5 Reasons to A/B Test Your App Store Product Page
By: Lina Danilchik
Tags: Mobile App Development, A B Testing, App Store Optimization, App Store, Mobile Marketing

When competition in the app stores is tougher than ever, you might be looking for a nontrivial solution to draw the attention of users and get more downloads for your mobile app.

Search no more. The solution is here: A/B testing your app store product page, which means experimenting with various options of your app’s name, icon, screenshots and other components on the App Store and Google Play.

Why do I need to A/B test my app’s product page on app stores?

1. Learn Your Audience

How does your app look in app stores? You invested so much effort into creating a product page on the App Store and Google Play, analyzed and picked out the best keywords, wrote a catchy description and selected screenshots at your discretion. But no one comes to see all this beauty on your page, let alone downloading your app. Why does this happen?

A/B testing will help you find answers to these and many other questions. Testing your app store product page with a tool like SplitMetrics, tailored to such needs, will open up new opportunities for you. Experiments with the app’s name, icon, screenshots, video frame and subtitles will reveal what attracts users and motivates them to take action (download your app). Consequently, you will adjust your product page elements to target users’ preferences.

2. Increase the Number of Downloads

This is probably one of the most stirring items. The word conversion makes the heart of every marketer beat faster, and within the context of mobile marketing if we do not take in-app purchases into account, app downloads from your app store product page is one of the major goals to focus on.

A/B testing your app’s product page on the App Store or Google Play will enable you to increase its conversion rate. Thanks to experiments you know what works for your potential users and can adjust all the elements to encourage them to press the download button when they are on your app store product page.

3. Improve Conversion Rate from Search

The more relevant your product page elements are, the greater the chance that users will tap on your app when they see it in search results on the App Store or Google Play, or even better, download it right from search.

With the help of A/B testing you are able to check what variations of your title, subtitle and screenshots are relevant for your target audience and which ones do not meet user expectations. You will easily understand: if your app is shown to 1000 users and only 1% of them tap on it, something must be wrong. Furthermore, if you do nothing about it, your app will be lowered in the App Store rankings. Alternatively, relevant and attractive elements of your app’s product page will contribute to increase of conversion rate from search.

4. Use Data to Validate Ideas

A/B testing enables you to exclude guesswork and feel absolutely confident about all concepts you offer for the App Store creatives. Just brainstorm with the team, select a few options and test them with the A/B testing tool.

You will quickly find out which options perform better without spending hours arguing about various ideas with your teammates. So, A/B testing saves you time, money and headache. What is more, it provides you with solid grounds for decision-making when it comes to editing an app store product page.

5. Boost Revenue

Whether your mobile app makes money through in-app advertising, purchases or subscriptions, encouraging users to download the app is your number one priority. A/B testing your app store product page helps you to understand what your target audience likes (and dislikes) and attract as many target users as possible.

The more target users you attract, the more profit your make. Rovio, Finnish game developer, with the help of A/B testing before the Angry Birds 2 launch managed to select best screenshot combination that increased the conversion rate by 13%. That meant 2.5 million additional downloads of the game within a week and significant revenue growth. So, on top of all other benefits, A/B testing your app store page will enable you to raise profits.

OK, got it. What exactly should I test on the App Store / Google Play product page?

There is actually plenty of room for experiments. You can A/B test the app’s name (title), subtitle, screenshots (fonts, colors, characters), video, icon and even localization. A good practice is to test various product page elements for different storefronts: you may be surprised how something works perfectly for one country and does not work at all for another.

Let’s take a look at some elements you can A/B test and specific benefits it could potentially bring to you.

Screenshots

Screenshots is the number one factor that directly affects the app’s tap-through-rate and conversions. Relevant and catchy screenshots may help you hit the bull’s eye and enhance user engagement.

Paper, mobile app for sketching by WeTransfer, got impressive 33% increase in downloads after A/B testing its App Store product page screenshots. Experiments with the screenshots’ colors, order and text localization revealed that the more diverse screenshots are, the bigger the chance that your app will attract users. What is more, the testing showed that screenshots’ localization for the targeted country turns out to be a real driving force for improving the conversion rate.

Another noteworthy case concerns world-famous AI-based app Prisma. The app’s screenshots optimization on the App Store product page following a number of A/B testing experiments triggered almost 20% conversion increase.

Icons

Icon is the face of every app, so it is important that you choose the one that is engaging and captures the essence of your application. Icon’s A/B testing and slightest design change may show amazing results: Mallzee, British fashion shopping app, achieved 10% conversion boost after experimenting with several icon options. What is more, experiments showed that rejecting ineffectual icon options can help you avoid up to 25% reduction in conversion rate. So, A/B testing helps you to not only improve your app’s performance on the App Store, but also prevent disastrous consequences of bad choices.

One more inspiring example. App Family Kids, Swedish developer of apps for children, managed to double its app’s downloads along with revenue after A/B testing icon options and choosing the most effective one for the Google Play product page. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?

Video and Localization

MSQRD, renowned photo and video app developed by eponymous company acquired by Facebook in 2016, leveraged the A/B testing potential to its fullest extent.

The company tested the app’s screenshots with and without localization for various countries. Experiments revealed the substantial advantage of localizing application in terms of not only content but also context.

Another important lesson you can learn by example of MSQRD: try adding video along with screenshots to your app store product page. Then create several video previews that would grab user attention and finally A/B test them. This lifehack increased MSQRD’s conversion rate by 13% meaning thousands of more downloads. However, be careful: latest research shows that two and more videos published on your app store product page decrease the conversion rate.