app promotion summit - mobile app indexing - london 2016

What you need to know about Firebase App-Indexing

David Iwanow

• Involved in search since 2007• Focused on

• App-Indexing• App-Store Optimisation• App Download Campaigns• Responsive Design• Technical SEO

• SEO Product Manager since July 2013

Who is this guy?

Joining BlueGlass London as Director of Strategy

Who is this guy?

#APSLondon @Davidiwanow

Google App-Indexing becomes Firebase App-Indexing


• Introduction• Technical implementation• Meta tags/API/XML Sitemap

• Common Pitfalls• Errors to expect• Results achieved with App-Indexing• Increased app activity• App-installs• Increased visibility

• What’s next?

App-Indexing topics covered in my session


Introduction to why App-Indexing

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(SWAP IN YOUR OWN AS NEEDED)

Photo Credit: eGuide Travel

Current Play Store search experience could be better

Often you can easily be confused when looking for the official app.

It is not a bad thing to have multiple apps but often the distinction isn’t clear.


Current Play Store search experience could be better

Sometimes it’s just too much effort to work out which app you would need to do something simple.


Sometimes you want something specific

But which is the best app for your task you would usually do on the website?


Part of the issues is that apps get forgotten about

Google state that most users don’t use all the 36 apps that they have installed 75% of the time and 1/3 only gets used once.


App Indexing cuts out several steps in the process

You can now search via Google to see if you already have the app installed and open from the SERPs.


Why I think it’s importantPhoto Credit: Stef

App-Indexing has deep integration with Google SERPs


Process for users is fairly simple…

Do you have the

app?

Yes

Open in App

No

Install App Open Website

• About 48 hours for App-Indexing results to show for users after downloading your app

• Users that re-engage with your app they are less likely to uninstall

• Users that re-engage are less likely to use a competitor.


You can get these types of branded results

• For branded traffic then App-Indexing can be a lifeline

• Users don’t see aggregators or affiliates now

• CTR is not as high as I would hope depending on the query but it’s great for branding


Which result would capture your attention?

There are three main benefits to App-Indexing

• Branding• Personalisation• Ranking Improvement


Remember that App-Indexing can influence ranking

You can think of App-Indexing as personalised results on steroids!

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App Indexing Technical Implementation Guide



Photo Credit: eefeewahfah

Enabling App-Indexing - Meta Tags

<link rel="alternate" href="android-app://com.app.summit/day/2/?country=uk&language=en" />

Pros:• Check pages trying to index• Done easily without app updatesCons:• 2 week delay in crawling and showing

in SERPs• Competitors can see what pages you

are trying to index• Custom scheme URLs are supported

but are discouraged


App-Indexing API

Pros:• Linked to user actions within your

app (engagement)• Competitors can’t see what pages

you are App indexing at scale• App shows in auto suggest• Ready to use Now on TapCons:• Support from your mobile

developers to update your app


Add Deep Links to your XML Sitemap

Pros:• All your URLs are in one place

you want Google to crawlCons:• You might have to rebuild your

websites XML Sitemap logic• Sitemaps are prone to

breaking• Your sitemaps just grew bigger


Which option should you do?

My perception on impact

Meta Tags XML Sitemap API

• Google Suggests you want to do at least 2 out of 3 to get the most impact from App-Indexing.

• My personal preference is using Meta Tags and supported by App-Indexing API

• Diagnosing errors with API is tougher and if you screw up something you need to release an app update.


Common Pitfalls of App-Indexing



Photo Credit: Ray Forster

App Indexing will create 404 pages in your app

• Not all apps were built to support Deep Linking but that will change over time

• App may not have previously needed 404 error pages

• It may surface a lot more edge cases previously ignored by devs


Consider what is the user experience?

• Your app probably doesn’t have a lot of pages your desktop site has

• App load time is now much more of an issue as load time wasn’t measured

• How would you deal with universal links?

Photo Credit: César.Gutiérrez #APSLondon

@Davidiwanow

What crawl tools or crawl errors you can expect?



Photo Credit: James Marvin PhelpsPhoto Credit: Christian Heilmann

Fetch as Google to Test your App Indexing

Custom search console for App Indexing that allows you to fetch deep links.

Two options for testing the links:1) Google Play APK2) Upload your APK



As per desktop fetch as Google you can drill into your URL to see a more detailed report.

You can see here is a successful crawl resulted in the page rendering correctly.



Please make sure you actually check how Google views your app page.

Items such as popups for Googlebot creates crawling issues.

Googlebot is getting smarter but don’t make it too hard for them!


Control Indexing (Android only option)

You can exclude specific pages from the App-Indexing or app notifications from showing in App search results

Create a noindex.xml file and reference the noindex.xml in your app’s AndroidManifest.xml file


Crawl Status Reports help understand traction

Number of App-Indexing pages indexed is continuing to grow.

Pages with errors as that will hold your App-Indexing performance back.

Be aware the error reporting in the crawl dashboard is not the most accurate or current.


Crawl Status Reports help you understand failures

Number of App Indexed Pages does have an impact on your App-Indexing performance

The number of pages with errors has a negative impact on your App-Indexing performance


• Package not found – Google couldn’t find your APK in Google Play Store

• Url unsupported – failed to launch the application• Content mismatch – text doesn’t have to be identical but topic

should be the same and user should be able to accomplish same task as on web

• Overused URLs – You screwed up and mapped all the URLs to one page

• Back button violation – requires that a user be able to click back to SERPs

• Removed from index – pages in your app that don’t meet standards

Major App Crawl Errors


adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -c android.intent.category.BROWSABLE -e android.intent.extra.REFERRER_NAME android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/https/www.examplepetstore.com -d http://examplepetstore.com/host_path com.examplepetstore.android

Tracking App-Indexing with Search Referrals


Tracking App-Indexing with TUNE


Tracking App-Indexing with Firebase


Results achieved with App-IndexingPhoto Credit: Chip Idz

App-Indexing via API has some benefits


Remind users they have your app installed


App-Indexing helps with branding a bit


Having trouble ranking for locations?


Having trouble ranking for head terms?


Prompt users to open your app to answer their query


If users already have your app they have a seamless experience into your app.

This can be important if you haven’t yet built a responsive website or your responsive website experience is lacking features your app already has.

Process when they have your app installed

Blue Arrow Icon Credit: designed by Freepik.com


Shown if you are doing app indexing but the user doesn’t yet have the app installed

You can only track clicks on button and not installs

Clicking currently shifts you away to the Play store but it seems Google is testing keeping them in the SERPs

Bonus feature App-Indexing Install Widget

Blue Arrow Icon Credit: designed by Freepik.com


Results observed with App-Indexing



Photo Credit: James Marvin PhelpsPhoto Credit: Bart Heird

Not as many searches end with a click on install button

Source: Google Search Console (excluding Tablets)


• A larger app install base means potentially more people may see App-Indexing results

• Can be supported by• App download campaigns• ASO campaigns

• App-Indexing traffic can also be influenced by

• Competitors• AdWords

Remember App-Indexing doesn’t live in a silo



• Typically the Install Button link has the highest visibility

• App-Indexing results don’t always show higher than other organic results

• App-Indexing results don’t always show to all users

App-Indexing organic visibility can be volatile



• Good App-Indexing results can show an average +1.01 to +1.52 higher position in SERPs

• Great App-Indexing results can show an average +2.51 to +3.88 higher position in SERPs

What does App-Indexing results look like?



Individual keywords results not as significant

Average Position for Top 15 App Terms

Source: Google Search Console


Do iOS users know what to do with App-Indexing?

It was something of a myth floating around that iOS users don’t know what App-Indexing is and would never click the app result.

The number is lower but the average position it’s shown is also slightly lower.



When does install app button appear?

Almost all the times your app install button will be showing will be on brand terms.

Low amount of impressions but it’s interesting just how many competitors you show with and what competitors and what CTR you can get on install button.

App Install Button Clicks



CTR install button is higher on brand terms

Brand Brand App Brand App Download

App Brand Brand Download

Brand Install

Brand 1 Brand 2

The strength of your brand impact both the search volume but also the CTR of the following terms• Brand download• Brand install



Always make sure you use the country filter

I found that your data quality is heavily affected if you don’t use the country filter.

This makes analysis for global apps more time consuming but the output is far more accurate.


A Global View on App-Indexing Visibility



Photo Credit: Chris Devers

SearchMetrics has an App visibility report

You have to setup mobile search engines for each OS and tablet & mobile.

You can then define your app and the benchmark apps (competitors) that you want to monitor.


SearchMetrics are surfacing some insights

It’s now possible to gain a bit more insight on how your app is performing compared to your competitors.

The setup of what keywords and competitors to track is still a bit clunky but with more data I’m sure this will improve with the addition of suggested keywords/competitors to include.


What’s next?



Photo Credit: Ray Wewerka

• Google App-Indexing for iOS9+ requires implementation of Universal Links

• Previously it only showed for logged-in Chrome users now it will show for logged-in Safari users

• Going forward iOS App-Indexing doesn’t require meta tagging just requires app-to-site association

• Google App-Indexing will drop support for older iOS7-8

Google App-Indexing for iOS supports iOS9+


App Only SERPs are coming to a device near you


App-Indexing will expand as adoption increases

• Search results could be influenced by other users with similar apps.

• Search results could be influenced by users with similar devices

• Competitors might be shown less if users more engaged within your app

• Desktop experience could be influenced by your mobile app usage


Play Store & Android Apps coming to Chromebooks

Around mid-June 2016 Google Play will start rolling out across• Acer Chromebook R11 / C738T• Asus Chromebook Flip• Google Chromebook Pixel (2015)With more Chromebooks supported later in 2016


Progressive Web Apps blur Native & Apps

• Progressive Web Apps• Offline features• Offline storage• Add web app to home screen• Access your phone’s camera• Push notifications• Supported by Chrome & Firefox• Requires HTTPs• Google could show them in Play

App store


Thank You!

app promotion summit - mobile app indexing - london 2016

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