The iphone has remained popular ever since its launch a few years back, what they brought to the market that hadn’t really been seen before was downloadable apps. Now with the iphone 4S and the Ipad 2 apps are one of the hottest new additions to smart phones. You can get apps on android and blackberry and most of the other major smart phones. Applications are growing in popularity every day and there is a lot of money to be made from the appstore. Even selling apps for as little as $1 sales can easily keep into the millions making their publishers a fortune overnight. At our SEO company we have had the pleasure of marketing a few iPhone apps ourselves, here is what we have learnt from the marketing of iphone apps.

Link building to your own site is important, but not as important as with traditional seo. Rather than trying to get your site to the top of Google you should spend the time marketing your app in the right places. While it is important to show up in search results when people search google for “sms backup app” it will be the reviews on iphone sites that sway them or the forum threads you are mentioned in Most of the time they will be searching for the app on their device so you need your app to show up there.

Contact every reviewer you can and every site you can that includes video bloggers and app listing websites. Get your application reviewed on every available site, send them codes to download the app for free so they can review it. This is where people are going to be swayed into downloading your app. A good review from a top site can see an apps popularity spike in hours. If you can become a featured app that’s even better. Offering a few free copies in competitions can also drive interest and buzz about your app.

There isn’t really a way to optimise your way to the top of the app store. Other than the correct keywords and good optimised description you can’t link build in the traditional way. The higher apps will usually be based on downloads and review score. Fake reviews stand out like a sore thumb on the app store. Downloads are also must be consistent, an initial spike will help in the short run but continued downloads will keep you at the top the last word I heard on the subject was that it resets every 7 days.

Send out a press release, if your app is quirky or unique get it featured in offline publications too. Getting your app mentioned on TV or in a newspaper or magazine can also drive a big spike in sales.

Word of mouth is the next important thing for any app. Get people talking about it, viral campaigns and getting the right people to love your app and mention it is tough but can bring the best rewards.

iPhone app marketing is a great challenge and a unique marketing opportunity for any company to take on but the rewards for both parties can be amazing and well worth learning about.