How to Turn Bad App Reviews Into Diamonds

When app developers publish an app, reviews turn out to be a vital representation of the user’s opinions. Just like in all businesses, pleasing all of your audience can be a challenging task.

It is almost impossible to keep all your reviews positive as app developers. However, when a restaurant does not give up after some complaints about the food quality, you should not lose your motivation when your app receives some bad app reviews.

In this blog, we will briefly introduce how to turn bad app reviews into positives. You will realize that receiving bad but honest reviews are actually valuable opportunities which can turn into diamonds if handled correctly.

To learn more about the impact of bad app reviews on ASO strategy, check one of our previous articles.

Introduction: Reasons for Bad App Reviews

In order to fully utilize the opportunities provided by bad app reviews, you should know about some common reasons to receive bad app reviews for your app.

In general, there are three main reasons for receiving bad app reviews all of them being a result of unfavorable user experience.

Issues with the user interface In some cases, you may come up with an app which has the ultimate potential to connect with the expectations of your user. However, the problematic user interface may prevent your app to reach out its full potential. A weak UI will inevitably mean unsatisfied customers, mostly followed by bad app reviews.
Glitches, Bugs & Crashes Another important thing for an app’s success is consistency when it comes to glitches, bugs & crashes. Once again, you may have the ultimate solution for your user’s needs in the form of an app, with an impressive, user-friendly UI. Still, if your app is constantly crashing, this will inevitably hinder the satisfaction of your user while experiencing the app. If this is the case, expect bad app reviews!
Lack of Customer Support You will do a huge mistake if you think the relationship with your user ends after you manage to convince them to download your app. In reality, this is just the beginning of your never-ending interaction with your customer. When there is a problem or a situation which the customer wishes to be vocal about, having a poor customer support can translate into bad app reviews.

Embracing Bad App Reviews: How Can They be Useful

After you learn about the common reasons for bad app reviews, you should do your best to avoid them by constantly improving your app. However, you shouldn’t use your dedication or focus towards your app just because hearing about some unsatisfied customers. You should realize that bad app reviews are actually hidden gems!

First of all, you should know that bad app reviews are not equal to having a bad app. So, there is no need to panic.

During the life-cycle of your app, all kind of app reviews will be essential for your constant improvement. While positive reviews won’t do much except for showing that you are on the right track, bad app reviews can guide you through rooms for improvement.

In other words, a bad review means an organic opportunity to make a certain improvement to your app to satisfy your users. Rather than a source of demotivation, it is actually an honest feedback based on user experience.

How to Handle a Bad Review

Now that you are confident with there is nothing to be afraid of receiving a bad review, we will briefly mention how to deal with them.

With this step-by-step approach, you can learn much about a bad review and minimize your chance of receiving similar complaints in the long run.

Do Not Panic & Take Responsibility

As mentioned many times throughout the blog, bad app reviews should not shatter your dreams, so don’t panic.

After you are cool with receiving bad app reviews, you should be confident about taking full responsibility. In other words, embrace the user feedback without activating an aggressive defense mode.

Understand the Issue & Focus

The next step is understanding the complaint. The bad review is mainly caused by one of the three common reasons mentioned previously. Identify the core problem and focus on the heart of the matter.

Make Research & Solve the Problem

Now that you know the key problem causing the bad app reviews, you should do research to eliminate it. The length of this phase can change depending on the seriousness* of the issue.

Some UI-based bad app reviews can be more time consuming compared to customer support related problems. Make your research, learn how to improve and iterate accordingly.

Keep Your Users Updated

After you make certain improvements based on bad app reviews, let your audience know about these new additions. Your users would be more than happy to realize that their feedback is being valued. So, keep them updated.

Bad App Reviews: The Silver Lining

As an app publisher, try to imagine a life without feedback. You would be missing out valuable feedback which is honest & accurate. With a step-by-step systematic process, you should handle a bad review.

Remember that some of the core reasons for bad app reviews such as frequent crashes can also negatively influence your category rankings, both directly and indirectly.

It is known that Google Play Store hesitate to rank apps which have performance problems, even if they have favorable download rates. An app with poor UI or customer support will also have problems in keeping & converting users.

Thanks to bad app reviews, you can learn how to improve your app & get better rankings in an organic way. Therefore, it is safe to assume that a bad review is actually a silver lining!

The Bottom Line

We hope you enjoyed our blog about how to combat bad app reviews. As you can see, they can act as valuable feedback for your ASO strategy. You can use MobileAction to get quick & accurate insights with its Review Analysis feature.

Always remember that making necessary improvements based on feedback is the key determinant of your app’s success in the marketplace.

Now that you have found the hidden gem in bad app reviews, go ahead and start turning them into opportunities!

Hope this blog post was helpful to you. Remember to share it for fellow publishers who might need these tips. Stay tuned for more insights.

Cheers!

MobileAction Team