How We Increased App Installations by 38%: ASO Case Study for Trainman App

About the Client

Our client, Trainman App is a one-stop destination for all things related to train travel. They are the pioneers of prediction confirmation and train ticket booking with 90% correct predictions. Passengers can use the app to book train ticket, know train schedules, check PNR status, seat availability, coach position, live running status, platform number and even food delivery services in regional Indian languages.

The Challenge

Breaking the monotony of giants in the travel app market Travel being a highly competitive marketplace, most of the popular Government and private apps are available on the Google Play Store. In view of this, the brief provided by the client was to –

Increase keyword ranking for highly competitive keywords such as PNR status, train running status etc.
Increase app installation via organic user download
Tackle stiff competition from travel giants like IRCTC app, Ixigo, RailYatri etc.
Create backlinks even with limited scope for faster discovery of the app
Garner positive app reviews and ratings
Get measurable audience engagement
Increase overall brand exposure

The Solution

Making it easier for targeted users to find the app

Increasing Engagement : Inbound Strategies

Optimized App name or Title, Short description and Long description on the basis of identified keywords
Creating deep links for mobile app screens from the corresponding website pages
Decreased the app size so it can download more quickly on mobile
Decreased the size of the promotional video so the user can grab more information in just a few seconds
Use of ‘Word Phrases’ and ‘More Descriptive Phrases’ to gradually improve probability of conversion
Improving app user interface to ease navigation and drive engagement

Providing Right Information: Content Marketing

Content Development and Optimization – Keywords identified were used to create ‘quality’ content – guest post, articles, blogs, press releases, etc.
Added app links in website pages and blog post content as well
Creation of specific content to address pain points of users. With emphasis on creating authentic content which incorporates keywords naturally
Paid and free app directory submissions for link building
Generating promotional content on Quora to improve app awareness by answering specific and generic user queries

Content Optimization for ASO

App Freshness – optimized app content which can actively reflect user feedback, feature additions, technology upgrades, thus has higher chances of being downloaded
App quality – ensuring the app is updated with new and genuine reviews
Brand scale – consistent content refinement to make sure the app receives added relevance
CTR (Click Through Rate) optimization – thumbnail and images used are regularly optimized. Along with A/B testing each of app store fields to improve this key metric
Optimizing app’s existing user ratings, reviews and engagement
Assessing the role of the website which drives volumes of referral visits directly to the store page, and the app downloads section

The Process Continues –

SEO is a long-term strategy, therefore, ongoing assessment, optimization and testing is undertaken to maintain the momentum and to improve it with time
Results are regularly monitored and analyzed to achieve enhanced outcomes
Quality content is periodically added to match real-time updates to keep the user informed

The Result

Reporting & Analysis

Achieved spectacular results with 63% increase in organic app’s store listing visitors, a 38% increase in organic app installation, a 20% increase in app reviews and 25% growth in app authority from the baseline in a span of just 5 months only.

ASO Parameters	09-Feb-2018 (Baseline)	Mar-18	Apr-18	May-18	Jun-18	Jul-18	Aug-18	Growth in %
App Store Listing Visitors	38,290	44,989	44,810	46,595	48,360	40,944	62,341	63%
App Installation	20,423	22,274	23,255	24,666	25,170	26,361	28,094	38%
App Reviews	70,158	72,100	74,570	70,259	81,149	82,620	84,308	20%
PA (Page Authority)	53	53	57	57	66	66	66	25%

NOTE: The absolute numbers are indexed to facilitate the comparison of growth.

Organic App’s Store Listing Visitors jumped from 38,290 in Feb 2018 showcasing magnificent rise over the months to 62,341 in August 2018.

App Installation jumped from 20,423 in Feb 2018 holding consistent rise over the months to 28,094 in August 2018. App Reviews jumped from 70,158 in Feb 2018 showcasing consistent high over the months to 84,308 in August 2018.

Page Authority (PA) moved from 53 in Feb 2018 to 66 in August 2018 showing an impressive 25% growth.

Keywords Ranking Improvement

Strategic optimization for improved rankings

Initially, started with just 3 keywords ranking in the top 10 results. With time 5 keywords have started ranking in the top 10 results. For instance,

‘PNR status’ which was initially ranking in the 7th position in Feb 2018 moved to 4th position in Aug 2018.
‘Train running status’ ranking in 45th position in Feb 2018 moved to the 7th position in Aug 2018 and so on.

Trainman App	Top 10	3	3	2	2	4	5	5
	11 to 20	1	2	2	3	2	3	5
	21 to 50	3	2	3	2	4	2	–
	51 to 100	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	>100	3	3	3	3	–	–	–
Keywords	Search Volume	09-Feb-2018 (Baseline)	06-Mar-18	02-Apr-18	01-May-18	01-Jun-18	02-Jul-18	07-Aug-18
pnr status	91,40,000	7	7	7	6	6	4	4
train running status	91,40,000	45	29	28	34	12	7	7
live train status	50,00,000	24	16	21	18	20	6	6
train enquiry	33,50,000	26	26	26	35	22	9	10
train ticket	18,30,000	–	–	–	–	23	9	8
check pnr status	5,50,000	7	9	12	12	9	16	14
train pnr status	2,46,000	5	6	7	7	6	19	15
train ticket booking	1,35,000	–	–	–	–	31	17	20
pnr check	1,10,000	15	12	14	13	9	21	16
train booking	90,500	–	–	–	–	28	30	19

Overall Performance

We started with an in-depth analysis of existing app rankings. Next, we built an all-inclusive strategy to incorporate best ASO practices keeping the expectations of the client in mind.

The result is a whopping increase of 38% in app installation in just 6 months. This is both thrilling for the client and a motivator for us to constantly upgrade our benchmark.

With the intention to outcompete its rivals by offering a fully functional and user-centric ASO experience we managed to achieve a 20% increase in app reviews. Thus, driving our efforts to increase traffic and downloads via consistent app awareness and discovery to consistently build external app authority and visibility.

Our app store optimization services helped build credibility as users tend to trust the top 10 results of a Google Play Store more and that’s where the Trainman App stands today.

Here is the client Testimonial: