Tips to increase your mobile app conversion rate in a Japanese store within 30 minutes
Did you know why you should localize your app in Japanese in order to increase your application conversion rate in Japan? If you seek to attract new users in Japan, this article will guide you on what you need to do first and foremost.
In Japan, 45 of the 50 top apps in the Free category in the Japan App Store have localized listings in Japanese. If your app is not localized in Japanese, it is very unlikely to be featured or reach the top of the charts.
Japan has been included in the top 10 highest earning markets for mobile apps by combining App Store and Google Play Store. In Japan, total mobile game and app revenue came second globally, reaching approximately 18.6 billion dollars in 2021, up 18 percent year over year from 15.8 billion dollars.
Significantly, your application is localized in Japanese in order to rank well in the App Store and Google Play Store. Not only can this enhance conversion from impression to download but optimizing your app store listing will also improve your software’s discoverability. Localization will also increase your chances of being featured and ranking for more relevant keywords.
There are many tactics that you can use to increase your conversion rate, but here, we will mainly discuss how to localize your app in Japanese effectively.
Localize your app in Japanese
It is crucial to understand your users. Therefore, to start improving your mobile app, simply follow these steps:
1.Translate the name of your App
The first thing users see on your application needs to capture their attention so they would be interested to find out more. People will be more interested in your app if its title is written in Japanese in Japan. Because you need to be aware that all Japanese people would not be familiar with English. Thus it is a good start to change your title to Japanese.
When localizing your app store listing in Japan for App Store or Google Play Store, the most important thing you need to remember is that all of the entry fields have the same character restriction as to the English store listings. This may not appear significant, but it is what makes the ability to optimize an app in Japanese so powerful.
App Store cuts off the app’s title after 30 to 40 characters. This could only be four or five words in English, but it is considerably longer in Japanese. Because Japanese grammar does not use spaces and words can be as short as one or two characters, 30 characters is a significant amount of space. But you need to consider that, for the App Store, if the number of characters is 9 or more, the name will be omitted with “….”. Therefore, if you set a keyword at the beginning of the app name, important keywords will not be omitted, and it will be more likely to be noticed by the user.
However when translating your application title into Japanese,
there is one thing you need to be careful!
The Japanese writing system consists of three different character sets: Kanji, Hiragana, and Katagana. Therefore, when researching keywords, you may discover that some terms of words you assumed would have high search traffic have a low volume. It is important to know what keywords are users using when searching for apps that are similar to yours.
For example, when you do some search using the keyword of “モンスター” it is written in Katagana, meaning “monster” in English. It is the most popular keyword and has the highest monthly downloads. The word ‘もんすたー’ is written in Hiragana, and while it is pronounced the same in Japanese, it has an entirely different search volume and different ranking list. The Kanji for the monster,” 化け物,” also has minimal search volume. When establishing your list of relevant keywords, be sure to focus on high-volume phrases that will result in more app views and downloads. It is not just a job of translating a language; it is a task that requires translation that corresponds to the local people’s view.
2. Description
As I mentioned above, all Japanese people does not familiar with English. Therefore, in order to target all Japanese people, your app’s description should be written in Japanese. Surprisingly, according to the statistic, in Japan, only 2% of people on the App Store and 5% on Google Play see the whole game description. As a result, you need to pay more attention to the first paragraph to capture the user’s attention. But you still need to make an effort on your whole description to explain the app more clearly.
- App description on Google Play Store
Developers of Android-enabled apps should focus on the app description section of the Google Play store. There are two types of description fields in the Google Play store, short and long. Please make the explanation natural and easy to understand in both explanation columns while including keywords. This is because Google also searches for keywords in the description field.
By using the important keyword 5 times in the app name and description field, the search algorithm of Google Play will judge that the keyword and the app are highly related. So do not forget to make good use of your main keywords. You can also use a variety of formats and emojis in the description section of the Google Play Store. Make good use of these features, blanks, bullets, etc., to make your description eye-catching and easy to read. Furthermore, including the user’s review or awards of your app at the beginning of the app description is also one way to catch the attention of new users.
- App description on App Store
The iOS App Store does not search for keywords used in the app description field, but it is not a good idea for iOS developers to cut corners here. By explaining the features of the app in the first three lines, people who see the preview screen of the app store understand what the app is like.
3. Images and Videos
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Images can be a powerful way to capture users’ attention and differentiate your app. They are more than decoration and have the power to make or break a user experience. Therefore, it is also significant to translate the words or content in your images into Japanese. According to Store Maven, the preview video and images show that the install rate increased by 23%. Therefore, it is essential to deliver the content and functionality to users in the mother tongue.
4. Writing App store listing
Lastly, if you want to translate your description or content by yourself, we have a translation tool that can help you translate your application into Japanese.
- DeepL : Enter any sentences or paragraphs into this tool and get the translation in Japanese. You can also translate any files by using this software.
But before you update your app store listing, keep in mind that when localizing your software for Japanese, or any other language that you don’t speak, it is always better to hire a native speaker to proofread and evaluate your translations. Even the most advanced translation tools, among other things, are unable to detect context, formality, and other tendencies in colloquial English.
References
https://sensortower.com/blog/per-capita-app-spending-q1-q3-2021
https://iphone.308413110.com/ranking/TopSalesApp/Game/
https://app.sensortower.com/ios/rankings/top/iphone/japan/all-categories?date=2022-05-24
https://jp.gamesindustry.biz/article/1611/16110402/
https://repro.io/contents/app-store-optimization-aso-app-name-and-keywords/
https://repro.io/contents/app-store-optimization-tips-and-checklist-2017/