So you’ve jumped through all the hoops to get your application onto the App Store— congratulations! Now your main concerns are to generate positive reviews, earn high ratings, and improve your app’s ranking in the App Store. Reviews have the potential to impact a user’s first impression of your app. Before downloading, it’s likely that a user will take a look at the reviews section. No reviews can be a red flag for some users—“Why didn’t the app’s users provide feedback? Was the app that bad? Was it that unpopular?” Down the rabbit hole they go. Bye potential user, it was nice knowing you. Now, the amount of reviews you have doesn’t directly impact your app’s ranking or how optimized you are for the App Store— that’s the job of keywords, descriptions and genre classification. Reviews, on the other hand, have an indirect effect. While ratings (number of starts you receive) impact your app’s ranking, reviews provide an opportunity for user feedback. Ratings gauge user satisfaction and allow users to voice their qualms, or changes they want to see in an app.
So how can you generate more reviews for your app? As an application development agency, Codal has developed a number of different apps for iOS. We are sharing four of our favorite ways to increase the number of reviews on your app.
1. TIME YOUR POPUPS PERFECTLY
When asking a user to review or rate an app, timing is truly everything. In the past, popups have been shunned because of their abrasive tendency to appear at the most inconvenient moments. However, in the setting of an app, they can be quite effective— provided the timing is right.
Imagine this: you’re playing a mobile game or using a food delivery app and right in the middle of a task— BAM— you’re hit with a “Rate/Review our app” popup. This will leave a bad taste in any user’s mouth. When using a rate/review popup, you want to avoid diminishing your app’s UX and inconveniencing your user.
Instead, place your popup in a more opportune place. A popup asking for a rating and a review is the most effective when placed after an action is complete. Going off our last example, this would be after the user finishes a level in the game, or finishes their order.
That way, the popup flows as the user’s experience with the app progresses. The cherry on top to their experience with your app, if you will.
2. MONITOR THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR POPUPS
The popup, although great for asking for a review or rating, is notoriously hated by users. When using this tool to gauge feedback, you need to ensure that you are using it sparingly. You never want to be a pest when it comes to requesting user feedback. You need to find the fine line when requesting ratings/reviews and stay in that sweet spot. In other words, you need to ask yourself: what is too much, what is too little, and what is just enough?
Popups requesting a rating/review are most effective when spaced out. This timing can vary from app-to-app and you need to make the best decision for your audience. When used effectively, a popup can serve as a nice reminder for the user, “Hey, remember me, you enjoy using this app—why not give it some feedback?”
When these requests are spaced out, you have multiple chances to gain feedback from the user. If they deny the first request, with enough time in between asking for another rating/review, they might just change their mind.
If you monitor the frequency that you are asking for these reviews you can potentially generate more feedback.
The golden rule with this: be persistent for feedback, but never be a pest.
3. PROVIDE SOLID CUSTOMER SERVICE
When asking a user to rate or review your app, you are asking them to take time out of their day to fill out your forms. In order to make this a two-way street, it would require solid customer service on your end.
With the App Store changing with Apple’s iOS 11 update, developers or customer service teams are now able to respond to user reviews. This is a great opportunity for an app to show its users that it acknowledges their feedback.
If a user is dissatisfied with an app, it is likely they will leave a low number of stars and a negative review in the App Store. If these particular reviews are left, it is pertinent that you respond and show concern. These responses demonstrate that you’re committed to providing the best user experience possible.
Source: Uber’s App on the App Store
It is also important that your team is responding to positive reviews. If a user sees positive feedback being thanked and appreciated by the customer service team, they might be more motivated to leave more positive reviews themselves.
Either way, that’s more interaction for you and more reviews for your app in the App Store.
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
While those tips and tricks can help generate reviews for your app, the most important thing you can focus on is your UX and UI. A bulk of your reviews will be on the user experience and design you are providing to your user.
If you want to increase the number of reviews you receive that will be positive, this is where you should start! Let your app be noticed for its great UX and UI, and get in contact and hire iOS app developer to help! Codal is listed in app design & development company page in DesignRush.
