Calm is among the meditation and sleep in app stores today. With over a million people downloading the app, Calm has enjoyed a relatively high ranking in the App Store. In fact, Calm, by the time of this writing, is rated to be the #19 app in the Health & Fitness category.
While Calm has already accomplished things that other meditation and sleep apps haven’t achieved, there is still a way to maximize their app store visibility and therefore increase their chance of getting noticed.
After all, the biggest room is the room for improvement. No matter how great Calm might already be, they can still do something to reach the number 1 spot and not be overtaken by competitors.
In this ASO audit, let’s take a look at how Calm can improve its keyword ranking in the most efficient way possible.
We did a quick keyword research for Calm. We have shared the details at the end of this post.
Looking at the research result, we can see that we are already ranking for some important keywords. Nevertheless, we have identified some great opportunities for us to take advantage of.
In this situation, ASO intelligence tools come in handy. These tools are effective in identifying popular keywords with the lowest competition. For example, in ShyftUp, we use Mobile Action to perform reliable keyword research.
Among the results we get is the term Search Score. Here’s a quick overview:
The Search Score ranges from 5 to 100. The score represents the number of users who are searching for a specific keyword compared to other keyword options in the App Store and Google Play.
To give you an example, one of the keywords with the highest ranking is the keyword “Facebook.” It has a search score of 100.
The lowest score is 5, which means no one is virtually searching for that keyword. Most keywords will never even see a score beyond 5.
Going back to the results that we got, here’s how Calm’s ranking looks like:
We also did research on competitor keywords. We got the following results:
The results show us that there is a lot of work to do. To ensure that we climb up the rankings, we should use these keywords in our metadata.
The title of Calm in the App Store is this:
Calm
Take note that the App Store allows us to use up to 30 characters for the title. As of now, Calm is using 4 characters. In the app store, every character counts, and it should be maximized as much as possible.
Looking at the search scores of the keywords included in the title, the search score of “calm” is 60. This keyword has a high search score. However, there is an excellent opportunity for improvement.
To ensure we stay competitive, we must test the title and its keywords continuously. One way to improve the title is to go to the keyword pool. From there, we should continuously check how many keywords we are ranking for that are in the title. For instance, we could check the keyword “meditation” in our keyword pool.
After starting to use the “meditation” keyword, do we start ranking higher for these keywords? Do we start ranking for more keywords that include “meditation”? If the keywords are not improving our ranking, then we should test other keywords and their variations.
In this case, we can try a new title like:
Calm: Sleep, Relax, Meditation
As you can see, we have added the words “sleep”, “meditation”, and “relax”. This is a great move in terms of keyword ranking for the following reasons:
All these changes to the title can potentially improve keyword ranking. However, please note that there are other combinations and possibilities when it comes to using keywords.
That’s the reason you need to constantly test these keywords. You should check your keyword ranking every week and see if the changes in your title bring better results.
The subtitle of Calm in the App Store is this:
Sleep, Meditation, Relaxation
Like the title, Apple allows us to use up to 30 characters in the subtitle. As of now, Calm uses 29 characters.
Looking at the search scores of the keywords included in the subtitle, the search score of “sleep” is 53, “meditation” is 52, and “relaxation” is 15. As you can see, all keywords have high search scores, and we can conclude that Calm has a quite strong subtitle.
Even though, if we would like to test a new variation, the subtitle can be changed to:
Breath, Lower Stress & Anxiety
As you can see, we have added the words “breath”, “lower”, “stress”, and “anxiety”, and excluded the words “sleep”, “meditation”, and “relaxation”. This is a great move in terms of keyword ranking for the following reasons:
To ensure we stay competitive, we must test the subtitle and its keywords continuously. One way to improve the subtitle is to go to the keyword pool. From there, we should continuously check how many keywords that are in the subtitle. For instance, we should check the keyword “anxiety relief” in our keyword pool.
After starting to use the “anxiety relief” keyword, do we start ranking higher for these keywords? Do we start ranking for more keywords that include “anxiety relief”? If the keywords are not improving our ranking, then we should test other keywords and their variations.
Looking at the ratings, we can see a lot of things to improve here. Take note that Calm, at the time of this writing, has an average rating of 4.8 stars from more than 1.6M users.
Let’s compare that to their competitors:
We do need to improve app features and overall user experience to raise the ratings up and get more positive reviews.
Screenshots can either make or break your app. Use the wrong screenshots and you’ll surely chase away users. Use the right screenshots and you’ll attract more users.
As we take a look at Calm’s screenshots, we can see that they have chosen great images. However, Calm can use more value-oriented headlines on the screenshots. It is super important to choose screenshots that show the value, features, and reasons why users should use your app.
In short, screenshots must convince users to choose your app.
The App Store allows us to use up to 10 screenshots. However, these screenshots don’t have equal exposure. As you may already know, potential users will initially see the first three screenshots. They need to open your page to see the rest of the screenshots.
With this in mind, you need to choose the best screenshots and place them on the first three screenshot slots.
To determine which screenshots give you the best result, A/B testing and Apple’s Product Page Optimization (PPO) are always the best way to go.
This data is pulled from Mobile Action.
Disclaimer: In this ASO Audit, we haven’t used any private data, we have purely used public data.