engines. SEO covers a range of content marketing assets including an app’s website, campaign landing pages, blogs, and organic social media.
The goal is to enhance your app's online presence and attract potential users who are searching for solutions or information related to your app's niche.
Example
ASO vs. SEO
App store optimization (ASO) and SEO are closely related but serve distinct purposes. ASO is specific to optimizing your app's presence within app stores (like the Apple App Store or Google Play Store), while SEO encompasses a broader range of digital assets. However, the two complement each other in the following ways:
Keyword research: Both ASO and SEO require keyword research to identify the terms and phrases potential users are searching for. Integrating these keywords into your app store listing and content assets enhances your overall visibility. However, the keywords you should use to optimize your content will vary between each app store for ASO and each device type for SEO.
Consistent messaging: Maintaining consistency in messaging between your app store listing, website, landing pages, and blog posts reinforces your app's value proposition and brand identity, which can positively impact user trust and engagement.
User journey: SEO helps you create content assets that can guide users through the awareness, consideration, and decision stages of the user journey, complementing your ASO efforts to convert interested consumers into app installs.
Example 2
How does search engine optimization work?
Search engine optimization aligns with the criteria and ranking factors used by search engine algorithms. These algorithms are complex sets of rules and calculations that determine the order in which search results are displayed when a user enters a query.
Marketers analyze this criteria using SEO tools like SEMrush, Google Analytics, Moz, and Screaming Frog to make strategic adjustments to improve a web page's chances of ranking higher in search results. This optimization involves several key SEO strategies, including:
- Keyword research and integration.
- Quality content creation.
- On-page optimization.
- Backlink building.
The ultimate goal is to make a web page mobile responsive, relevant, authoritative, and user-friendly so that search engines recognize its value and prioritize it in response to relevant user queries. SEO is an ongoing process, as search algorithms continually evolve, requiring continuous adjustments to maintain or improve rankings.
Why is search engine optimization important for apps?
Implementing SEO for your app offers several significant advantages:
Enhanced visibility: SEO techniques help your app and associated content assets rank higher in search engine results. This increased visibility can lead to more organic traffic, boosting your app's discoverability.
Improved credibility: A well-optimized online presence, including a dedicated website and informative blog posts, establishes your app as a trustworthy and credible solution in the eyes of potential users.
Tailored campaigns: Campaign landing pages optimized for SEO enable you to create tailored experiences for targeted audiences, increasing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Users who have opted in to share cookies can be retargeted with a conversion-optimized landing page, leading them further down the funnel.
Long-term value: Quality content generated through SEO efforts continues to attract users over time. This sustainable approach ensures that your app remains relevant and competitive.
SEO and Adjust
At Adjust, we’re all about measurement. It’s our job to help you understand where your users are coming from so that you can give credit to channels and campaigns where credit’s due, and allocate budgets accordingly. And this doesn't stop with SEO–it’s about measuring your full, multi-channel marketing strategy.
After all, when you’ve put in a lot of good, strategic work on your SEO, you don’t want to cannibalize it with your paid campaigns. Incrementality measurement plays a pivotal role in ensuring the harmonious coexistence of organic and paid marketing efforts. It provides a clear understanding of the value added by paid campaigns without cannibalizing the organic installs that strategic SEO efforts have painstakingly generated.
By accurately measuring the incremental impact of your advertising on user acquisition, app marketers can allocate resources more efficiently, optimize their campaigns, and ensure that paid initiatives are not only cost-effective but also complement their organic strategies. This approach not only helps preserve the hard-earned organic traffic but also fosters synergy between organic and paid efforts, maximizing the overall success of a mobile app's marketing strategy.
To learn about Adjust’s upcoming Incrementality solution, reach out to your Adjust rep today. Or, learn more about Adjust’s full suite of measurement tools.
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