8 Ways to Increase Your Mobile Application Downloads

Over the past couple of years, billions of mobile applications have been downloaded to numerous mobile devices worldwide. As time goes by, the figure continues to increase as more and more people are buying and using smartphones, tablets, iPads, and other mobile devices. There are many different kinds of apps that you can choose from, depending on what it is you are looking for. There are remote control apps that can control your television and cable box, apps that allow you to control your baby’s rocking bed from a safe distance, apps that allow you to connect seamlessly to social networks, and apps that you can use to monitor your home security system from anywhere in the world. Of course, that is only a handful of all the apps that are there to be had.

If you have an app that you created, no doubt you have been marketing it so as to get people to download it to their mobile devices. You may have seen a few downloads taking place here and there, but you really wish that more people would download and use your app. Successfully marketing your app can be done quite easily, and it does not have to cost you any money to do it. Take a look at the following 8 things that you can do to increase the number of times your app gets downloaded.

 Recommendations from App Users

When people use your app and are pleased with its performance, they go around telling others about it, who in turn download it and tell their friends, and so on and so forth. This is one of the best ways of getting more downloads because friends usually trust what their friends tell them, so they are motivated to check out whatever it is they are told about. You could almost refer to such people as unofficial brand ambassadors seeing that they are rooting for your app. The more people know about your app is the more downloads I t will receive. What you need to do is make sure that your app is worth talking about so that people will tell others about it.

 Run Promotional Campaigns

People love it when they can save money on their purchases. I am sure you do too. So, if you have an app that people have to pay for, you can reduce the price for a period of time to encourage more sales and downloads. Distribute coupon codes that buyers can redeem at checkout to avail themselves of the discount, or simply slash the price from the minute they visit your app download page. If you are promoting a free app, then you could offer something else of value to your potential clients. One positive thing that comes out of running promotions is that the ranking of your app store will increase, thus making it more tempting for buyers who want to know what all the fuss is about your app. That again will lead to increased downloads.

Advertise Your App Online

Online advertising is by far one of the best ways to get the word out about your app and thereby increase the number of downloads that it receives. You can do so using “App Install Ads” that are displayed within social apps and give users the option to install the app now. Once they click the “install now” link, they are taken to your app store to download the app and get it installed on their device. It is best to target people who are really interested in your product or service. For example, you can create “App Install Ads” that appear on Google’s mobile search results when people search for your brand or business. Or, you could place “App Install Ads” on Facebook and only allow people who Like or Share your page to download it. The Shares and Likes that your page gets mean more downloads of your app.

 Create a Blog for Your App

Another simple, yet effective, way in which you can increase the amount of downloads of your app is by blogging about it. You could use the blog to keep users and readers abreast with up-to-date information about your app, like its latest features and any updates that may soon be released. You can also talk about your company in the blog so that people can get to know your business better and become advocates of it. Aside from starting your own blog, you could reach out to other bloggers, asking them to assist you in promoting your app. If it is a paid app, you could offer them a free download to try it out before they begin promoting your app. You could even get your app featured on “App of the day” websites that are in the same niche as yours, extending the download reach of your app even further. Guest blogging on other blogs about your app will also help to increase the number of downloads that your app receives.

 Maximize Mobile Traffic

Mobile traffic accounts for roughly 90% of the total organic search traffic on Google alone. This shows how important it is to get mobile users onto your app store so that they can download your app. If your app store is linked to from your website, make sure that the website is mobile-friendly so that when mobile device users visit it, they will have a good user experience and be able to see your site and links properly. You could create a splash page that advertises your app that appears only to mobile users. When they click on the download link on the splash page, they will be taken to your app store where they can download it.

Target People on Your Email List

Persons on your email list who are users of mobile devices are also a good source of potential downloaders. Send out a newsletter to them introducing your app, emphasizing the benefits of using it, and include a download link at the end of the newsletter. This will add to the number of downloads your app receives in a short space of time.

 Optimize Your App Store

App Store Optimization ensures that your app ranks well inside the Apple and Google Play Stores. This makes your app easier to find by people who visit those stores and are searching for apps that are similar to your own. Make sure that you place your app in the correct niche or else it may never be found by people who would definitely download it. Just as with SEO for websites, you need to optimize the headline, description, and pictures of your app. This will allow your app to be found and downloaded more often.

 Aim for Many Positive Reviews

The more positive reviews that your app gets = more downloads. That equation has been tried and tested many times over. The apps in the different app stores have rating stars that users of the apps click on, depending on their level of satisfaction with the app. More stars mean a higher rating, with 5 stars being the highest rating. You could ask people who download your app for feedback on why they like your app or don’t like your app, along with what they think you could have done differently. After acting on those responses and making improvements to your app, add the updated version to the app stores and you will certainly see an increase in the number of downloads it gets as a result of the increase in positive reviews that it receives.