Digital Marketing Agency – TIS India Blog

The release of the iPhone 5 triggered an upsurge in the market share of iOS and a renewed interest in the App Store. iPhone and iPad users are definitely “apps hungry” as proven by record-breaking number of downloads the App Store registered in 2012.

However, despite this appetite, approximately 60% of the more than 700,000 apps in the App Store have never been downloaded, according to the analytical company Adeven. As such, marketers are focusing their attention to App Store optimization and when you talk of this practice, it is inevitable that you ponder on ways to improve mobile application rating. You see, mobile app consumption is like food – no one would be enticed to download your app if users are giving you “unpalatable reviews.”

Here are a few things you can do to garner more positive and stellar user rating.

Make Sure You Define a Support Address

An old customer service mantra dictates that dissatisfied customers will only talk in public if they can’t talk to you. Coincidentally (or not), the app support button is located beside the “Write a Review” button in the App Store Reviews Tab. So, if you didn’t set a proper support address in iTunes where users can get in touch with you, it would be a convenient alternative to just take the discussion to the public space. You wouldn’t want this to happen.

Engage Trial and Catalyze Feedback

In traditional product development, before a company launches a new product, they ask a group of people to test it out and provide honest feedback. You can use the same principle to make sure that your app is “download-worthy.” You can identify certain individuals that you can ask to put your app to the test and provide no holds barred rating. You can provide them with a promo code to encourage trial and stimulate feedback. Though they have to wait a few days to be able to rate your app in compliance with Apple’s guidelines.

Provide Your Contact Info Across All Touch Points

Incorporate your contact details in your app description including your email address as well as your Facebook details and Twitter information. If you don’t have a website or a landing page dedicate for app support, you better create one as this is an important component in App Store optimization. Once you have this website in place, you can add a Review Bar to easily rate your app. If the rating a user gives is 4 and above, he will be asked to leave a review. If it’s three and below, he will be encouraged to get in touch with you.

Take Advantage of Feedback Software Development Kits (SDKs)

SDKs are great tools for you to improve mobile application rating. Some notable SDKs include AppBooster (Appsfire) which allows users to give you feedback via a notification box and if the feedback is positive, AppBooster will automatically ask that particular user to leave a review in the App Store. Another great SDK is Apptentive. What is awesome about this SDK is it does not only make it convenient for users to give feedback, rating and review, it also allows you to reach out to them via customized surveys, reminders and polls.

You Got Your Feedback, Now What?

App Store optimization does not stop with getting feedback or rating. The more pertinent question is: how are you going to mine these data for insights that will help you either maintain or further improve your app or fix problems? While the ratings and reviews are what users see, it’s what you do behind the scenes that will ultimately determine your success in the App Store.

To improve mobile application rating, listen, empathize and take action.