Play Store Search Results Problem Despite Efforts - Exact Name Ranking Very Low

Android Android Development
1

The app was published about a month ago, and when I do a search for the exact name of the app Turbo Verse it ranks very low 25th at the highest, currently its #92.

I understand the basic SEO rules for the play store (downloads, rankings, compatibility etc.) but I feel this is an anomaly because this is the only app in the entire store that contains the words Turbo and Verse in the title and I can see no reason why it shouldnt be ranked very high for the exact name.

I was thinking it may have something to with the manifest so I will post it below, I have 18 reviews, mostly positive and over 100 downloads.

The full name of the App as it appears in the store is: Turbo Verse KJV - Bible Memory but I am only typing in the first part: Turbo Verse, but when I type the whole name into the search its still ranking about 9 or 10th

here is a direct link https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Turbo%20Verse%20KJV%20-%20Bible%20Memory&c=apps

I would really appreciate any advice, I am a new developer and I would like to learn from my mistakes.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   package="com.turboverse.scripturememory"
   android:versionCode="2"
   android:versionName="1.01" >
   

   <uses-sdk
       android:minSdkVersion="10"
       android:targetSdkVersion="10" />
   
   <application
       android:allowBackup="true"
       android:icon="@drawable/ic_launcher"
       android:label="@string/app_name"
       android:theme="@style/AppTheme"
       android:description="@string/appDescription"
        >
       <activity
           android:name="com.turboverse.scripturememory.MainActivity"
           android:label="@string/app_name"
           android:screenOrientation="portrait"
           android:launchMode="singleTop" >
           <intent-filter>
               <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
               <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
           </intent-filter>
       </activity>
       <activity android:name=".RequestVerse" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".ByReferenceBookList" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".ByTopicList" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".Chapters" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".Verses" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".PlayVerse" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".MyVersesList" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".ChapterVerses" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <activity android:name=".UpdateDownloadVerses" android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
       <service android:name=".TurboVerseService" />
   </application>
   <!-- application android:name="GlobalObjects" android:label="@string/app_name" /-->
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WAKE_LOCK"></uses-permission>
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"></uses-permission>
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"></uses-permission>
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_WIFI_STATE"></uses-permission> 
   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"><group gid="media_rw"></group></uses-permission>
   

   <supports-screens android:resizeable="true"
                     android:smallScreens="true"
                     android:normalScreens="true"
                     android:largeScreens="true"
                     android:xlargeScreens="true"
                     android:anyDensity="true" />

   	
</manifest>
2

If you look at the results from Google Play search, it’s producing a list of apps that include Turbo OR Verse, not Turbo AND Verse.

Google thinks you are typing words out of the dictionary, not names. The words aren’t related, so it’s just giving you a list of everything it can find, mixed together, roughly ordered by popularity, slightly favouring the exact search terms.

Unless you are actively marketing the app, then I suspect that it is unlikely many would be looking for “Turbo Verse”. Even if Google was behaving logically, I wouldn’t expect many people looking for verse apps to associate the word turbo with it. They’d more likely look for some variation of verse, bible and other religious term.

3

I second NeilB: you need to adapt the title of your app. Use keywords that people will use to find somtehing about the bible, ie 'Bible verses easy lookup" or something. I do not think that keywords in your manifest file are used by Google. And you must use keywords in your description of the app.

4

same problem with mine. definitely a shift in results to show broad match instead of exact match