Introduction
In the dynamic world of mobile apps, staying ahead of the competition and making your app stand out is crucial. Maximizing Play Store Custom Store Listings (CSL) is a great strategy that app developers can use to tailor their app’s store listing for specific user segments, optimize ad campaigns, and enhance their Play Store Optimization (ASO) efforts. In this article, we will delve into the world of CSL, exploring its features, guidelines, and the benefits it offers in terms of ASO.
Contents
Custom Store Listings Explained
Custom Store Listings (CSL) bear some resemblance to the App Store’s Custom Product Pages (CPP). However, unlike CPP, CSL allows developers to create up to 50 custom store listing pages. Each page can have its own unique app name, icon, descriptions, and graphic assets. This versatility empowers developers to target specific user segments effectively.
Custom store listings offer the ability to tailor your app’s store listing to specific user segments or those accessing it through a unique custom store listing URL. These listings are particularly valuable for apps with a global audience, enabling you to showcase app features in ways relevant to users in different countries.
Examples of How You Can Make Use of Custom Store Listings
You can highlight features for English Speakers in different countries.
- For example, if you’re trying to market your app in the United States (your primary market) and Singapore, you can create a main store listing in English. And since your primary market is the United States, you can also include celebrities who are popular in the US in your screenshots, for example. Then, create a custom listing for Singapore, that targets its users in Singapore – maybe highlighting features that are popular in Singapore, and maybe also include celebrities that are popular there in your screenshots.
You can use multiple default languages to market your app.
- For example, you have an app that is popular in the US and Latin American Countries. To appeal to users, you can customize your store listing for specific markets. You may create your store listing in English that is designed for both users in the US and global audience, and then provide a custom store listing for Latin American countries in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.
You can highlight features of your app depending on how your users visit your store listing.
- For example, if you have an app that covers different activities, you can create a custom listing for each of the activities to make your store listing more relevant based on what users may be interested in.
Guidelines
Here’s a summary of the key points of the guidelines for creating custom listing on the Play Store:
- Number of Custom Store Listings: You can create up to 50 custom store listings for your app.
- Main Store Listing: Your app’s existing store listing will be its main store listing and which is shown to users in countries that you don’t target with a custom store listing.
- Customizable Elements: For each custom store listing, you can customize the app’s name, icon, descriptions, and graphic assets. As well as your app’s contact details, privacy policy, and app category are shared across all versions of your app’s store listing.
- Custom Store Listing URL: To target users via a unique custom store listing URL, you must provide a string parameter that is unique across all your custom store listings, consisting of lowercase alphanumeric characters and specific symbols [“.”, “-“, “_”, “~”]. The URL format is: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=[packageName]&listing=[parameter].
- Country Targeting: You can target multiple countries with a custom store listing, but each country can only have one custom store listing at a time. For example, if you have a custom store listing for the United States and Canada, you can’t target the United States and Canada with other custom store listings.
- Translations: Custom store listings are not automatically translated. You need to choose a default language when creating them. Unless you add translations for your custom store listings, they will be shown to users in the countries you target in the default language. It’s recommended to add translations for all languages spoken in the targeted countries.
Benefits
Now, let’s explore the benefits of leveraging CSL for ASO.
- Target Specific User Segments: CSL enables you to tailor your app’s presentation to different user segments. By showing relevant information and graphics, you increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining users who find your app most appealing.
- Enhanced Ad Campaign Performance: CSL allows the use of unique listing URLs for each custom store listing. This feature can significantly improve the performance of your ad campaigns. Users who land on a custom store listing optimized for their needs are more likely to convert.
- Integration with GAC: Integration of CSL with GAC (Google Ad Campaign) makes users of Google ads directly come to the custom store listing.
ASO Benefits
- Better Conversion: Targeted store listings help users understand the essence of your app or game quickly. This leads to better conversion rates as users are more likely to download an app they understand.
- Better Organic Performance: Integrating CSL with Google Ad Campaigns and deep embedded to other ad channels bring users with higher Lifetime Value (LTV). This translates into more downloads, higher CVR. This would have a positive push on Play Store resulting in higher impression and category ranking, eventually improving organic performance.
Conclusion
In the ever-competitive world of mobile apps, Play Store Custom Store Listings offer an exciting avenue for enhancing your ASO and achieving overall app growth. With the ability to create up to 50 customized pages, target specific user segments, and integrate with Google Ad Campaigns, CSL provides a powerful toolset at your disposal – and the best part is, it’s free! So, why not explore the possibilities of CSL and give your app the competitive edge it deserves? Start creating custom store listings today and watch your app’s performance soar in the Play Store.
