How to set up a Google Play Console Account? A step-by-step guide

As an app publisher or ASO expert, you always look for ways to improve your mobile app performance. You must use tools that offer valuable insights with the most updated data analytics for app optimization and improved paid user acquisition results. So, if your focus is mostly on Android apps, then Google Play Console should be your go-to.

As per a report by Sensor Tower, user spending on Google Play is said to reach $60 billion by 2023, compared to $53 billion in 2022. This means Android users are interested in searching, installing, and using apps on Google Play Store. So, let’s consider why Google Play Console should be a part of your ASO strategy. 

Why is the Google Play Console account important?

Google Play Console is the management and reporting tool for the Google Play Store. The Console offers direct data from Google and provides the most reliable app data available.

The two primary users of Google Play Console are: 
App developers who want to monitor the technical performance of their apps. 
App marketers looking to improve app optimization, increase conversion rates and monitor store performances for their apps.

The Google Play Store provides app developers and marketers with better data to understand how their apps are growing. It provides acquisition reports with detailed analysis, which helps developers or marketers find out how the app is performing, where it is performing better, and who is interacting the most with the app.

The platform is important because: 
It provides developers with access to the first party-data highlighting the real-time performance of the app 
Monitoring of Conversion rates 
Showcases the number of impressions the app listing receives and the number of installs the app receives from different sources 
User acquisition report showcases app growth with users’ origins, such as organic or paid traffic via third-party referrals.

How to register & set up a Google Play Console account?

Let’s take a look at 2 easy steps to register and set up Google Play Developer Console.

Step 1: Create an account with an existing email address associated with your company. 

It is recommended to use an email address that multiple people in the company can access. But having a Google account does not mean a Gmail account. Users can sign up for Play Console with a Hotmail or Yahoo email address too.

Step 2: Applying for Google Play Developer Console Account: 

Once the new Google account verification process is complete, you need to open the Google Play Developer Console to finish the registration process. 
Sign in with the account 
Read and agree with the Developer distribution agreement, and click on Continue to Payment
Payment of the USD 25 non-recurring registration fee for your account must be completed
Fill up the details with your developer name, email id, and the website to be displayed on the play developer console 
Developer name - Enter your company or brand name 
Email address - Support email where app users can connect with you 
Website - official company website 
Phone number - Where Google can connect with you if any issues arise with your app. This is not displayed to users

Once your registration in the play console login is verified, you will receive a notification on your email address associated with the Play Developer Console. Normally it takes anywhere between half an hour to 48 hours.

Once your Google Play Developer account is set up, you need to add your company’s physical address. 
In the Google Play Developer Console, click on settings 
Open the Developer Account - Account details, and enter a valid address where Google can reach you 
Click Save

Google Play Console dashboard metrics to track:

Once your Google play console login is ready to go, you can select the Grow section to help you understand how your app is performing. There are two main subsections of the Grow tab - Store Presence and Store performance.  

Google Store Presence and Play Store Console Optimization:

There are 5 basic sections that you need to track under this subsection:

Main store listing - One of the most important tabs on Google Play Console if you are an app marketer. Everything your users see on your app is editable in this tab - from creative asset uploading to metadata editing. Some aspects you can edit here include:

App name - Maximum 30 characters 
Short description - Maximum 80 characters 
Complete description - Maximum 4000 characters 
Store assets - App icon, graphics, video, screenshots

These factors have a major impact, especially on ASO performance. By editing and optimizing with the right keywords, you can help increase your views organically.

Custom store listing - Custom store listings provide app publishers with an option to create a completely customized page based on different locations, including pre-registration campaigns. At a single moment, you can have a total of 5 custom listings running simultaneously. At the Google I/O developer conference in May 2022, Google announced that Android app developers will be able to create up to 50 custom store listings with dedicated analytics and deep linking. The custom store listings have the same fields as regular store listings so publishers can provide the same quality information in specific markets.

Store listing experiments - Google Play Console offers publishers options to run A/B testing inside platforms for graphic or localized experiments (up to 5 languages). This feature is handy for accurate results, and you can include details such as short and full descriptions, app icons, graphics, promo videos, and screenshots. But, the A/B testing feature has limitations - you cannot manipulate the audience, no post-installation metrics.

Store settings - In the store settings tab, you can choose from the following options - 
Listing app or game 
App Category 
Tags

Translation services - The translation service helps hire human translators for your app listing, app strings, and in-app products, starting from $0.07 per word. If your app is present in multiple locations, you can localize store listings in different languages. But, the translation does not take into consideration app store optimization and keywords. For this, it is better to use an agency that specializes in app localization. 

Google Store Performance: 

The Google Play Store Console Performance section has two sections - Store analysis and Conversion Analysis. Developers and marketers can check regular store data, visitor listing, acquisition, and conversion rates across multiple dimensions through these apps.

Store Analysis: 
The multiple data breakdown in the Store analysis section are: 
Store listing acquisition based on traffic source - Google Play search, Google Play explore, and third-party referrals, as compared with previous periods 
Store listing performance that includes Store visitors, store listing acquisitions, and store listing conversion rate 
Store listing acquisition data with breakdown per country, language, app installation states, search terms, UTM sources, and store listing type

The Store analysis tab offers users high-level overviews of important categories that include their performance, but to dig deeper into each category, you need to track Conversion analysis.

Conversion Analysis: 
Conversion analysis allows you to configure reports that are important to your company. There are 8 filters that you can use, namely: 
App installation state 
Country/region 
Language 
Search terms 
Store listing 
Traffic source 
UTM source 
UTM campaign

Some of the major advantages that you can select for each category and get essential breakdowns are: 
Graphical representations of listing visitors, acquisitions, and conversion rates 
Table data with added columns for comparison of conversion rates between the app and peers in the last 28 days

If you are working on the ASO aspect of your app, and do not have the budget for a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP), then the ‘Conversion analysis’ report offers data such as:

•  Change in performance post-optimization of store listing 
• Most successful countries and conversion rates that impact KPIs 
• Performance acquisition sources in Google Play 
• Keywords that bring in users 
• UTM sources and ad campaigns 
• Google Firebase data  

Best Practices in Google Play Console:

• The Google Play Store Developer Console provides app publishers with a rich source of information and data that you cannot find anywhere else. For ASO marketers, there are detailed reports, a breakdown of data, and everything you need to manage apps efficiently.
• Most ASO marketers recommend keeping an eye on the Grow section's data and ensuring that all metadata and creative assets are optimized and localized. Using the conversion analysis section, you can analyze the metrics that matter the most.  
• One aspect of the Google Play Console that the ASO community does not like is the time-consuming aspect. As so many different sections and filtering possibilities exist, managing multiple listings and checking different locations is difficult.

Let KalaGato Help You!

If you find the Google Search Console platform to be difficult to understand and time-consuming, like others in the ASO community, then connect with KalaGato!

We Offer features like complete evaluative processing of your app and direct planning and decision-making with buyers to sell your app. You get a response from our experts in 72 hours, receive an offer in 2 weeks, and deal closure in 30 days. By selling your app with KalaGato you can become stress-free and go back to designing and developing apps.