#42 - Build A Successful Shopify App - New App Store 🚀

Shopify did it again. New update impacting Shopify App Founders.

They released a new Shopify App Store algorithm severely impacting WideBundle (and maybe some of you).

For over a year, WideBundle oscillated between the 2nd and 5th positions for our most important keyword, “bundles”.

Less than 2 weeks ago, we lost 5 positions overnight. 😱

And today, after announcing the new Shopify App Store algorithm, I lost 8 more positions.

We went from 2nd to 15th for our most important keyword. In less than 2 weeks.

I’m not gonna lie, it HURTS! 🙁

What if I was relying only on the App Store? My app would be dead.

That’s why I told you last week to diversify your channels (if you didn’t read the previous email you can do it by clicking here)

I will show you exactly the update's impact on my app WideBundle.

This is the breakdown of how people found WideBundle in the last 7 days. The % of installs coming from Shopify App Store 2 days ago (and what we had on average the previous week).

12% for the Shopify App Store

And now this is today:

From 12% to 7%. And only if it’s a “5%” difference. When you have 62 installs per day, that’s 93 installs per month.

I spent this weekend in a hotel for 2 days straight where the goal was to optimize the code of WideBundle.

If you remember, we lost our badge “speed tested” and it’s a bit annoying, pushing me to optimize my code sooner.

I don’t have much time to code with everything I have to do in the company. I have a team to manage, emails, DMs, problems to handle, accounting, etc.

And it can be hard to focus, so what I did was simple:

I booked a beautiful hotel from Friday to Monday and I cut all notifications for the weekend. I then coded all day on the app.

These kinds of sessions are great for accomplishing a lot quickly. I also asked the hotel to bring the dishes directly into the room and they were delicious 👇😋

For this newsletter I will share with you 6 tips to get a successful launch with your Shopify App.

And it’s even more important today because, in the new App Store algorithm change, Shopify wants to push new apps if they start to have traction.

It means that if your app is trendy, you’ll get a boost from Shopify. That’s why you should optimize your app's launch and early days.

1) Don’t add too many features

Provide only a few features and then let your users bring ideas on what you should build.

2) Ask for reviews again and again

The secret to getting more reviews is to ask for more. We applied a new strategy that worked well:

We ask users to leave a review and if they don’t do it or don’t reply we add a follow-up so we can send them a message again. We do the same thing for the people who can’t leave a review because they have the error message.

Do the same with all the users who install your app. Proactively contact them even before they do it.

3) Target long-tail keywords

If you have an upsell app you don’t need to go for the keyword “Upsell” because it’s too competitive. You can start with smaller keywords to get installs and then you can change your keywords

4) Target specific countries

It’s a great way to avoid the noise. Instead of trying to be the “best” upsell app. Try to be the best upsell app for [COUNTRY]. You’ll get more merchants from this country and Shopify will push your app to more merchants.

That’s what we did for WideBundle with French market.

5) Get early users before launching

That is my most important advice. Before launching on the app store try to get early users so the moment you launch you can immediately get reviews. It’s a HUGE signal for Shopify.

6) Launch with an influencer

This can also be a huge boost. You contact many of them, offer them a big % and promote the app with them so you get early users.

Tomorrow at 6:00pm GMT, Tobi (Shopify’s CEO) will host a Twitter space. You’ll be able to ask all your questions: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1zqJVPbdNmVKB/peek

See you next week,

Mat 😁