Hi, guys I have an iOS application - an alarm clock. I released it a little over a month ago. Initially it was paid, but when I saw there were virtually no purchases (from 0 to 4 a day), I changed it to be free for a period of time. When it become free, in less than 10 days it has been downloaded more than 30,000 times, and more importantly (I think) it moved much higher in the search results when the user searches "alarm" - it reached 20th place in the results. During that time I also received very good reviews in the AppStore. But today I changed it back to paid, and now when I search "alarm" my app is shown at the bottom of the 4TH PAGE. Given that one page contains 120 apps, this is very bad for me and I don't understand why this happened. Can anyone tell me how does AppStore ranks search results and is there a way to move my app higher in the rankings, please? Huge thanks!
Hi, guys I have an iOS application - an alarm clock. I released it a little over a month ago. Initially it was paid, but when I saw there were virtually no purchases (from 0 to 4 a day), I changed it to be free for a period of time. When it become free, in less than 10 days it has been downloaded more than 30,000 times, and more importantly (I think) it moved much higher in the search results when the user searches "alarm" - it reached 20th place in the results. During that time I also received very good reviews in the AppStore. But today I changed it back to paid, and now when I search "alarm" my app is shown at the bottom of the 4TH PAGE. Given that one page contains 120 apps, this is very bad for me and I don't understand why this happened. Can anyone tell me how does AppStore ranks search results and is there a way to move my app higher in the rankings, please? Huge thanks!
The results are based off downloads. The higher the downloads the higher your results.
__________________
Haters gonna Hate
Likers gonna Like
The results are based off downloads. The higher the downloads the higher your results.
I think search results are a bit more nuanced. Here is what I've found:
1) Paid apps rank higher than free apps of similar rank
2) Keywords in the title weigh heavily (vs hidden keywords)
3) Total lifetime downloads seem to factor into it (older apps have an advantage)
4) Sometimes search placement is completely inexplicable.
I think the app store search engine is designed to be less susceptible to huge gains and losses like rankings are. I think this gives a chance for successful apps to get a steady stream of nice downloads even after they've dropped off the charts.
As for alarm clock apps, I don't think there is any way you are going to rank very highly no matter what you do. There are a ton of alarm clocks out there. Generally, it's a bad idea to go into a market with a ton of entrants simply because you'll be invisible to the search engine, which is a huge driver of downloads.
I think search results are a bit more nuanced. Here is what I've found:
1) Paid apps rank higher than free apps of similar rank
2) Keywords in the title weigh heavily (vs hidden keywords)
3) Total lifetime downloads seem to factor into it (older apps have an advantage)
4) Sometimes search placement is completely inexplicable.
I think the app store search engine is designed to be less susceptible to huge gains and losses like rankings are. I think this gives a chance for successful apps to get a steady stream of nice downloads even after they've dropped off the charts.
As for alarm clock apps, I don't think there is any way you are going to rank very highly no matter what you do. There are a ton of alarm clocks out there. Generally, it's a bad idea to go into a market with a ton of entrants simply because you'll be invisible to the search engine, which is a huge driver of downloads.
This is similar to what I've noticed.
My data point would be searcing for "Netflix".
The top hit, as would be expected, is the Netflix app.
#2 is PhoneFlicks, which has been out for a while and is free
#3 and #4 are 2 apps that are both $2.99 and haven't sold much at all since last summer, but have been out for a while.
#5 is iQueue (my app), which hasn't been out as long as #3 and #4, but has outsold them by a lot since its been out
#6 is iQueue Free, which I released in November. It obviously gets a lot more downloads than the paid version, but still gets listed after it.
All of the Netflix apps have "Netflix" in the title, as well as keywords, so I think there's something to the lifetime download effect. The difference between my paid and free versions seem to lend credence to the paid vs free ordering argument.
What about signals such as ratings and overall satisfaction (whether someone deleted the app right after signing up). It makes sense to rank apps based on what people think about them.
Apple's goal is to make money. Unlike Google, they are both the search engine and the retailer so they are going to place the app most likely to make them money at the top of the results.
Of course download matters! If you get some decent number of downloads for the paid version that automatically gets top ranking. I heard from some of my friendsthat good reviews for the app sometimes doing this.
How does Apple AppStore rank search results?
I have an iOS application - an alarm clock. I released it a little over a month ago. Initially it was paid, but when I saw there were virtually no purchases (from 0 to 4 a day), I changed it to be free for a period of time. When it become free, in less than 10 days it has been downloaded more than 30,000 times, and more importantly (I think) it moved much higher in the search results when the user searches "alarm" - it reached 20th place in the results. During that time I also received very good reviews in the AppStore. But today I changed it back to paid, and now when I search "alarm" my app is shown at the bottom of the 4TH PAGE. Given that one page contains 120 apps, this is very bad for me and I don't understand why this happened. Can anyone tell me how does AppStore ranks search results and is there a way to move my app higher in the rankings, please? 
Linear Mode
