How to Improve App Conversion Rate (App Store & Google Play)

The short answer

Your conversion rate is the share of people who see your app in the store and then install it. Most of that decision happens in seconds, in search results and the top of your product page: icon, name, subtitle or short description, rating and the first screenshots. Improve those first, match the listing to who's arriving, earn more ratings, and test every change with the stores' own A/B tools.

Measure it before you change it

App Store Connect's App Analytics and Google Play Console's store listing acquisition reports show how many people saw your listing and how many installed. Look at conversion by source: people arriving from search, browsing, ads and links behave very differently, and an average hides that. Write down the current numbers so you can tell whether a change helped.

Win the first impression

Screenshots that read at a glance. In App Store search results, the first screenshots show beside your icon (or your app preview video plays). One benefit per screenshot and a large caption beat detailed interfaces. See the screenshot design tips.
An icon that stands out in your category. Look at the search results for your main keywords and make sure yours doesn't blend in.
A name and subtitle that say what the app does. On the App Store the subtitle (30 characters) sits under your name; on Google Play the short description (80 characters) does similar work on the listing.
Social proof that's true. Ratings show in results; awards and press belong in a late screenshot if you have them.

Match the listing to the visitor

Localize the listing and the text inside your screenshots for each major market, not just the description.
Custom product pages (App Store) and custom store listings (Google Play) let you show different screenshots and text to people coming from a specific ad or country, so the page continues the promise that brought them.
Keep your promotional text current. On the App Store, the 170-character promotional text can change without a new app version: use it for seasonal features and events.

Earn more and better ratings

Ask at a good moment, right after people succeed at something, using the system prompts: StoreKit's review request on iOS (shown at most three times a year per person) and the In-App Review API on Android.
Answer reviews. Both stores let you reply publicly; fixing and answering complaints shows future visitors you listen.
Fix what drives one-star reviews first: crashes, a broken sign-in or a confusing paywall cost more than any screenshot can win back.

Test instead of guessing

Product Page Optimization in App Store Connect tests up to three alternative versions of your icon, screenshots and app previews against your current page. Google Play's store listing experiments do the same for graphics and descriptions. Test one idea at a time (a new first screenshot, a different caption angle), wait for enough visitors, and keep what wins.

Where to start: rewrite the captions on your first three screenshots and test them against the current ones. It's the cheapest change with the most visibility.

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Questions

What is a good app store conversion rate?: It varies a lot by category, country and traffic source, so there's no single good number. Compare against your own past results by source, and against your category in App Store Connect's benchmarks if you have access to them.
Do screenshots really affect conversion?: They're among the few things shown before people open your page, and the main thing on the page itself. That's why both stores let you A/B test them.
How long should an A/B test run?: Until the store's tool reports a confident result, which depends on your traffic. Low-traffic apps need weeks; avoid ending tests early on a lucky first few days.