More than 70% of app downloads come from searches within the Apple App Store and Google Play, according to Gummicube, a provider of software, data and services for mobile marketing and app store optimization. This means that implementing apps store SEO so consumers finding an app is critical to winning an audience in the mobile market.

Just as it is important to rank high in Google search results on the web and mobile web in order for a brand to get noticed, app teams also need to employ SEO and other tactics to get discovered in app stores. That means app developers and others need to pay attention to the details that move them up in app store results, says David Bell, CEO of Gummicube,

Mobile Strategies 360 is working with Gummicube on a custom monthly analysis of search terms and top-ranking apps in app stores based on various app categories.  Gummicube’s Datacube software tracks the apps, features and search terms that are trending in every category of the App Store and Google Play globally.  Datacube not only examines current trends but also long-term statistical data related to user app store behavior, trends and search.

On January 19, Gummicube tracked apps in the Games categories in the Apple App Store and Google Play for the Mobile Strategies 360/Gummicube Monthly App Store Search Index. The app category will change each month.

According to digital good measurement company Superdata Research Inc. mobile gaming is big business. The worldwide mobile game market is worth an estimated $24.7 billion as of 2015. That’s compared to the PC gaming market valuation of $36.3 billion and console games, which generate $3.6 billion in annual revenue, according to Superdata.

As 2016 dawned, game developers seemed to be looking backwards. “In January, dozens of game developers released a variety of games that resembled those of the ’80s and ’90s,” Bell says.

The retro 8Bit look of game spans a vast market of games, from long-form adventure role-playing games (Also known as RPGs) to quick arcade-style games. Among the retro game app type, users are searching for features such as “Platformer,” a style of video game that involves moving a character through series of obstacles, and “8Bit RPG,” a style of role-playing game that uses the 8Bit pixelated look.

The following gaming apps ranked highest in Games category search results in the stores for Jan. 19:

1. Lifeline

2. Color Switch

3. Piano Tiles 2

4. World Chef

5. Pocket Mortys

6.  Racing in Car

7.  Candy Crush Jelly Saga

8.  Swing

9.  Episode

10.  Cops & Robbers!

Top app store Games category search terms on Jan. 19 are:

1. Candy Crush

2. Game Center

3. Trivia Crack

4. Angry Birds

5. Puzzle Game

6.  Walking Dead

7.  Real Money

8.  Mortal Kombat

9.  Black Ops

10.  Crush Saga

When thinking about SEO for apps, it is important to note app store SEO is quite different from web SEO, Bell says.

One example is setting up and maintaining app store SEO. In the Apple App Store, there are three key sources of metadata that developers control that Apple uses to determine search rankings and results: app words and terms that define the app (up to 100 characters), title (up to 255 characters) and description. In Google Play, these sources are: title (up to 30 characters), short description and long description.  Android does not have a set character limit for the descriptions.

The Apple App Store indexes the app title, defining app words and terms and then description, in that order of priority, to determine search rankings, Bell says. Its algorithm understands not only the individual words and phrases that consumers use to search for specific apps in the app store but also the phrases associated with those individual words. Apple then looks at the rate of consumers tapping into a particular app in search results to determine if an app moves up or down in rankings for specific words and terms.

Google Play indexes the app title, short description and long description, in that order of priority.  Its algorithm reads the text and assigns an app to search terms and phrases based on the description and the rate at which consumers tap into a particular app for each search word or phrase.

It is important to be consistent with terms across all the metadata fields the app stores look at as well as in app design, Bell notes. “If you are a travel app targeting the term ‘summer vacations’ make sure that this phrase carries through into your other metadata and creative to maximize conversion,” Bell says. “Don’t present pictures of Alaska cruises.” He also says it is important for brands to keep an eye on everything they rank for—not just the individual and phrases that they are targeting. “This gives you clues as to how the stores merchandise your app and what is or is not working,” Bell says.

Digging deeper into specific types of mobile app games, top 8Bit RPG games in app store search results on Jan. 19 are as follows:

1. 8-Bit RPG Creator

2. Pixel Starship

3. 8-Bit RPG Creator Basic

4. Buff Knight – RPG Runner

5. Gurk III – the 8-bit RPG

6. Ridiculous RPG

7. Fairune

8. 8-Bit Baseball

9. Buff Knight – RPG Runner (Paid version)

10. Hunger Quest – Puzzle RPG

Top Platformer games in app store search results on Jan. 19 were:

1. There Is No Pause Button!

2. Random Heroes

3. Aerox

4. Reaper – Tale of a Pale Swordsman

5. Pixel Wizard – 2d Platform RPG

6. Random Heroes 2

7. Platform Panic

8. Crazy Hedgy – Beat ’em up 3D Platformer

9. SUPER BIT WORLD : 2D Jump Platformer X Free

10. Mega Run – Redford’s Adventure

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