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ASO / App Store Optimization - Gist

Basics

  • 2 ‘playing fields’ for good ranking: we want to rank high inside our chosen category as well as for relevant search terms
  • ranking algorithms of stores are not public
  • competition is high: approx. 1.85 million Apple apps and 2.56 million Android apps

Apple Store vs Google Play Store

GOOGLE APP STORE

  • title - very high impact on ranking - explain whole app here - (max 30 characters)
  • short description - low impact on ranking / focus on conversion - (max 80 characters)
  • long description - high impact on ranking - up to 4000 characters
    • repeat most relevant keywords (that are not in the title)
    • have most important keyword at 3% word density (in a text of 100 words repeat it 3 times)
  • no keyword field
  • localization: 1 country - one localization

APPLE APP STORE

  • title - (max 30 characters)
  • key word density is not valued to determine rank - no need to repeat top keywords
  • localization: 1 country - 1 main country and 1 or more others (?)
  • Apple's review process takes usually longer than Google's (consider a 3-day-buffer)

BOTH

  • The name of an app is one of the biggest contributors to determining your search rank on both platforms. The title of the app should include all the relevant and important keywords.

How to get a high ranking

Although algorithms are kept secret, the factors for a good ranking are known. Some factors (like keywords or app performance) can be influenced directly, some (like number of downloads or reviews) only indirectly.

Keyword Optimization

  • 4 locations for keywords: title, subtitle, description and keywords
  • title and subtitle carry most weight
  • keywords should be
    • relevant (don’t use ‘soccer’ for a basketball app)
    • generic
    • high traffic
    • low difficulty
    • longer tail / more than one word. Reason: the competition is so high that it's nearly impossible to rank highly for 'Basketball' and much easier to rank highly for ‘3D Flick Basketball’
  • how to: see below for ‘Keyword Research’

Reviews

can’t be influenced directly but can be encouraged: - by requesting a rating / review at a good time (for example after winning a game or using app for 3rd time) - by answering to reviews - users who feel heard are more likely to later improve their rating or recommend the app

Visuals

many users go for first eye catch, download the app and just try it out -> every download (without a quick deinstall) is a good download

  • Icon
  • Screenshots
  • Video
    • should portray instantly what the app is about
    • should be pretty
    • should be a good symbol for app

Number of downloads

can’t be influenced directly but every download (without a quick deinstall) improves ranking

App Performance Metrics / Product Vitals

App should be high-performing

  • stores rate metrics of an app
  • users give better ratings

Google tracks

  • download velocity
  • battery usage (includes monitoring excessive wake-ups and background scans)
  • app stability (includes crash rate and “Application Not Responding” rate)
  • app start-up time
  • rendering time
  • permissions
  • app retention (how long does the user keep the app) - If many users download an app but also uninstall it quickly, this could indicate that the app is not properly indexed or misleads users regarding its functionalities.

Pick a good Category

should of course be appropriate but if 2 or more categories are possible maybe pick the one with less competition and better chance for a good ranking

Keyword Research

useful (free) tools:

for keyword metrics

for synonyms and related words

https://searchads.apple.com/ (when already having the app in the store)

Process:

  • google for a successful competitor app (e.g. 'pantry check')
  • go to data.ai and click 'ASO Keywords'
  • pick one of the keywords and check it in sensortower.com
  • good keyword values: generic, relevant, high traffic, low difficulty
    • traffic: > 2.5
    • iPhone difficulty: < 4
    • iPhone Apps: the less the better
  • also: search for good synonyms and related key words (onelook.com/thesaurus) and check their values in sensortower.com
  • when finding a gem use it in your title, subtitle, description or keyword field
  • don’t despair, this takes time… ; )
  • check and correct after a couple of weeks

ASO Hacks

get double the amount of keywords for English (USA) by also doing a localisation for Spanish (Mexico). The latter are added to the former use popular misspellings in keyword list -> they are less often used by competitors and therefore give a good ranking when searched for

Other Factors

  • marketing (social media, web page, adverts that link directly to the app in the store)

Sources and more deep dive: