Harnessing the Power of User Reviews in ASO

Did you know that user reviews have a significant impact on your App Store Optimization (ASO)? That’s right! User reviews can affect your ASO and, therefore, your app ranking and visibility. User reviews potentially hold the power to improve your ASO dramatically.

The next question now is, how can you harness the power of user reviews in ASO? That’s precisely what we are going to talk about in this article. Read from beginning to end to discover the critical concepts and techniques on how you can fully use user reviews to your advantage.

What is App Store Optimization (ASO)?

App Store Optimization or simply ASO, is the process of improving the app ranking, visibility, and discoverability of a mobile app or game in an app store such as Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

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The main goal of ASO is to increase the chance of an app to get noticed and downloaded. ASO marketers focus on enhancing an app’s ability to appear on organic (unpaid) search results. With increased app visibility, an app will have more business opportunities.

What are User Reviews?

There are different factors that affect the ranking of an app, and chief among them is the user review. User reviews are written feedback and opinions provided by individuals. Along with ratings, user reviews can give insights into the satisfaction, experience, and perception of users for a particular app.

User feedback can be positive, negative, or neutral. It doesn’t just affect your ASO but also influences users into deciding whether to choose your app or not.

10 Effective Ways to Leverage User Reviews to Improve ASO

User reviews serve as social proof that convinces users to download your app. It simply improves your app’s credibility and makes it more appealing to users.

However, getting positive reviews doesn’t automatically happen. You need to put in the effort. You also need to understand how user reviews work and how they can affect your app ranking.

Here are some of the most essential tips and guides on how you can use user reviews to improve your App Store Optimization (ASO) dramatically.

1. Improve Your App’s Quality

The main reason people give positive user reviews is because they like your app. If your app delivers what it promises, then you’ll have happy users, and happy users will more likely give you positive reviews.

That’s why you need to start working with your app. It would be useless to focus on improving your user reviews when your app isn’t in good shape.

Do your best to optimize the performance of your app, improve its features, and add more helpful functionalities.

2. Monitor and Analyze Reviews

User reviews can give you valuable insights into your app. You should regularly monitor and analyze user reviews and identify common or recurring themes and sentiments mentioned by your users.

When you see positive reviews repeated multiple times, then you can capitalize on that. For example, if you constantly see how users love the appearance of your app, then you can say that you’re doing something right in that aspect of your app.

On the other hand, check negative reviews that are repeated multiple times as well. See the common complaints.

What’s more, there are times when users report bugs and crashes in the user review section. So, be alert to these negative reports to eliminate errors in your app quickly.

3. Identify missed opportunities

The app reviews reveal important aspects of your app that you might not have thought of before. For example, your users might have repeatedly mentioned a specific feature of your app that they really like. You looked into your app listing, and you discovered that you aren’t really showcasing that feature. So, that’s a missed opportunity.

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By analyzing your app reviews, you can identify missed opportunities and perform the necessary adjustments to take advantage of them truly. What you can do then is to add that feature or missed opportunities and display it more prominently on your app videos, screenshots, icons, and others.

You may also see useful suggestions given by your users in the reviews section.

4. Look for keywords

Particularly in the Play Store, the algorithm takes note of the keywords found in the user review. Moreover, when a user searches, the Play Store considers the keywords found in your reviews to determine the search result. That’s one thing that you should know about user reviews and keyword ranking.

While you can’t control your users and tell them to mention specific keywords in their reviews, you can definitely gather keywords in the user reviews and analyze them. Using a keyword research tool, you can then determine whether these keywords can be copied and placed on your title, description, and other places.

5. Engage with your users

The best thing about app stores is that they give you the chance to engage with your users and reply to their reviews. Existing and potential users can also read your reply. This is a great opportunity to show how much you care about your customers.

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Whether you receive a positive or negative comment, you need to reply to them as much as possible. Thank the users who leave a positive review.

Prioritize negative comments. Reply to them immediately. Address their concerns in a timely manner.

More often than not, if you’re able to provide a solution to their issue, you can turn their negative reviews into positive ones.

6. Check competitor reviews

For you to get a better idea of what works and what doesn’t work, you should consider looking at the reviews your competitors receive. Read through them and identify a common theme.

You can look at what their users commonly complain about and, from there, see how you can improve your app to avoid the same problems. You can even capitalize on the weaknesses of your competitors and market your app as a better choice.

Check out the positive reviews your competitors receive as well. That will tell you what you should also do in your app to receive those kinds of reviews.

As you can see, both the positive and negative reviews would guide you in creating a better ASO strategy.

7. Request reviews

Obtaining positive ratings and reviews plays a major role in the success of your app. However, requesting reviews can be a delicate process. You can’t simply ask for reviews randomly. You have to do it with a thoughtful and strategic approach.

The main goal is to get a review without being annoying and intrusive to your users. So, here are a few tips on how you can request reviews effectively:

• Choose the right timing. You can ask for reviews in your app, but you should select moments where users are happy and are more likely to give you reviews. For example, you can send your review request message after the user has made a positive interaction in your app or when the user has completed a task, received a reward, and reached a milestone. Pro tip: Don’t ask for reviews when your users have just downloaded your app.
• Use in-app prompts. You can display in-app prompts as a banner or a pop-up message. Just be sure that the prompts don’t disrupt the seamless experience of your user or that the banner is so big that it covers a large part of the user interface.
• Personalize your request. Addressing the user by their first name can improve conversion. You can also request reviews based on their specific behavior. 
• Use the right words. Sometimes, the problem lies in your call-to-action message. You should make it clear, concise, and easy to understand. You also need to succinctly explain to them how their review can help you improve your app so that they can enjoy your app even more.
• Simply the process. Make it as easy as possible for your users to leave an app review. Be straightforward and involve the least amount of steps.

8. Flag inappropriate comments

What’s really annoying is when you receive spam or offensive comments. There might be some people who are trying to sabotage your app. Those things may happen, and when they do, you should report them. If the user review violates the guidelines of the respective platform, then it can be removed.

9. Use other channels to collect reviews

The primary way for you to collect reviews is within your app. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use other channels. Here are some of the platforms or channels you can use:

• Push notifications
• Email
• SMS
• Live Chat
• Website
• Social media accounts

10. Highlight positive reviews

Remember that many people base their decision on what other people say about an app. If they see that you have a lot of positive reviews, then it is more likely they will download your app. The opposite is true as well. Get more negative reviews, and you’ll get fewer downloads.

That’s why you can take positive reviews and highlight them within your app’s description or your website. You can capture a quote from your user reviews and use it as the essence of how satisfied your users are.

Improve Your User Review Now

Your user review is an important part of your ASO strategy. Don’t neglect user reviews because if done right, you can dramatically increase your app’s visibility and discoverability.

Now, improving your user review can be a difficult and challenging task. Thankfully, you don’t have to do it on your own. You can always get the help of ShyftUp.

ShyftUp is among the best user acquisition agencies that will help you get more positive reviews and higher ratings. They have the necessary knowledge, skills, and tools to guide you in improving your app rating. Aside from that, ShyftUp is a master of creating the perfect ASO strategy for you to get as many users as possible. So, if you want to increase your app’s success, then give them a try today!