Is There An App for That? The Top 5 SEO Tips for Mobile App Ranking

In the world of Google and website traffic, you want to make sure all your work is as optimized as possible. Did you know that also pertains to your mobile app ranking?

Companies that sell and distribute retail benefit immensely from taking advantage of an app by creating a quick and easy way to browse their products and make purchases. The roadblock, however, is getting visitors to their website to download their mobile app.

You can actually boost the popularity of your app through search engine optimization (SEO). By combining the worlds of desktop and mobile, you can optimize your mobile app and increase your app download volume and quality ranking.

To learn how SEO affects mobile app ranking, get started with these top tips.

1. Make Sure the App Name is Branded

The name of your app can prove to earn you search engine rankings if it is named in line with your brand or named according to a keyword you are wanting to rank for. Getting the most popular mobile app marketplaces like the Android Market and the Google Play store will help drive more traffic to your mobile app site. Take advantage of these linking opportunities by using the anchor text wisely.

For example, if your company name is “We Heart Cats” and that is the branded keyword you’d like to rank for, then you should try and have the name of your app be the same.

2. Link Your App to Your Website and Profile Pages

Taking advantage of linking in the websites and pages that get the most traffic to your app is a great way to direct visitors to your mobile app. Consider taking advantage of some of your most important pages, such as your homepage or a services page, to make a link to your app download page as easily visible as possible.

You may even want to consider creating a landing page and an email campaign that is dedicated to highlighting your app. These pages may include a description of the app and its features, screenshots of your app in action, and reviews of your app. An out-of-the-box idea could include a tutorial on how to create an app that directs to your app at the end of the tutorial.

3. Use Anchor Text Strategically

Make sure you include the name of your brand in the anchor text that links to your mobile app. Many make the mistake of simply saying “Download iPhone App” without including the name of the app. You may notice that larger companies don’t use their branded names in the anchor text to the app, but do not follow this path!

While it may be visually pleasing to see a clean button that directs to the “App Store” to a varying degree, you are losing valuable link equity in not having any anchor text.

Instead, include your app name. For example, if you want to link your “We Heart Cats App” then you want to have “We Heart Cats App” in your anchor text. Try “Download the We Heart Cats App Today”.

4. Offer a QR Link on Your Desktop Landing Page

You want to make it as easy as possible to download your app. That’s where QR codes come in. A QR code can allow desktop visitors to easily access the app by simply scanning the QR code from there phone. This will trigger the download of the app automatically.

Make sure you compress the link before you put it on your page. If your URL exceeds 50 characters then it will fail to scan and upload your app. Use a link compression or QR platform that can also show you bot QR crawl requests.

5. Cross-Promote Your App for Mobile

Make sure there is a link to your mobile app wherever your audience is! You already have an audience that regularly visits your desktop and mobile website. Now that you have an app, take advantage of the audience already there as well.

The tried and true cross-promotion trifecta means to make sure you are promoting your website to mobile users, searchers, and bots. These three cross-promote methods will allow browsers to come to your site and notice the link to your mobile app on your pages and will both drive users to your app or allow bots to crawl the link to boost your organic search results.

Make sure you have a link to your app on top of all your pages, whether they visit your site on mobile or desktop. You can also take advantage of crawling apps and link your app using optimized anchor text.

Next Steps: How Will You Optimize Your App for SEO?

When search engines index, display and rank mobile apps, they are simultaneously creating hundreds of backlinks for all those app downloads to boost mobile app ranking. This will give you a huge leg up in organic search both for your mobile app, as well as your mobile and desktop websites.

With that, higher mobile app and website traffic creates more downloads, which creates more backlinks, and so on. This phenomenon can create massive profitability in those that take advantage of mobile app optimization.

When you’re ready to take these tips and implement them in your SEO strategy, be sure to take advantage of all the tips and tricks on ZacJohnson.com. We offer professional digital marketing guidance for any level.

Contact us today for more information or to use our services.