#26 - To Subtitle Or Not To Subtitle?
Have you ever looked at search results in the App Store and wondered why they're ranked the way they are? In this series of Keyword Teardowns we analyze how the algorithm works and highlight tips and tricks to help you rank higher.
There's a pretty clever (or accidental) trick I came across that can help apps with fewer ratings get ahead. I can't say that I love it, but I'm going to show it to you, just in case you want to give it a try.
Apple's and Google's search algorithms are black boxes and completely undocumented, but when you look at enough data, patterns start to emerge. I actively analyze search results to reverse engineer how the stores decide which apps to rank and how to rank them, and share what I find, including tips, tricks, and secrets, here for you to learn from.
Keyword: Guitar Tuner
And to wrap it up, we'll look at another accessory guitar plays reach out for often—a tuner. I've had the same guitar tuner app on my phone for so many years I don't even remember when I downloaded it. Sadly, it didn't make the top 5...
At first glance, I see that many apps are targeting this keyword, but the algorithm has a lot of data to use for sorting, so it's pretty straightforward.
The leader of the group, GuitarTuna from Yousician, has the most downloads but not the most ratings. It manages to snag first by doing something that's bad, but focusing on it. In case you didn't read the last Keyword Teardown, that something is excessive repetition that accidentally leads to focus.
In #2, we have an interesting situation. Fender's guitar tuner has more new ratings but fewer downloads. It almost does a great job with keywords, focusing its name. But... It repeats a portion of the keyword in the subtitle, which devalues it.
Removing the duplication should help Fender advance and take over #1 even though it doesn't have the downloads. If you're reading this Fender and end up making the change, please let me know how it goes!
In case you're looking at the two names and thinking Fender has fewer words and as such each should have more weight... After removing duplication, it's actually the opposite. Fender has six words, and GuitarTuna has five.
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In #3, we have another interesting one. Pano Tuner does not mention the word "guitar" in its name or subtitle. Yet, it's ranking 3rd. How's that? There's an obvious answer: the keyword list. Let me rewind a bit. Pano Tuner doesn't have the downloads or new ratings to beat the apps below it, but it uses the trick I talked about in Keyword Teardown 4, and that is forgoing the subtitle to put all the focus on the name.
This trick isn't enough to get it up any higher, and if the two below it get smart about their keywords and ratings, it's doomed, but so far, so good.
#4 has the keywords right upfront. Just as I would do it. That's why it can rank 4th with a handful of new ratings. #5 has more ratings but commits the ugly sin of unnecessary repetition. I have a feeling the folks at MWM tried to copy GuitarTuna's name with a few changes. Unfortunately for them, those changes make it so that there's only sin and no lucky save. With minimal changes, #5 can easily climb to at least #3.
What You Need to Know
This is, yet, another instance where we see how not having a subtitle can help focus all of the attention on the name, where keyword weight is highest. I still don't love it because it looks weird, but if you're feeling experimental, it can't hurt to try.
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App Store Optimization is part art and part science. I say it a lot, and I mean it. The art part is what I've been talking about in this Keyword Teardown and in my App Teardowns. The science part is where our simple and intuitive ASO tools come into play. See where your apps are ranked, track trends, snoop on competitors, get suggestions, here.
