Top 9 Google Play Store Ranking Factors

Google Play Store has its own algorithms that analyze your app and its listing to understand where it should be positioned in the search results.

Google Play Store uses hidden factors based on the category or keywords to determine search results rankings.

So, if you work on optimizing your app according to the ranking factors, your chances of achieving success in the Google Play Store will skyrocket.

Let us give you the ultimate tour of the top 9 Google Play Store ranking factors.

App Reviews And Ratings
App Title
App URL
App Keywords
App Downloads
App Localization
User Experience
App Retention Rate
App Updates

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1. App Reviews And Ratings

The reviews and ratings are a great place to judge which apps are of good quality. They demonstrate to users whether an app has helped other people or not and demonstrate to the Play Store that your app is worthy of recognition.

If your app consistently receives bad reviews or fake reviews, the Play Store will quickly remove it from its offering. Hence you should make it a point to outsmart fake negative reviews and tackle the bad reviews effectively.

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2. App Title

Optimizing your app name around a focus keyword can increase organic downloads by over 10.3%.

Since the Play Store has character limits of 50 characters for the app title, it's recommended to use the full allowance to maximize the ranking opportunity as long as you are using valuable, searchable keywords.

For this purpose, even Lenskart integrates the generic keyword "Eyeglasses" in their app title.

Example of keyword in app title in Play Store

3. App URL

Integrating your main keyword in your app's URL can greatly affect your app's ranking. You should consider this factor when you are at the pre-launch stage, as once you have published your URL in the Play Store, you can't update it.

4. App Keywords

Considering the millions of searches users do on the Play Store every day, not getting your app featured in the top results will significantly decrease your chances of app success.

So, it's best to decide on keywords after thoroughly researching what's most searched for relevant to your app in the Play Store.

5. App Downloads

You can boost your app's ranking if you get more users to download your app quickly from the Google Play Store.

Remember that the source of the downloads doesn't matter to the ranking. This means organic and paid downloads are equally important in Google Play Store ranking. So you have both these options to grow your number of downloads.

Example of App Downloads affecting search results in Play Store

6. App Localization

Translating your app and localizing it for different regions and countries will help the Play Store to rank your app higher in a specific region. Your conversion rate will also skyrocket if you work to translate your Play Store screenshots.

7. User Experience

Your app's user experience greatly affects its ranking. If your users only use it once or uninstall it very often, your ranking will likely decrease. Here is how you can prevent this:

Ensure the user experience is as smooth and compelling as possible.
Give your users reasons to use your app regularly by adding value.

Doing so will reduce the churn rate and actively protect your ranking position. Most users won't return to your app if it doesn't provide them with value or is difficult to use.

8. App Retention Rate

The number of uninstalls your app receives can negatively affect your Play Store position. So, ensuring your users don't uninstall your app too fast is important for maintaining a high rank.

Here's how you can prevent your users from churning too fast:

Offer free features inside your app.
Offer special gifts and experiences within the first few days of a user installing your app.
Keep providing value.
Increase your offerings on some special occasions.

9. App Updates

An updated app description with focus keywords, new feature updates, and bug repairs reminds the Play Store of your relevance. It also shows that you care about improving the user experience. So, you can work on pushing small updates frequently to improve your ranking.

Final Thoughts

Knowing about these Google Play Store ranking factors will help you to formulate an effective strategy for promoting apps in the Google Play Store and increasing conversion and installs. A strategy needs to be constantly tested and adjusted, as optimization is required throughout an app's lifecycle.

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FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Here are some commonly asked questions on Google Play Store ranking factors:

What are Google Play Store's ranking factors?

Some of the top Google Play Store ranking factors are app reviews and ratings, app titles, app URLs, app keywords, and app downloads.

How do you rank higher on Google Play Store?

Optimize your Google Play Store listing, improve your user experience and get more positive reviews about your app to rank it higher on Google Play Store.