AppExchange Listing SEO Optimization Checklist to Improve Listing Visibility

Introduction

Salesforce AppExchange is the primary marketplace for Salesforce apps, with thousands of solutions competing for attention. Salesforce AppExchange hosts 7,000+ apps and continues to grow every year. According to Salesforce partner materials, 91% of Salesforce customers use at least one AppExchange app, yet only a small share of listings receive consistent organic traffic. 

Many high-quality apps stay unnoticed not because the product is weak, but because the listing is poorly optimized. Titles are vague, descriptions are generic, screenshots are unclear, and keywords are missing. AppExchange listing optimization helps your app appear in search, attract clicks, and convert visitors into installs.

This guide explains how AppExchange listing SEO works, shows real examples using Declarative Lookup Rollup Summaries (DLRS) by Salesforce Labs, and provides a practical, field-by-field checklist you can apply right away.

What Is AppExchange & How Listings Work

Salesforce AppExchange is Salesforce’s official marketplace for apps, components, and consulting services. Customers use it to discover solutions that extend Salesforce without heavy custom development. From a user perspective, AppExchange works primarily as a search- and filter-driven marketplace, where Salesforce AppExchange listing search is the main way users discover new apps. 

How users search for apps on AppExchange

Most users don’t browse randomly. They come to AppExchange with a specific need in mind and search using terms that describe their problem, role, or use case. Common search patterns include:

• by problem (“rollup summary”, “duplicate management”, “data backup”)
• by role or team (“admin tools”, “sales productivity”, “support analytics”)
• by industry (“real estate”, “financial services”, “healthcare”)
• by keywords they already know (“rollup data”, “dlrs salesforce”, “declarative lookup rollup summaries”)

For example, a Salesforce admin looking to summarize child records without code will likely search for “rollup summary”. Apps like Declarative Lookup Rollup Summaries (DLRS) appear because their listing title, description, and keywords directly match that intent.

This makes AppExchange search highly keyword-driven. If your listing doesn’t clearly use the same language your target users search for, it will struggle to appear, even if the app itself solves the problem perfectly.

Why listing optimization matters comes down to how AppExchange search works. It evaluates relevance signals such as the words used in your title and descriptions, how closely they match real search queries, and how users interact with your listing through views and installs. Reviews and ratings further reinforce trust and real-world usage signals.

Because of this, AppExchange SEO doesn’t stop at filling out listing fields. Listings that perform best are usually supported by consistent educational content, such as app reviews, use-case articles, comparisons, and product explanations, created through content marketing services for Salesforce apps. This broader content ecosystem helps reinforce relevance, build trust before users even reach AppExchange, and ultimately improve listing visibility.

AppExchange SEO Basics

Before diving into listing optimization, it’s important to understand how AppExchange search works at a high level. AppExchange SEO is not the same as Google SEO, but it follows similar principles: relevance, clarity, engagement, and trust signals. These basics form the foundation of any effective AppExchange SEO strategy.

What Influences AppExchange Ranking vs. What You Can Control

AppExchange ranking is driven by a mix of algorithmic signals and user behavior. While you can’t control the algorithm itself, you can directly influence how your listing performs within it.

Ranking Factor	How It Affects Visibility	Can You Control It?	What to Optimize
Keywords & relevance	Determines whether your app appears for specific search queries	Yes	Title, tagline, brief description, metadata
Click-through rate	Signals relevance to AppExchange search	Partially	Clear value-driven copy, strong positioning
Views & installs	Reinforces listing popularity	Partially	Content clarity, visuals, CTAs
Reviews & ratings	Builds trust and supports ranking	Partially	Review collection strategy

The table below shows which ranking factors you can influence directly and where optimization efforts have the biggest impact.

What influences AppExchange ranking:

• Keywords and relevance: AppExchange search relies heavily on text relevance. The words used in your title, tagline, brief description, and metadata determine whether your app appears for specific search queries.
• User engagement (clicks, views, installs): Listings that receive more clicks and installs signal higher relevance to Salesforce users. Poorly written or unclear listings often get fewer interactions, even if the app itself is strong.
• Reviews and ratings: Apps with more reviews and higher ratings tend to rank better. Reviews act as both a trust signal and an engagement indicator, influencing visibility and conversion at the same time.

What you can influence directly:

• Content quality and structure: You control how clearly your app is described. Well-structured content that explains the problem, solution, and outcome improves both search relevance and user understanding.
• Screenshots and media: High-quality screenshots and videos increase time spent on the listing and improve conversion rates. Better engagement indirectly supports AppExchange search visibility.
• Metadata and positioning: Fields like SEO title, SEO description, categories, industries, and keywords help AppExchange index your listing correctly. Clean metadata ensures your app appears in the right searches and categories.

Understanding this split is critical. You can’t control how AppExchange ranks apps internally, but you can control how well your listing communicates value, relevance, and trust. Optimizing these areas consistently leads to stronger App visibility in AppExchange over time.

AppExchange Listing SEO Checklist

Below is a practical AppExchange listing optimization checklist, with explanations, SEO impact, and clear recommendations. All examples reference Declarative Lookup Rollup Summaries (DLRS).

AppExchange Listing Title

Explanation: The title is the most visible element of your listing. It appears in search results and strongly impacts click-through rate.

Length

• Recommended: 50-70 characters
• Max allowed: 255 characters

SEO Impact: Very high. The title is one of the strongest signals for Salesforce AppExchange ranking.

Recommendation: Include the main keyword users search for. DLRS clearly states what it does (Lookup Rollup Summaries), not just a brand name.

AppExchange Listing Tagline

Explanation: The tagline is a short, one-line summary that explains how your solution helps customers succeed. It appears directly under your app title and reinforces your core value proposition.

Length:

• Recommended: 50-60 characters
• Max allowed: 75 characters

SEO Impact: High. Supports keyword relevance and user understanding.

Pro Tip: Focus on outcome, not features. DLRS explains why it exists, not how it’s built.

AppExchange Listing Brief Description

Explanation: The brief description appears alongside your listing title in AppExchange and organic search results. It should clearly communicate what makes your solution unique and why users should choose it.

Length:

• Recommended: 150-200 characters
• Maximum allowed: 255 characters

SEO Impact: Very high for appexchange listing seo optimization.

Pro Tip: Structure your text as: Problem → Solution → Result. This improves readability and increases click-through rate. DLRS follows this structure clearly.

Categories & Industries of AppExchange Listing

Explanation: These choices decide where your app shows up when people browse AppExchange by category or industry. If you pick the wrong ones, the right buyers may never find you.

SEO Impact: Medium to high. Helps discovery outside direct search.

Recommendation: Select only relevant categories. Over-tagging reduces relevance, especially when they don’t match your app.

Listing Pricing on AppExchange

Explanation: Pricing helps users quickly understand if your app fits their budget. If pricing is unclear, many people leave before they click further.

SEO Impact: Indirect but important for conversion.

Recommendation: Be transparent – don’t leave this field empty. Usually this should be “Free” or “$amount”.

Media (Screenshots & Video) for AppExchange Listing

Explanation: Screenshots and videos show what the app does in seconds. Strong visuals increase clicks and help users understand your value without reading everything.

SEO Impact: Indirect, but improves engagement metrics that affect ranking.

Recommendation:

• Add 5-8 clear screenshots
• Add annotations
• Include at least one video

AppExchange Listing Highlights 

Explanation: Highlights are short lines that summarize your main benefits or key use cases. They help visitors scan the page and decide if they should continue.

SEO Impact: Medium. Supports scannability and relevance.

Recommendation: Use at least 5-6 highlights, as it is difficult to cover all the features in fewer highlights. They should cover the core problem, main use case, target role, Salesforce context, and business outcome. Keep each highlight benefit-focused, easy to scan, and include keywords naturally and evenly.

AppExchange Listing Reviews

Explanation: Reviews build trust and reduce buyer hesitation. A steady flow of real reviews can increase installs and improve listing performance over time.

SEO Impact: High. Reviews affect appexchange search seo visibility.

Pro Tip: Create a review strategy. Ask happy customers consistently.

CTA Buttons on AppExchange Listing

Explanation: CTA buttons tell users what to do next, like install the app or contact your team. Clear CTAs reduce confusion and improve conversions.

SEO Impact: Indirect, but essential for conversions.

Best Practice: Use clear CTAs: Get It Now, Try It Free, Contact Provider.

Meta Data of AppExchange Listing

Explanation: Metadata is not always visible to users, but it helps AppExchange understand what your listing is about. Clean, accurate metadata can support better indexing and search relevance.

SEO Impact: High for Appexchange content optimization.

Pro Tips:

• Use keywords naturally
• Avoid keyword stuffing

Common AppExchange Listing Mistakes to Avoid

Many listings underperform for simple, fixable reasons. Here are the most common AppExchange listing mistakes to watch for:

• Generic titles that don’t include any real keywords
• Descriptions packed with too many keywords, making the text hard to read
• No screenshots, or visuals that are blurry, outdated, or unhelpful
• Missing reviews, or reviews that haven’t been updated in a long time
• Pricing that is unclear or not explained
• No clear value proposition (users can’t quickly tell why the app matters)

If you fix these basics first, you usually see a quick improvement in clicks, engagement, and overall AppExchange search visibility.

Final AppExchange SEO Checklist

Before you publish or update your listing, run through this quick checklist to make sure the essentials are covered. The checklist below reflects proven AppExchange listing best practices observed across high-performing Salesforce apps. These AppExchange listing optimization tips help improve visibility, clicks, and installs over time:

☐ Optimized title
☐ Clear tagline
☐ SEO-friendly description
☐ Keywords added naturally
☐ Correct categories
☐ High-quality screenshots
☐ Video added
☐ Reviews collected
☐ Pricing explained
☐ Сlear highlights
☐ Relevant industries
☐ Clear primary CTA
☐ Metadata reviewed

If most of these boxes are checked, your listing is in a strong position to improve AppExchange search visibility and convert more visitors into installs.

Conclusion

AppExchange listing SEO is no longer optional. With thousands of competing apps, only listings that clearly communicate relevance, value, and trust achieve consistent visibility and installs. A strong product alone is not enough – how your app is presented on AppExchange directly impacts whether users find it, click on it, and choose to install it.

By applying the optimization principles and checklist in this guide – improving titles, descriptions, media, reviews, metadata, and overall clarity – you can significantly increase your AppExchange search visibility and conversion rate without changing a single line of code.

A well-optimized AppExchange listing is often the fastest and most scalable way to grow adoption of your Salesforce app. If you need help auditing your AppExchange listing, our experts are always happy to review it and share actionable recommendations.