Top 7 Google Play Store KPIs

With 3.718 million apps available for download on Google Play Store as of 2023, it’s clear that the industry is booming like never before. This competitive marketplace provides a promising opportunity for app developers and businesses alike to hunt their potential customers. However, launching a user-friendly, intuitive, and responsive app is just half the story.

You need to monitor the app’s performance over time to ensure that it maintains its “sweet spot” in the Play Store marketplace. This is where Google Play Store KPIs come in — quantifiable metrics that help measure the success and effectiveness of an app’s performance. As a backstage view of your mobile app’s progress, these KPIs let you monitor various metrics, including retention rate, conversion rates, app store rankings, user engagement, and more.

As a result, Google Play analytics provide you valuable insights into how well your app is performing, which features could be added, and how to optimize efforts for fruitful results. So, which Google Play Store KPIs should you track to make data-driven decisions for your baby app? Well, read on for the answer!

The Best Google Play Store KPIs for Actionable Insights

Google Play Store KPIs help developers track the performance of their apps over time, giving valuable insights into how well their apps are attracting, engaging, and retaining users. In order to do this, you first need to define your goals — what are you aiming to get out of your app?

Is it more downloads and installs? Is it positive word of mouth and long-term retention? Or temporary brand recognition? After establishing your objectives, here are a few Google Play Store KPIs you can use to measure the performance of your app.

1. App Downloads

As any developer will tell you, tracking the number of app downloads is one of the most effective ways to measure the success of your release. While this metric doesn’t tell much about the performance of an app, it gives you valuable insights into your marketing efforts. A higher number of downloads indicates that the marketing team has made great promotional efforts, and vice versa.

By closely monitoring app downloads, businesses can analyze which marketing strategies yield the best results and replicate such strategies to sustain growth. Plus, this metric also helps one understand user behavior and identify potential glitches in the app. For example, if lots of users uninstall the app following a major app update or changes in advertising methods, the additional features may not resonate well with the audience.

2. Retention Rate

Retention rate is a measure of how many users return to an app after installing it, indicating whether they find your platform valuable or not. A staple in your Google Play Store KPIs dashboard, this metric can be measured over various timeframes, such as weekly, monthly, or yearly. By tracking the retention rate, developers can learn more about the level of usability and value their app provides to users.

For example, if you make changes to the app’s user interface, and observe that the retention rate decreases, you may infer that the updates negatively impacted the app's usability. To calculate the average monthly retention rate, you may divide the number of monthly active users by the monthly app installs. On average, mobile apps generally have a 30-day retention rate of 5.7%.

If your app has a below-par retention rate, here are a few strategies you can use to engage the users back:

• Introduce some gamification elements (badges, rewards, or levels) to encourage users
• Use mobile push notifications to inform users about new features and updates/discounts
• Gather user feedback (using questionnaires/surveys) to identify areas for improvement
• Provide excellent customer support using LiveChat and emails to address concerns

3. Churn Rate

If you want to understand user behavior and identify areas for improvement, one of the primary Google Play Store KPIs to track in any digital marketing report is the churn rate. This metric measures the number of users who abandon the app after the first use, suggesting issues with its usability, performance, and perceived value.

To calculate your churn rate, subtract the end users from the start users. Then, divide the result by starting users and multiply the result by 100 to find the answer. Sometimes, a user may uninstall an app after they’ve got the information/product they were initially looking for — making 4% to 7% a manageable churn rate. However, if a high number of users abandon the app after the first few times, there might be a deeper problem:

• Frequent crashes or slow loading times
• Lack of new features or updates
• Difficult navigation or user interface
• Failure to deliver perceived value (no “AHA” moment)

4. Stickiness Ratio

Having a great retention rate doesn’t necessarily mean that users show up on your app regularly – who knows, maybe they haven’t uninstalled the app but aren’t actively using it either. This is what the stickiness ratio measures, monitoring the frequency of user interactions within the app. As one of the most crucial mobile app KPIs, this metric tells you how often users return to the app on a daily basis.

On average, you should aim for a stickiness ratio of at least 20% as it indicates that users effectively engage with your app and find the features interesting. You can use this metric to see which aspects of the app resonate well with the users. For example, if a productivity app releases a new time-saving feature or Pomodoro technique and notices a hike in the stickiness ratio, the users probably appreciate the feature. Hence, they’re spending more time on the app.

5. Cost per Install (CPI)

Cost per Install (CPI) is one of the best Android mobile app performance metrics since it measures the effectiveness of pay-per-click ad campaigns in acquiring new customers. It helps you determine the cost incurred for each app install as a result of paid ads — all within a specific time frame. As a result, CPI gives advertisers an insight into the profitability of their marketing efforts.

For example, let’s say a mobile game developer is running two separate ad campaigns on Instagram and Facebook. Campaign A generates 1000 installs at a total cost of $500, resulting in a CPI of $0.50 per install. In contrast, campaign B generates 800 installs at a total cost of $600, leading to a CPI of $0.75 per download. Despite Campaign B having a higher total number of installs, Campaign A is more cost-efficient in terms of CPI.

6. Load Speed

When a user launches an app, the load speed refers to the time it takes for the app to become fully functional and responsive. With the world going increasingly digital, users now demand quick app experiences, and slow load times can quickly repel your customer to a better competitor.

Thus, developers should take the time to monitor the load speed of their apps, indicating potential pain points for users, and accordingly optimize these. Plus, users who experience a less-than-perfect app experience are less likely to return to the app, and may even uninstall it.

If you’re facing a loss of revenue due to slow loading speeds, here are a few ways you can fix your app:

• Compress images and videos to reduce file sizes without giving up on quality
• Use browser and server caches to store frequently accessed resources locally
• Load headers and important content first while using lazy-loading for below-the-fold content
• Performance testing is the key – regularly test your app’s functioning using tools like Google Lighthouse

7. User Satisfaction

One of the best application KPI examples is user satisfaction, helping you gauge the positive or negative sentiment attached to your release. This metric helps developers learn the user perception regarding their app and understand their overall experience. For example, if an app consistently receives 1 or 2-star reviews on the Google Play Store, it might indicate that users are having issues navigating the interface or understanding the app’s features.

This should be a green signal for developers to implement prompt measures, including providing clear instructions, LiveChat support for queries, and FAQ pages to help users. On the contrary, if the user satisfaction levels increase after introducing a new feature, developers can conclude that the update is appreciated by the audience. Here are a few tips you can use to enhance the user satisfaction of your app:

• Collect user feedback from Google Play Store reviews, in-app surveys, and questionnaires
• Make the app interface easy to use through simplified menus, clear instructions, and straightforward navigation
• Add personalized features or content recommendations based on user preferences
• Keep the users informed regarding new updates, promotional offers, and improvements

Maximize Your App's Performance: Analyze Google Play Store KPIs with Catchr!

Analyzing Google Play Store KPIs is a go-to for supercharging your app’s performance – helping you get the exclusive view behind user engagement, retention, and long-term customer value. But what about those who don’t have the time to manually analyze each of these KPIs and extract digital reports?

Well, this is where Catchr comes in, helping you analyze Google Play Store KPIs in no time. By offering a comprehensive picture of your app’s performance, Catchr helps developers to make informed, data-driven decisions. Plus, it integrates with all the popular analytics platforms, including LookerStudio, PowerBI, and Tableau — helping you create interactive dashboards to understand how your app is performing.

Not only this, Catchr simplifies the data extraction game by integrating with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, eliminating the need for manual data pulls. So, if you want your app to earn the spotlight in the Google Play Store marketplace, Catchr is the right place to begin! 

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