ASO Audit

Vrbo Vacation Rentals ASO Audit Report

Buse Kanal

8 December 2022

IOS

Vrbo Vacation Rentals is among the leading vacation rentals online marketplace in app stores today. With over a million people who have downloaded the app, Vrbo Vacation Rentals has enjoyed a relatively high ranking in the App Store. In fact, Vrbo Vacation Rentals, by the time of this writing, is rated to be the #8 app in the Travel category.

While Vrbo Vacation Rentals has already accomplished things that other vacation rentals online marketplace 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 Vrbo Vacation Rentals 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 Vrbo Vacation Rentals can improve its keyword ranking in the most efficient way possible.

Keyword research

We did a quick keyword research for Vrbo Vacation Rentals. 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 Vrbo Vacation Rentals’ ranking looks like:

“Rental homes” keyword has a search score of 51, which we rank at no. 17.
“Apartment finder” keyword has a search score of 44, which we rank at no. 38.
“Homes for rent” keyword has a search score of 37, which we rank at no. 35.
“Houses” keyword has a search score of 33, which we rank at no. 29.
“Hotel booking” keyword has a search score of 34, which we rank at no. 17.
“Travels” keyword has a search score of 26, which we rank at no. 32.

We also did research on competitor keywords. We got the following results:

“Airbnb” keyword has a search score of 73, which we do not rank.
“Hotels.com” keyword has a search score of 59, which we rank at no. 15.
“Travelocity” keyword has a search score of 49, which we do not rank.
“Tripadvisor” keyword has a search score of 39, which we do not rank.
“Vacasa – vacation rentals” keyword has a search score of 22, which we do not rank.

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.

Title

The title of Vrbo Vacation Rentals in the App Store is this:

Vrbo Vacation Rentals

Vrbo Vacation Rentals already has a strong title. Take note that the App Store allows us to use up to 30 characters for the title. As of now, Vrbo Vacation Rentals is only using 21 characters.

Looking at the search scores of the keywords included in the title, the search score of “Vacation” is 30 and “Rentals” is 36. As you can see, all the keywords have high search scores and we can conclude that Vrbo Vacation Rentals has a quite strong title. However, there is a great 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 “Rentals” in our keyword pool.

After starting to use the “Rentals” keyword, do we start ranking higher for these keywords? Do we start ranking for more keywords that include “Rentals”? 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:

Vrbo: Vacation Rentals Booking

As you can see, we have added the word “Booking”. This is a great move in terms of keyword ranking for the following reasons:

The term “Booking” has a high search score of 51.
By adding the term “Booking” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “hotel booking” & “booking app”. All have good ranking scores, which are 34 & 23 respectively.

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 brought better results.

Subtitle

The subtitle of Vrbo Vacation Rentals in the App Store is this:

Beach houses, cabins & condos

Like the title, Apple allows us to use up to 30 characters in the subtitle. As now, Vrbo Vacation Rentals uses 29 characters.

Looking at the search scores of the keywords included in the subtitle, the search score of “beach” is 30, “houses” is 33, “cabins” is 5 and “condos” is 5. As you can see, two keywords have high search scores and two keywords have low search scores. So we can conclude that Vrbo Vacation Rentals has a rough subtitle.

Even though, if we would like to test a new variation, the subtitle can be changed to:

Beach Houses, Homes & Travels

As you can see, we have added the words “Homes” & “Travels”, and excluded the word “cabins” & “condos”. This is a great move in terms of keyword ranking for the following reasons:

The term “Homes” has a high search score of 36.
The term “Travels” has a high search score of 26.
By adding the term “Homes” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “rental homes” & “homes for rent”. All have good ranking scores, which are 51 & 37 respectively.
By adding the term “Travels” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “travel planner” & “travel apps”. All have good ranking scores, which are 31 & 30 respectively.

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 “Travels” in our keyword pool.

After starting to use the “Travels” keyword, do we start ranking higher for these keywords? Do we start ranking for more keywords that include “Travels”? If the keywords are not improving our ranking, then we should test other keywords and their variations.

Ratings

Looking at the ratings, we can see a lot of things to improve here. Take note that Vrbo Vacation Rentals, at the time of this writing, has an average rating of 4.8 stars from more than 1.2M users.

Let’s compare that to their competitors:

Hotels.com: Travel Booking – 4.8 stars from 1.4M users
Booking.com: Hotels & Travel– 4.8 stars from 819.7K users

We do need to improve app features and overall user experience to raise the ratings up and get more positive reviews.

Screenshots

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 Vrbo Vacation Rentals’ screenshots, we can see that they have chosen great images. However, Vrbo Vacation Rentals 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.

Here are a few more things to consider:

Apple indexes the title, subtitle, and keyword list to determine app rankings in the App Store.
The app title, which can be composed of up to 30 characters, is considered to be the most important ranking factor. Thus, you should add the most crucial keyword to your title. When you do that, you’ll most likely get a higher ranking for that keyword.
Next to the app title is the subtitle in terms of importance for indexing. Thus, other more vital keywords should be added to your subtitle. Add as many relevant and high-ranking keywords as possible to ensure you increase your ranking. Moreover, if possible, maximize the 30 character-limit for the subtitle.
Keyword list is considered to be the number 3 most important ranking factor in the App Store. You are allowed to use a maximum of 100 characters. You need to add all the keywords that you believe are relevant to your app. You can even include brand names and competitors’ keywords. You have more flexibility to include whatever you see fit based on your keyword research. After all, users won’t be able to see this list. Only you, as the admin, can see them via the App Store Connect. But it affects your visibility significantly.