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5 simple tips to get your app indexed on Google Play

Nika Grigorieva
Nika Grigorieva
Nika Grigorieva
Nika Grigorieva
ng@asodesk.com
All articles by author
Published: 06.05.2019
Updated: 11.09.2020
4 min read

Developers care a lot for their product to appear more frequently in application stores’ search results. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to do some proper work on the product’s ASO. Competent approach towards ASO optimization can affect Google Play indexing and getting more queries from the search listing.

There are many ways to improve your product’s indexing, but in this particular article we are going to review the topic of application URLs in Google Play.

Here’s an example of a URL:

Google Play url

This link allows users to see app’s description, screenshots, feedback, and other materials. In order to create a URL, you will need the full package name that has to be inserted instead of the <package_name> fragment. Using it appropriately can positively affect application ranking in the search listing.

We offer you 5 <package_name> indexing life hacks on Google Play that will help the app gets additional traffic from search results.

Short-Tail Keywords

Add popular short-tail keywords that a lot of people using when they search on Google Play. Adding popular keywords gives the app the possibility to get more traffic from search.

Example: Mi Fit application developers inserted “Health” keyword into the package name.

Google Play ASO
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xiaomi.hm.health&hl=en_US
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xiaomi.hm.health&hl=en_US

If you aren’t ready for high competition by short-tail keywords, you should consider using long-tail keywords. You will get less traffic from them, but chances of getting to the top with their help are much higher, than without them.

Example: My Café game app developers included “coffeeshop” keyword in the app link. Even though this keyword is absent in the title and description, the application has a high position on Google Play search by it.

My Cafe, Google Play
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.melesta.coffeeshop&hl=en_USSource: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.melesta.coffeeshop&hl=en_US
My Cafe, Google Play
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.melesta.coffeeshop&hl=en_US

Top Competitor Name

Add the name of a popular competitor into the <package_name> segment to reinforce your positions in search listings by it.

Example: Guide for COC 2019 — a guide for Clash of Clans, one of the most popular mobile games. Its developers included “clashofclans” into the package name to show up in the top results by this query.

Example 1:

Source:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greypixelapps.guide.clashofclans&hl=en_US
Source:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greypixelapps.guide.clashofclans&hl=en_US

Example 2: Sweet Candy Forest app developers are using the same technique: they include the name of their main competitor — Candy Crush — into the package name.

Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.candy.world.crush.jam.free&hl=en_US
Sweet Candy Forest
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.candy.world.crush.jam.free&hl=en_US

Subcategory Name

Using the name of game type, to which your product is related. It will make your app appearing more frequently in the search listing.

Cake Match 3 Mania
Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.match3.cakemaker&hl=en_US

Developer Name

Another way of affecting Google Play ranking is using a developer’s name in the <package_name>.

Example: Netflix includes developer name in all of its applications’ package names. This improves these applications’ ranging by the main and highly popular “Netflix” query.

It is important to analyze the semantic core of your product and competitors ahead of time and find the relevant and necessary keywords. First of all, this helps understanding, which of them is more suitable for use in the package name. Secondly, after publishing the application, switching to a different name leads to an absolutely different application that can’t be installed as an update to the already existing one. We believe that not many are ready to take on such changes.

Developers of the applications described above have used these hacks; it shows that they have made a precise keyword analysis before releasing apps. Adding short-tail or long-tail keywords, competitor name or subcategory name into the package name means that these words are well indexed.

Here with, by following these simple advice, a developer gets a good opportunity to improve search ranking on the Play Store.

More useful tools that help you to improve your visibility in stores you can find on ASOdesk.

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Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
Julia Suliagina
is@asodesk.com
Asodesk Content Manager. She writes newsletters and articles in blog. Make all complex topics in ASO easy and interesting.
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Alexander Vereshchagin
avtrener@gmail.com
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