Mobile apps seem to have become the new synonym for Internet usage. From sending a text message to ordering your favorite pizza, they have become extensions of our everyday life. From a developer’s perspective, developing a mobile app that stays put in an user’s device without getting uninstalled is not an easy bullet to dodge.

A study by Appsflyer (appsflyer[dot]com/blog/trends-insights/app-uninstall-trends) found that worldwide uninstall rate for apps after 30 days is 28%.  Entertainment, travel and productivity are the top app categories that experience high uninstall rates.

So all the months of toiling to design and launch a mobile app goes down the drain in less than a month. How can this menace be fixed?

There are ways to ensure that the users who download your mobile app do not uninstall it for a long time to come. Incidentally, these ways will also pave way to new app downloads. Because, Google Play store as well as iTunes have a way of ranking apps that get maximum downloads as well as usage.

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1. App Store Optimization

App store optimization (ASO) is a bunch of tricks that helps your app get visibility in app stores. Why is app visibility important? If users do not see your apps, how will they download it? The first step towards increasing your app downloads is to ensure that users get to see them. Which is where ASO comes into play.

Some ASO techniques to get your app noticed in app stores include:

• • Use relevant keywords within 100 characters of the app description. This is just like SEO optimization for search engines. The only difference being the use of short-tail keywords. Users tend to search for apps in play stores using short keywords instead of long-tail keywords.
  • Stand out from the crowd. Use a unique name and create a catchy design for the app. First impressions lead to downloads.
  • Choose the right category. Categorize your app in the right category while submitting the app to app stores. Wrong choice of categories can seriously undermine your app’s download rate.

This is one of the 7 Ethical Ways To Increase Mobile App Download Rate.

2. Minimize App Size

There are 101 reasons why users may not download an app. One of the top-ranking reasons is the app size. Bigger the app size, lesser the downloads. The plain reason why it happens so is because, there is only so much space that a user might want to spare for an additional app. Their devices are already crowded with essential apps for instant messaging, social networking, image editing, video/music streaming, taxi-hailing, food-ordering, shopping and so on. So, another app which is big in size is the last thing they want to download. In other words, to grow your app downloads, reduce your app size. This way people could be interested to download the app and idea comes under 7 Ethical Ways To Increase Mobile App Download Rate.

3. Write an Elaborate App Description

What’s your app’s story? What does it do? Why did you create it? Who can use it? How can they use it?

These are basic info that any user would want to know before downloading an app. The app’s description can help deliver that story to users. It can help convince them why the app is the right thing that they are looking for.

So, writing an elaborate app description that addresses all the pain areas of the user can give a boost to your app download rate.

4. Set Up Security

Following up on the above point, security is another strong feature that every user looks into before downloading an app. For instance, before downloading an app that claims itself to be from a specific publisher, the user looks for proof to validate the claim. If the app does not prove the claim the download may not happen.

It is here that code signing certificates can help app publishers. A code signing certificate can help app publishers protect the integrity of the app or software thereby improving download rate. It is more or less similar to the SSL feature in websites that label the website as secure or insecure.

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5. App Screenshots and Videos

Downloading an app does not take much time. Depending on the size, it might take a max of one minute or less to install the app. However, for impatient users even this act can be quite a chore to do. They prefer having a sneak-peek into the app’s insides before downloading it.

They want to know how the interface looks like from the inside. They want quick information about each feature and how it is baked into the app for quick usage. App screenshots and demo videos can help supply that information easily. Fortunately, app stores provide an option to insert app screenshots, imagery as well as demo to persuade users to download the app.

6. Gather User Reviews

Nothing beats the strength of social proof in convincing an user to take an action. User reviews in the form of star rating and text-reviews are testimonials from app users. They give an inside view about what real users feel about the app and how it works. It also gives the app developer(s) an opportunity to learn more about the app’s shortcomings and how to fix them.

7. Ask For Minimal Permissions

By nature, apps need a lot of permissions like camera, storage, controls, etc. to work their best. Asking users to grant all permissions that may not serve the app is a ref flag. The users of today are aware of the risks in granting permissions to their devices and data. They want to ensure that the app collects only that much information that is necessary for its functioning. Anything more can make them shun the app.

In a Nutshell

There are close to 2 million mobile apps out there right now. How can you ensure that your app gets the maximum download that it deserves? You must ensure that it ticks the right boxes that make it convincing for users to download it. From keeping the app size to a bare minimum to ensuring security, you have to get so many things right. There is no other shortcut to increasing your mobile app downloads.

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