You get more app downloads by making your app easy to find and easy to choose. That means optimising your App Store and Google Play listings so they rank for the words people search, designing screenshots that sell the benefit in seconds, lifting your rating, building a website and content that send searchers to your store pages, and using short social video, creators and referrals to reach people who are not searching yet. Paid campaigns can accelerate growth, but the installs that last come from the organic engine underneath them.
The short version
- App store optimisation comes first. Most installs start with a store search, so your listing must rank and convert
- Ratings drive downloads. A higher rating improves ranking and conversion at the same time
- Your website is a download channel. Pages that rank on Google for the problem your app solves send ready-to-install users
- Video sells apps. Short demos on TikTok, Reels and Shorts show value faster than any description
- Retention multiplies everything. Apps people keep using rank higher, get better reviews and get recommended
Where app downloads actually come from
Downloads come from a handful of sources, and each one needs different work.
| Source | How users find you | What improves it |
|---|---|---|
| Store search | Typing a need or app name into the App Store or Google Play | Keywords, title, ratings, conversion rate |
| Store browse and features | Category charts, recommendations, editorial features | Download velocity, quality, ratings, in-app events |
| Web search | Searching Google for a problem or comparison | SEO, landing pages, app links, structured data |
| Social and creators | Seeing the app in a video or post | Short video, creator partnerships, community |
| Referrals | A friend recommends or invites | Referral programmes, shareable moments |
| Paid acquisition | Ads in stores, social, search and other apps | Creative quality, targeting, store conversion rate |
Most successful apps lean on two or three of these. Store search and web search tend to bring the most valuable, highest intent users.
Step 1. Optimise your store listing (ASO)
App store optimisation is the foundation because every other channel eventually sends people to your listing. Put your most important keyword in your app name, use the subtitle (iOS) or short description (Google Play) for your second most important phrase, and fill the iOS keyword field and the Google Play description with the rest. Then make the first two screenshots show the main benefit with short captions, because most visitors never scroll further. Our full guide on how to improve ASO explains each field and the testing tools both stores offer.
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We manage App Store and Google Play optimisation end to end, from keywords and screenshots to ratings and testing
Step 2. Raise your rating and review volume
Your rating appears next to your name in search results and on your listing, so it affects every visitor's decision. It also influences ranking.
- Use the official in-app review prompts from Apple and Google, triggered after a moment of success.
- Prompt engaged users, such as people who have used the app several times, rather than new users.
- Reply to reviews, especially critical ones, and mention fixes in your release notes.
- Fix what people complain about. Reviews are a free list of reasons people leave.
Moving from 3.9 to 4.5 stars can noticeably lift both your conversion rate and your visibility.
Step 3. Launch with momentum
Both stores reward apps that attract downloads quickly. A launch spike helps a new app enter rankings and charts, which brings more organic installs.
- Build a waiting list before launch through a landing page, social posts and email.
- Coordinate launch day so your email list, social followers, partners and creators all point to the store at the same time.
- Use pre-registration or pre-orders, available on Google Play and the App Store, to collect intent ahead of release.
- Plan in-app events around launches and seasonal moments. They can appear in store search and on your listing.
Step 4. Use your website to drive installs
Many people search Google before they search a store. "Best app for tracking expenses", "how to learn Arabic on my phone" and "app to split bills with friends" are all web searches with download intent.
- Build a fast landing page for the app that explains its benefits, shows screenshots and links to both stores with official badges.
- Create pages for each main feature or use case, each answering a specific search.
- Publish guides that answer the questions your users have, and suggest the app where it genuinely helps.
- Add smart app banners on iOS and app links on Android so mobile visitors can open or install the app in one tap.
- Add structured data describing the app, its rating and the platforms it runs on.
A website that ranks on Google keeps sending pre-qualified users to your store pages every day. Our SEO team and web and app developers build these pages for app businesses.
Step 5. Show the app in short video
Apps are hard to describe and easy to show. Short videos on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts can demonstrate your core feature in fifteen seconds. Effective formats include a problem and the app solving it, a before and after, a "things I wish I knew" tip, a reaction or challenge, and real users showing how they use it. Post consistently, test hooks in the first second, and link to your store pages from your profiles.
Step 6. Work with creators and influencers
Creators who use your type of app can introduce it to audiences that trust them. Small creators in a specific niche often deliver better install rates than large general accounts. Give them freedom to show the app their way, provide a tracked link or code, and measure installs and retention by creator. SI influencers, our AI-generated characters, offer another option for consistent, controllable promotion across markets and languages, with every post disclosed as AI.
Meet the SI influencers who could front your campaign
Step 7. Turn users into a referral engine
Happy users are your cheapest channel. Build sharing into the moments when users feel the most value, such as completing a goal, receiving a result or saving money. Give both the sharer and the new user a reason to act, such as extra features, credit or a discount. Make invites one tap away and track them, so you know which moments drive the most referrals.
Step 8. Improve retention and the app itself
Retention affects everything. Apps that keep their users get better reviews, more word of mouth, higher store rankings and better returns from every acquisition channel. Watch how many users return after one day, seven days and thirty days, find where they drop off, and fix those points. Fast loading, a clear first experience, useful notifications that do not nag and regular updates all help.
Grow in new markets with localisation
Many apps leave most of the world untouched because their listing exists only in English. Both stores let you publish localised titles, subtitles or short descriptions, keywords, descriptions and screenshots for dozens of languages and regions. Start with countries where you already see some organic downloads, research the search terms people use there, and localise the listing fully, including screenshots with local language and currency. Localising the app itself follows when the listing proves demand. It is common for a well localised listing to unlock a steady stream of installs from a market that previously sent almost none.
Use timing and seasonality
Download demand changes through the year. Fitness apps peak in January, travel apps before holiday seasons, education apps at the start of terms, shopping apps around sales events and Ramadan and Eid in many markets. Plan keyword updates, screenshots, in-app events and promotions a few weeks before each peak, because the stores need time to re-index and rank your updated listing. Align social content and creator campaigns with the same moments so every channel pushes at once.
Should you pay for app installs?
Paid user acquisition through Apple Search Ads, Google App campaigns and social ads can be a strong accelerator, especially at launch and when you know your user lifetime value. It works best on top of a well optimised listing, because better store conversion lowers the cost of every paid install. Measure cost per install and, more importantly, cost per retained or paying user. If paid users disappear within a week, fix the product and onboarding before increasing spend.
How to measure download growth
| Metric | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Impressions and product page views | How visible your app is in the stores |
| Conversion rate | How well your listing persuades visitors |
| Organic versus paid installs | Whether growth is sustainable without spend |
| Keyword rankings by market | Progress on store search |
| Rating and review volume | Trust and quality signals |
| Day 1, 7 and 30 retention | Whether new users stay |
| Installs by source | Which channels deserve more effort |
Review these monthly in App Store Connect, Google Play Console and your analytics, and focus effort on the channels that bring users who stay.
Common mistakes that slow downloads
- Launching without a listing strategy, so the app ranks for nothing on day one.
- Screenshots that show menus instead of the result users want.
- Asking for reviews at the wrong moment, such as on first launch or right after an error.
- One listing for every market when localised listings would rank and convert far better.
- Spending on ads before fixing conversion, which makes every paid install more expensive.
- Ignoring the website, even though many people search Google first.
Proklisi builds websites and apps, runs SEO, ASO and social media, and creates SI influencers for brands. Everything here comes from work we do for clients every week. About us or talk to the team