ASO

 App Store Optimization or App Store Marketing or Mobile App SEO

 You are doing SEO activities with respect to your app store. Doing SEO activities for a mobile
app.
 ASO  process of trying to convince people to click on your app store listing once they find
it.
 Process through which you’re ensuring that you increase your app store visibility, within the
app store and eventually increasing the conversion rate for your app.
 User types “best fitness app”, listing would show up accordingly.
 1st thing ASO focuses on is that when you look at the listings, you are convinced enough to go
ahead and click on that app store listing that you’ve come across  this part of ASO focuses
on the Click Through Rate (CTR).
 CTR  you’ve gone ahead and clicked.
 CTR formula for ASO  people who clicked on listing / people who viewed the listing.
ASO is a process of improving your app visibility and increasing your app conversions.
Visibility impact can be seen through CTR.
 Once someone clicks on the listing, they come onto the  app store listing page.
 App store listing page: which is the equivalent to a webpage that you have in SEO.
 2nd thing ASO focuses on is that when they’re on this page we want to further convince them
to download or purchase and download the app  this part of ASO focuses on Conversion
Rate Optimization (CRO).
 CRO  you want your conversion rate to be optimized and more effective than before.
 How to optimize conversion rate: app name, app icon, screenshots, and ratings.
 ASO’s value is dependent on that your app getting high visibility i.e. get a good ranking. This
happens when you make sure that you’ve optimized it via keyword or whatever such that it
gets more visibility. When you get more visibility, you get more downloads. It is a cyclical
process.
 When you talk about ASO first focus is on getting a good ranking and second that once
they’re on my listing page then I want them to download the app as well.
 ASO is important because the world is shifting to apps and thus there is a lot of competition.
ASO would help increase downloads and eventually loyal users. You don’t want one-time
users. My ASO activities don’t just want downloads, you want good quality users i.e. loyal
users which are measured via DAUs/MAUs etc. High retention rate, High DAU, MAU etc.
 If people discover an app, they usually utilize the search function on the app store to find a
new app.
 70% of users utilize the search function and thus your objective would be to maximize
downloads. This would happen only if my app were easily discovered by the right users.
 If you search my app and it’s not discoverable then that means my downloads are not
maximized which means you need ASO.
 70% of the people used the search option, 65% of the downloads occurred directly after the
search.
 Run install ads via search engine ads. Or run ads via FB etc. but even then ASO is essential.
 App store search is the most common method for people to discover new apps.
 Search ranking position directly correlates with your app downloads.
 Good/High Search Ranking Position  Higher Number of Downloads. Users don’t scroll
below just a few apps, thus yours must be at the top. Research shows that people look at the
first 5 apps listed.
 The higher the rank of your app the more users consider it to be relevant. Users also think
that you are a good and relevant app if you rank high.
 By not focusing on ASO you’d be missing out on the largest marketing channel that is there
for mobile apps and games.
 App Growth which is downloads and loyal users  always focus on ASO.
 You should have a webpage also for app’s download page.
 Differences between SEO and ASO:
o The Platform/search engine: ASO  app store, play store.
o Ranking Factors
 Similarities between SEO and ASO:
o Both focus on keyword optimization
o Both focus on backlinks
o Both eventually focus on CRO.
 On Page ASO:
o Must have keyword in App Name
o Description is important (like header tags in SEO). It is an important ranking factor.
o Keywords Section (no stuffing punishment)
o Usage & Quality Metrics  Usage = Downloads, Activations (App Metrics). Quality =
Crashes, Load Time (Performance Metrics)
o Uninstall Rate: People install it a lot, but they are uninstalling it a lot as well.
Uninstall Rate is high. Would classify your app as a low-quality app.
 Off Page ASO:
o Backlinks  Articles that mentions your app.
o Users Ratings & Review matter a lot. High Rating  High Quality App.
o Download Stats  Good Downloads, Referrals  Good Quality App
 Goals for ASO  Downloads
 INP: Interaction to Next Paint. Look at FID and INP together to see user interaction.
 How ASO Works?
o Similarities between Apple App Store & Google Play Store:
 Same Purpose: Provide a platform for users where you can go and look for
apps and download them.
 If an app has a high crash rate or an app that has infrequent app updates,
both platforms consider it a low-quality app and rank it lower/poorer.
 Apps that are buggy (have a lot of bugs), are lower quality or that are
scammy, have bloated codes. If they are buggy, are low quality i.e. have a
poor UI and UX, scammy i.e. forced purchases, lots of ads; that hamper users
experience, both platforms would remove these apps from the store.
 Apps that are frequently updated and people are using them often these
apps are rewarded and are allowed to appear higher on the ranking.
o Differences between Apple App Store & Google Play Store:
 Both give keywords importance, but both evaluate keywords differently. Play
Store uses the same indexing process that Google Search Engine uses, i.e.
takes screenshot, and indexes the play store. So, the play store goes ahead
and considers all the textual elements when it’s indexing your keywords for
 your mobile app. App Store provides you a specific field for keywords where
you are required to put all your relevant keywords, and then it indexes and
compares, the keywords of your immediate competitors and all apps of your
category in order to evaluate your app. You can’t repeat the keywords in that
 section in any of the fields of your iOS app. The keyword you use in your app
name can’t be repeated in the keyword section or description.
o Difference between Play Store and Google Search Engine:
 You don’t do keyword stuffing (density) in SEO, can’t be more than 8 hits.
Main text can’t be more 3-5%, otherwise would be considered black hat
practice. For Play Store, you can repeat keywords 3 to 5 times across all the
fields so that you rank better. No keyword stuffing punishment.
 Ranking Factors between Play Store and App Store:
 Both give importance to App Name which is a strong factor in ranking.
 Both give importance to description. Apple App Store calls in App Subtitle
and Play Store calls it Short & Full Description.
 Apple gives you a keyword field.
 Play Store gives you the option to add backlinks.
 Both give equal importance to in-app purchases. How frequent? If it’s a
freemium app and there’s a lot of purchases, then that gets you a good
ranking.
 Both look at rating and reviews, updates, downloads, usage metrics and app
performance.
 ASO Strategy:
o When you start, you need to have a clear strategy in place.
 The first thing is you need to understand your users. User profiles, buyer
personas etc. Who could be potential users of your app. Primary &
Secondary Users. What does the profile look like? What would the users be
using your app for?
 Keyword Research, local and international competition’s keyword lists.
 What language do your users speak or prefer using their phone in.
o Pick the right name for your app. That is the first the user will see so decide it wisely.
 App Name  App Title. Plays an important role in ranking. The more
appealing it the higher will be its recognition and value.
 Should be recognizable enough to be recalled.
 Keywords in app names have the strongest ranking weight.
 Checklist for App Name:
 Relevant to what the app does
 Easy to read.
 Unique.
 30 characters long.
 Don’t popular keywords.
o Do keyword research for your mobile app:
 Main features
 Synonyms
 Similar apps
 App’s category
 Popular terms people use.
o Write your app description.
 Provides users info on what your app is about and gives an overview of main
features.
 Used by app store’s ranking algorithm.
 App Description Checklist:
 Informative.
 Easy to understand.
 Clearly structured (bullets, emojis).
 Includes keywords.
 Up to 4000 characters long.
 Avoid popular keywords that are forbidden.
o Get the right App Icon by A/B Testing
 How to convey visually what your app is about. Something that gets a lot of
attention.
 Think about what your app is about.
 Analyze competitors creatives.
 A/B Test icon.
 Checklist for App Icon A/B Testing:
 Analyzing & Brainstorming
 Creating Variations
 Running the experiment and evaluating results
 Implementing changes
 Starting follow up experiments.
o Prepare App Screenshots & Videos
 These may not affect your app ranking directly but play a key role in CRO,
giving the person an idea about how the app would work. You can use this to
show off the best part of your apps. You’re doing a visual storytelling. App
store calls them previews. Play store calls them promos.
 Used by app store’s ranking algorithm.
 Checklist for App Screenshots and Videos:
 Illustrate how your app looks like.
 Highlight its main features.
 Tell a visual story.
 Portrait or Landscape layout. Size requirements. Should follow how
the users would use the app.
o App Listing & Localization:
 Adapt it to be appealing to target geo-market. May require you to use
different languages.
 Localization practices. You can improve app store search visibility and expand
reach.
o App Ratings & Reviews:
 Both stores consider the comments and reviews users leave about the app.
 Better rating  more relevant your app is considered  higher ranking.
 Essential to reply to reviews.
 Checklist for App Reviews
 Encourage them to leave reviews within the app itself, easier to get
ratings than reviews.
  Don’t push them to give reviews, you can be penalized for it.
 Users leave reviews if they like the app.
 Keyword Strategy for ASO:
o Research Relevant Keywords:
 Competitor research.
 Read review comments and analyze with word users use to describe your
app.
 Do brainstorming through focus groups.
 Use keyword suggestion tools. Google Keyword Planner.
o Consider App Store Search Behavior
 Searches are short and generic.
 People search for functionality and that is what search queries would look
like.
o Use the right balance between keyword popularity and competition.
 Focus keywords should have the right balance between competition and
search volume.
 Fat - Head Keywords (Popular Keywords i.e. High Search Volume & Traffic) vs
Long – Tail Keywords (Help you when there’s a lot of competition). Use a mix
of both.
o Use your Keywords wisely for App Store
 Choose them accordingly.
 There are a limited number of characters.
 Apple Keyword Field  100 characters allowed.
 Which keywords should you focus on.
 ASO Tricks
o Know the Free Keywords. The App Store provides them to you free and gives you
ranking automatically. Your category word is a free keyword. So, you don’t need to
add them, you’re already getting to rank from them, don’t waste your characters.
o Find your app niche and work your way to the top. There will be competition so
instead of fighting on high volume keywords. Instead use long or medium keywords
that are of your niche.
o Run a Google Search Ad for app installs. Run it on Play Store. Run it for 3 to 5 days.
Because Google makes money from ads, they will push up you’re ranking so that it
gets the app money. Google wont push you down after putting you up once.