The app description keyword density is an important aspect of your overall ASO effort. It helps you rank better in app search results. However, determining your keyword density can be a little tricky. Use too many keywords and you’ll end up losing. Use too few keywords and you’ll never increase your app rank.
Thus, in this post, let us take a look at keyword density in ASO. Let’s discuss what keyword density is, how to determine it, and see its role in the overall ASO campaign.
What is ASO?
App Search Optimization, or simply ASO, is a powerful tool to ensure your app’s success. You might have heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Actually, SEO and ASO are like cousins.
SEO is the practice of improving the visibility of websites in search engine result pages. You can say that ASO operates on the same principle. The only difference is that ASO is directed to app markets such as Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
As you can see, the higher your ranking in app search results, the higher your chance of getting seen, downloaded and used. According to studies, more than 60% of downloads happen because of search results. Definitely, you don’t want to miss this golden opportunity and ASO is here to improve your app search ranking.
Part of ASO strategies is having the right keyword density in the app description. Let’s talk more about this as we proceed. For now, you may want to read our App Store Optimization Definitive Guide where we have discussed ASO in depth. Be sure to check that one out.
What is the app description?
As its name suggests, app description is the written description of your app. On every app page, there’s a section called app description where you can do your best to describe your product, showcase your app’s functionalities, communicate updates, and convince people to download and use your app.
There’s a huge difference between the app description of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. In the Play Store, there are the short description and the long description.
In the App Store, the short description does not exist but it has the “app subtitle.” The app description section is also available in the App Store. It is vital that you also know how to create the perfect app description in the App Store to ensure you’re getting the results you need.
Now, here’s something you need to know: the App Store’s description section does not influence search results. On the other hand, Google Play Store, being part of the biggest search engine on the planet, considers app description when determining what to display in search results.
With this in mind, app description keyword density is primarily a big concern if you have an app in the Google Play Store. So, let’s focus more on Google Play Store from here.
What are the app descriptions in Google Play?
On Google Play Store, as mentioned earlier, has the short description and long description sections.
The short description allows you to use up to 80 characters. According to reputable sources, Google indexes your app’s short description. This means it is a must that you should include your primary keywords here.
The short description is found above the fold and is among the first things your potential users would see. To read the full text, users need to tap on the “see more” button.
The short description should succinctly, briefly, and comprehensively describe your app. Its main purpose is not to simply inform, but also to invite users to download your app.
On the other hand, the long description allows you to use up to 4,000 characters. That would be about 700-800 words. This is your perfect opportunity to tell your users what your app is all about in greater detail.
The long description section plays a major role in app search results. Thus, you need to make sure you add your keywords here, repeat them as needed, and ensure you have the right keyword density, which leads us to the next part of our discussion.
What is keyword density in the app description?
Now, let’s go to the heart of the matter today — the keyword density.
Keyword density refers to the number of times you use targeted words in your app description. It is measured by percentage.
As a general rule, you should repeat a targeted keyword about 4-5 times. This is equivalent to about 2-3% keyword density. The percentage may be higher or lower than that though. It greatly depends on the number of words you use in the app description.
If your keyword density is too low, Google may not recognize the targeted words as actual keywords. If your keyword density is too high, Google may think it is keyword stuffing. When this happens, you will not only lose app ranking points but also you may get penalized.
You need to strike the right balance in using keywords to obtain the best results.
Moreover, other rules you need to remember is not to use more than 10 targeted keywords. Don’t force a keyword as well in a sentence or paragraph. You need to add keywords as naturally as possible. Remember, you write for humans first, then for the algorithm.
How to calculate app description keyword density?
Determining keyword density is quite easy. All you need to do is take the number of times the target keyword appears on your app description and divide it by the total number of words on the page.
If you’re not that good at math or you don’t have all the time in the world to manually count words and keywords, then I’m sure you’ll be more than happy to use an ASO tool to automate things.
Thankfully, there are a lot of free tools, which you can use to calculate the keyword density. One of these tools would be the Keyword Density Counter of Apptweak. Here’s a screenshot of how the counter looks like:
With this tool, you can simply copy-paste the app description in the counter box. It will then count the total characters used. On the right side, it automatically identifies keywords, the number of times they appear, and density.
It’s actually a great tool, which you can use not only to help you create the right app description but also to analyze the app description of competitors. You can then learn the best practices of other similar apps and apply them in your ASO process.
Take your app description keyword density to the next level
Now that you know more about the correct and ideal keyword density in your app description, you should rank better in search results. However, there are actually more things you can do with the right tool.
That’s why Metrikal is here for you. With Metrikal’s advanced features, you can know exactly how to perform effective ASO, measure results, and further improve your app performance. Metrikal enables you to monitor all your KPIs in one dashboard. These KPIs include conversion rate, keyword rankings, market trends, and many others. As you can see, Metrikal will help you know whether you have improved your app description or not after making changes.
So, be sure to have the right tools. Ensuring that you have the ideal app description keyword density is a must to see your app succeed.