App Store Optimization is a never-ending, iterative process. App store rankings and trending keywords change daily. To keep up with the fast-paced nature of the app industry, your App Store Optimization strategy must be flexible and agile, with frequent app updates. How Often Should You Update Your App Store Metadata? This lesson will teach you how to do just that.

Expectations for the App Store and Google Play Store are different

As with everything ASO, there are minor but significant differences between the App Store and the Play Store, which affects how frequently you should update your metadata.

On iOS App Store, you should update your metadata every 4 weeks.

The difficulty in determining when to update your metadata is estimating how long it will take for each store's algorithm to account for the changes you've made.

For iOS, this can be almost instantaneous. However, this is not always the case, metadata fields are not the only factors influencing keyword rankings. 

The number of daily downloads is another factor that can influence how several apps rank for the same keywords, which is why it is critical to track where your app ranks over time for the most recent keywords that you have targeted. Since the end of January, Plague Inc. has risen to the top of the rankings for the keyword "virus" in the United States. This was due to a significant increase in downloads as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, not to any changes in its metadata.

Because of the various factors that can influence keyword rankings, the general consensus among ASO Experts is that keyword rankings should be stable enough to evaluate the impact of a metadata change 4 weeks after the new build is uploaded to the App Store. 

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On Google Play, you should update your metadata every 6 to 8 weeks

With some of the same factors to consider, keyword indexation and ranking on Android have been shown to take longer than on iOS.

One possible explanation for why Google Play rankings take longer to stabilize is the long-held suspicion that Android measures app conversion rates per keyword to determine which order to rank them in. While this would not be the only ranking factor, it would be consistent with Google Play's practice of adjusting app ranks per keyword over time.

As a result, ASO experts generally believe that it is best to wait 6 to 8 weeks before updating metadata on Android. This will ensure that you have a stable dataset to work with and will make it easier to determine which keywords to target next.

How to optimize your app metadata?

ASO metadata is not one-size-fits-all. Each app or mobile game has its own set of challenges and key performance indicators (KPIs). You will need to implement a different ASO strategy depending on your competition, app genre, brand recognition, overall marketing strategy, and so on.

This is also why your ASO metadata must be updated regularly. The exact time frame is up to you; what matters is that you leave enough time to see the results of your previous metadata and maintain a regular schedule.

Aim for consistency

Because they have more data and changes to implement, some of the larger apps and games will update more frequently. Others will spend more time ensuring that their testing results are relevant.

Our ASO expert Camille Serras recommends a minimum of one month between updates. Any sooner would be premature. She emphasizes the importance of always adapting to the app and avoiding optimizing textual and visual metadata at the same time.

Similarly, Jessica, ASO  of ASO World, emphasizes the importance of implementing changes one at a time. According to her, attempting to implement too many changes at once is a major ASO mistake. Ensuring that each update is focused on one change helps "identify where the change in traffic, hopefully, the increase but whether the increase or decrease is coming from".

Pay attention to your app and your target audience, they will lead you to the best decision for your product.



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Metadata Optimization Right After an App Launch

While it is usually best to wait for keyword rankings to stabilize before deciding how to update your metadata, certain circumstances may necessitate more frequent changes. One of the most common instances of this is during the launch of a new app.

On iOS, new apps are favored in keyword rankings for the first 7 days after they are released in the App Store. Although the App Store does not provide data on how many downloads an app receives per keyword, this provides an incentive for you to be aggressive in the keywords you target when launching your app. As a result, in the weeks following a launch, you should try to adjust your metadata based on what appears to have piqued the interest of your first-week users.

Google Play algorithms, on the other hand, tend to "wait and observe" how apps convert for various keywords. This can be detrimental to apps that want to maximize their metadata right away; many apps on Google Play can only be found by an exact title-match search on the day they are published. As a result, if your app is based on a combination of brand and keywords, your first potential users may not find it right away because they will typically search only for your brand or generic keywords.

Update your app according to Seasonal events

Seasonality is a valuable tool for in-app marketing, particularly for ASO. Large events provide an excellent opportunity for a metadata makeover, especially for visual assets. A properly seasonalized store page has a lot to offer.

Not only for celebrations but some trends in your area may necessitate metadata updates to improve your ranking. The pandemic, for example, increased downloads of fitness and health apps.

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To summarize

Finally, app metadata updates satisfy users' desire for novelty while also allowing your team to adapt to the market and improve user experience. By frequently updating your app metadata, you please users (both existing and new! ), improve reviews, and compete effectively. Furthermore, you can (and should) use app updates to gain user attention and advertise your value.