App Store Rankings

What is it?

Prism has two app ranking screens:

• Google Play Store (title Google Play Store Rankings).
• Apple App Store (title Apple App Store Rankings).

They show where an app ranks in store search results for your tracked keywords. Both work like Bing Rankings, with an Overview tab and a Keywords tab, plus an app picker.

Why use it?

• To see if your app moves up or down for important keywords.
• To compare your app with competitor apps.
• To find keywords where your app does not appear at all.

Before you start

You need a Play Store or App Store tracking project. An admin creates it in Project settings. The project form asks for the App ID (Package Name) for Play Store, or the Bundle ID for App Store. App Store tracking only supports country-level locations.

How to use it

1. Open the screen

   In the sidebar, under Search Rankings, click Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

2. Pick the app

   In App to report on, choose Your app or an app listed under Competitors.

3. Set filters and dates

   Pick your project, then Start Date and End Date. Narrow by Select Brand, Category or Sub Category if needed.

4. Read Overview and Keywords

   Check the KPI cards, then open Keywords and expand a row to see the store listing.

Understanding the screen

Filter bar

The filter bar is the same as on the other rank tracking screens, plus the App to report on picker with Your app and Competitors. Each app shows its store icon and name.

Overview tab

A chip reads Rankings for your app or Rankings for competitor. The Comparing chip shows which two dates are compared. The KPI cards and charts are the same as on Bing:

• KPI cards All Keywords, Without Changes, Dropped, Lost, Improved, New Keywords and Average Position, with the same hover text as Google and Bing.
• Ranking Trend, with Top 1, Top 2-3, Top 4-5, Top 6-10 and > 10, plus Avg Pos and Visibility lines.
• Group Wise Ranking, with keyword counts per rank group and date. Click the download icon (hover: Export Excel) to save it as an Excel file.

Keywords tab

• Search with Search keywords… and filter with the buckets All Keywords, Top 3, Trending Up and Trending Down.
• Columns: Keyword, Position, Trend. The position shows as #N, or Not ranked if the app is not in the results. "was #N" is the position at the previous check.
• Expand a row to see the app listing with its title and ⭐ rating, and the Store URL:. If the app is not in the results, you see This app doesn't appear in the store results for this keyword.
• Export downloads the keyword list. Opportunity downloads the opportunity file.

Play Store snapshot

On Google Play Store only, click a position (hover: View the Play Store search page snapshot). Prism opens a new tab with the Play Store search page it saved for that keyword on your end date, or the latest check if you did not pick an end date. The top bar shows "Google Play results for" the keyword and the date.

Understanding the data

Here, position is where the app appears in the store's search results for the keyword. How often new data appears depends on the project's frequency. See Tracking frequency.

Example

For example, you track "budget planner" on Google Play. With Your app picked, it ranks at position 7. You switch to a competitor and see a rival app at position 2 with a higher ⭐ rating. You click the position to open the Play Store page snapshot and compare the listings.

Tips

• Check Lost keywords first. Your app no longer appears for them.
• Review competitor listings in the expanded row for ideas on titles.
• See Keywords and prompt files to change your keyword list.

Common issues