How to Read Your App Store Connect Data

App Store Connect gives you a lot of data. Impressions, product page views, downloads, conversion rates—all broken down by source, device, and territory. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Let me break down what actually matters.

The Metrics That Matter

Impressions vs. Product Page Views

Impressions are how many times your app appeared in the App Store—in search results, browse sections, or Top Charts. Product page views are how many times someone actually tapped through to see your full listing.

The ratio between these two tells you something important:

• Low tap-through rate from impressions to product page views → Your icon, title, or subtitle isn’t compelling enough in search results
• High impressions but low product page views → You might be showing up for irrelevant searches

Product Page Views to Downloads (Conversion Rate)

This is arguably the most important metric. It tells you how effective your product page is at convincing people to download.

A typical conversion rate ranges from 20-40% depending on your category and traffic source. But here’s the thing: you need to look at this by source.

Breaking Down Traffic Sources

App Store Connect shows you four main traffic sources:

1. App Store Search - Users who found you through search
2. App Store Browse - Users who found you through featured sections, Top Charts, or categories
3. App Referrer - Users who came from another app
4. Web Referrer - Users who came from a website link

Why Source Matters

Each source has different intent levels:

• Search traffic typically has the highest conversion rates because users were actively looking for something your app might solve
• Browse traffic is more casual—these users were exploring, not searching
• Referrer traffic depends entirely on where it came from

If your overall conversion rate dropped, the first thing to check is whether your traffic mix changed. Did you get a feature (lots of Browse traffic)? Did a website stop linking to you?

What to Actually Look At

Here’s my recommended approach:

Weekly Check-In

• Downloads trend (are you growing?)
• Conversion rate by source (anything unusual?)
• Top search terms driving traffic

Monthly Analysis

• Compare conversion rates month-over-month by source
• Look at territory performance
• Check which device types convert better

When Something Changes

If downloads suddenly drop, work backwards:

1. Did impressions drop? (Visibility problem)
2. Did product page views drop? (Icon/title problem or traffic source change)
3. Did conversion rate drop? (Product page problem or intent mismatch)

Common Mistakes

Focusing on Vanity Metrics

A million impressions means nothing if no one taps through. Focus on the full funnel.

Ignoring the Source Breakdown

“Our conversion rate is 25%” tells you almost nothing. “Our Search conversion is 35% but Browse is 15%” tells you where to focus.

Panicking About Short-Term Fluctuations

Daily data is noisy. Look at weekly trends minimum. Month-over-month comparisons are more reliable.

Taking Action

Data is only useful if you do something with it:

• Low tap-through from impressions? → Test new icons or titles
• High product page views but low downloads? → Improve screenshots and description
• Search traffic dropping? → Check your keyword rankings and ASO
• Referrer traffic dried up? → Investigate what changed with your referral sources

The goal isn’t to obsess over every metric—it’s to understand what’s happening so you can make better decisions about where to focus.

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Need help making sense of your App Store Connect data? Book a discovery call and let’s figure out what’s actually going on with your app.