2016.08.

07 Week 3 Assignment
Dave Sue

SECTION ONE (4 Parts)
Part 1A
App name: CNN App for iPhone [Note: Rated 2 stars out of 5 stars]
Category: News
Part 1B
Important goals:
o Downloads
o Income: The Paid Partner Content reveals that CNN has advertiser
revenue via this app
o Branding: have more viewers select CNN over other news channels; this
app is one part of their overall marketing strategy to secure more viewers of
CNN online and on TV
Part 1C
App Annie: Account created
Search Man: Account created
Part 1D:
Keyword research
o Identify 7-10 keywords which you think provide the best opportunity for the
example site to rank for:
1. World news
2. World events
3. Global news
4. Current events
5. Latest news
6. News now
7. Whats happening now
8. World news updates
9. Subjects e.g., Politics, Business, etc.
10. CNN


o Identify long-tail keyword opportunities
world news live streaming
world news live video

news today headlines

Identify obvious head terms of brand and non-brand keywords
CNN

Identify what other competitors each keyword ranks for.
Wall Street Journal
Filpboard
NY Times
Fox News
News 360
BBC News

Explain why you chose the keywords you did.
We want to compete for keywords that we can rank very highly in
as people do not scroll down lists very far

How do you feel these keywords would help the business meet the goal
you discovered, starting with downloads?
Since CNN is an established global brand, getting people searching
for the keywords noted to see even the name of our app will
increase the probability of them selecting the CNN app

How do you feel these keywords would help draw in organic traffic to the
site?
7 of the 8 keywords suggested do not mention the name of the
brand; as these keywords gain traction, this will push our apps
standing in organic searches for those terms as well

How well do you think the business can effectively compete for this
keyword?
Given the global brand recognition of CNN and the financial
resources I assume they have, Im not sure why this CNN app has
ranked so poorly on news app searches.

SECTION TWO (6 Parts)

Part 2A - Using some of the tools, go deeper into understanding what causes that app to rank
how it does.

What other features do you see in competitive apps for this keyword that enable other apps
to rank higher? For example, ratings or reviews, descriptions, or images.
o Flipboard higher ratings

Are there patterns you notice regularly among the competitors?
o Most of the apps in this field are quite similar in function and layout

Part 2B
Choose three other competitive apps for a specific keyword or group of keywords. Pick those
apps that rank well consistently for keyword phrases similar to your first app.
1. Wall Street Journal
2. BBC News
3. Fox News
Once youve selected the three apps plus your original, take screenshots of the following data
charts and put in a document or slide deck (as if preparing a research and competitive audit
presentation for a client):
Visibility Score (use Search Man app)
CNN for iPhone App

WSJ App

BBC

Fox News

Download Volume and Velocity (use App Annie app)

CNN for iPhone

Wall Street Journal

BBC News

Fox News

Ratings and Reviews (use App Annie app)

CNN for iPhone App
Ratings

Reviews

Wall Street Journal
Ratings (not available)
Reviews

BBC News
Ratings

Reviews

Fox News
Ratings

Reviews

Part 2C
Images
1. CNN for iPhone image heavy; limits viewers to notice the stories CNN prioritized
2. Wall Street Journal images and articles, with stock markets across the top
3. BBC News images but the headlines are alongside the images
4. Fox News image heavy on top but headline listings on bottom

Descriptions
1. CNN for iPhone almost none; only headlines; not very useful
2. Wall Street Journal 4-5 lines of text for each story; useful
3. BBC News article titles only like CNN but articles categorized viaTop Stores, Live,
My News, etc.; useful
4. Fox News article titles only but the article listing without images on bottom allows
viewers to more quickly sift through more articles

Part 2D
There werent that many differentiators between the apps as noted in Part 2C. The app that
stood out among these four apps was the WSJ app. The WSJ app differentiated itself with its 4-5
summary lines of text with each story. Its use of the stock market tickers on top of their app
screen also set it apart. It felt like a different type of news app vs the others in its competitive set
i.e., more fact based, more business oriented (rightly so as it is the WSJ, etc.
Part 2E
What I liked about the CNN app for iPhones competitive positioning:
Established brand awareness
High search volumes on brand
What I did not like about the CNN app for iPhones competitive positioning:

 Lack of clear differentiators that differentiated the brand

Lack of unique offerings and functions compared to other similar apps
Key features or improvements I might suggest to the app owner:
Develop unique features that bring value to specific targeted customers segments for
example, BBCs 1 minutes audio summary of news around the world is a unique offering
that busy executives on the run appreciate
Point out observations that are obvious without using tools and those that can only be
understood using the tools.
Without tools: competitive set, rankings
Only with tools: search rankings, potential keywords
Part 2F
Sample timeline of proposed improvements:
Month 1 Set foundational baseline
Week 1 overview of competitive set
Week 2 work on the basics: title improvements, keywords, etc.
Week 3 image improvements
Future targets for improvements
Increase download speed
Provide unique offerings
Improve ratings