Amongst the many announcements made at its 2015 I/O Conference, Google
has taken the wraps off a handful of improvements designed to help
developers attract more traffic to their app listings and convert more
visits into downloads. The two biggest features are A/B testing for
listings and an improved developer page experience.
Google will now
allow 'Experiments' from the developer console, which let developers
choose up to three alternative sets of graphics and text descriptions
for their app listings. These alternative listings will be shown to some
visitors, and statistics about engagement and installs will be shown to
developers so that they can determine which version of the listing was
most appealing and effective, thereby optimising potential. According to
Google, some developers achieved double-digit install rate improvements
in a pilot program conducted prior to the announcement.
(Also see: Google Play Gets Family Sections; Saw 50 Billion App Installs in a Year)
Developer
pages are also to be overhauled with a large banner graphic, company
logo, descriptive text and improved catalogue display. Companies will
also be able to feature one app or update prominently on their page to
drive traffic. Those with lots of apps in the Play Store will benefit
the most, and will be able to use their developer page as a homepage to
promote all offerings in one place.
(Also see: Android M: Top New Features in the Next Major Android Release)
Google stated that it intends
to make developer homepages more prominent and easier to find. One way
to do this will be the creation of sections based on broad interests
such as shopping, with subsections such as coupon apps and fashion apps.
These will appear in search results to increase the chances of users
discovering new and unfamiliar apps that suit their requirements.
(Also
see: Google Maps to Get New Offline Search, Turn-by-Turn Navigation
Features)
There
will also be a new easy way for people to discover family-friendly apps
and content. A new star icon will lead users to a section highlighting
apps approved for the Designed for Families program, sorted by suitable
age ranges.
To further boost user acquisition, developers will be
able to create and roll out ad campaigns right from the developer
console. Only a budget needs to be set, after which Google will scale
the campaign out across all its properties including Google Search,
AdMob, YouTube and new Google Play search ads.
(Also
see: Android M's Google 'Now on Tap' Will Provide Contextual Info
Within Apps on Demand)
Developers will
also be able to submit apps for testing across a wide variety of actual
Android devices that they otherwise would not have access to. Given the
fragmentation in terms of screen size, resolution, CPU power and OS
version, developers would be able to identify and fix real-world issues
that would otherwise not be identified till someone encountered them and
complained.
Full coverage of Google I/O 2015
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