A Quick Review On App Store Optimization (ASO)

There isn’t a more effective solution than App Store Optimization (or simply, the ASO) when it comes to getting your newly-built app desired visibility to derive traffic and help it climb the charts on App Stores. This article is about making you quickly familiar with the ASO process, and why constantly performing ASO is necessary. Keep scrolling down to deep dive into knowing this free-of-cost process that can help your app be a popular user’s choice.

Let’s buckle up and begin our ride.

What is ASO?

Before going into understanding what ASO is and how does it help put your App at the top of App Store charts, let’s see how many apps are there in total to compete with:

• 1.8m Apps on Apple App Store
• 2.39m Apps on Google Play Store
• More than 500K at Microsoft Store (If both phone and the desktop is combined)

Numbers are huge, right? And these numbers are growing by 1000+ apps each day. How are you going to ensure your App reaches the top? What strategy are you going to follow? That’s where App Store Optimization (ASO) comes in.

Let’s get down to it!

ASO, or say, Mobile App SEO, is a constant process to optimize mobile Apps’ search on its App store to attain sustainability in the mobile app market and get maximum user attention. Users acquired through ASO tend to be more loyal as compared to the ones influenced through paid means! Besides that, ASO also includes Visibility Optimization / Discoverability (Visibility of an App on its App Store when a user browses for a desired App), Conversion Rate Optimization (Likelihood that a user will install the desired App!).

ASO is crucial for mobile application marketing. The main objective of using ASO is to maximize the number of organic downloads an App gets. Let’s see why ASO is necessary.

Is App Store Optimization necessary?

How many Apps does a smartphone user have?

On average, 30-40?

Right?

And, what percentage of those Apps does that user usually use?
Say, about 26% of them. That’s unbelievable! Right? Now think, on the one hand, you have millions of Apps on an App store, and on the other hand, people are so picky in installing an App while thinking it might solve their problem, and stats indicate that a user merely uses about 26% of installed Apps.

Putting your App at the top of the App Store charts seems unattainable. And you have a question, how to do that among such scenarios?

Simple!

Make it easy for your audience (and potential users) to search for your App on an App Store. In other words, use ASO. The more easily users find your App, download and install it, and give reviews and ratings, the easier it’s for your App to climb on App Store charts. That is why ASO is necessary for your newly built App.

Another reason why ASO is necessary is the payback and the profitability associated with your entire business. And latest stats and facts show that global revenue for App Stores stood to $8.4bn for the period 2008 to 2014. And keeping in mind that approx 30% of existing apps are paid ones, $8.4 bn seems significant! Hence, there is a real chance for you to get yourself a piece of the pie.

This review article on ASO is going to do just that for you. And if you need more details and core ideas for App Store Optimization, you can find them here.

Now, let’s unfold a few things for ASO that can help your App succeed among many other Apps.

Does keyword optimization play a key role in ASO?

Keyword optimization helps in the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) process. There is no doubt about that. But can it help in ASO? The answer is, Yes!, it can. It is crucial. Remember? ASO is also known as – Mobile App SEO. Using SEO’s semantic core principle, optimizing an App Store becomes easy. Because keywords are needed as “fill-in-data” on the product page and will also be used in the title and description of your App. Right, and intended keywords make it easy for your audience to find your App on an App Store.

Thus, while filling the keyword-pool, there are a few things that matter –

• Relevant words = more traffic. Do not put irrelevant words!
• The complexity: Every App has its limit. Always try your best to figure it out and mitigate it ASAP!
• Do not lose “traffic keywords” when playing with the above two. They should remain intact to their initial purpose. 

Additional Help:

• Think of keywords as a logical entity that should not be repeated (even if you change them from singular to plural versions).
• Always avoid using the word “app” everywhere in the description of your App. 
• Keep precious characters to meaningful keywords.

Warning!: Using irrelevant keywords for App ranking will get your App rejected on an App Store. Always keep it in mind!

Is ASO different for App Store & Google Play Store? 

Have you ever wondered how many mobile App Stores are there on the Internet? Jillions. And how many of them always remain on everyone’s bemind? Surely two. The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store dominate the mobile App world. And all the others either try to grab or merely share a tiny bite of this billion-dollar profitable global market.

Most of the ASO implementation pats for both the App Stores are the same, except for a few things. If you observe, Google Play Store seems to have a complex searching algorithm at first. That is because it involves many external factors influencing the algorithm. On the other hand, the iOS App Store requires you to thoroughly examine and create its product pages while keeping SEO in mind. The reason is that the web search algorithm of Google indexes and ranks them similar to any other web page.

Furthermore, Apple App Store and Google Play also differ in how apps are categorized. The reason behind that is, Apple’s App Store allows you to publish the same App in three different categories. Whereas Google’s Play Store only assigns a single category for your App. And another big difference while conducting ASO for both is the availability of “+1” in Google’s Play Store, allowing you to show positive impressions of your App to users with one tap. It is not so in the Apple App Store. This feature influences an App’s ranking position on Play Store. Thus, consider it while performing ASO for Google Play Store.

Now that you have learned what ASO is and why it is a much-needed marketing tool for your App let’s get ourselves familiar with the process of conducting the ASO successfully and what are the tips that you can use to enhance the search for your App.

Checklist & Tips To Conduct ASO Successfully

There is no standard method, or you can say, a well-established principle to conduct ASO for your App successfully. All you can do is follow checklists like the one shared below or keep up the brainstorming activities using hit and trial methods until some of them show magic. Below are some tips and a checklist which is generally followed almost on every other App Store out there:

• App Title: Do not use non-existent words since there is a character limit, and it should be minimal. Thus, be very precise yet meaningful. 
• App Subtitle (Only for Apple App Store): Follow the same as mentioned in the App Title.
• Keywords: Always use Relevant words for more traffic. Do not put irrelevant words! If so, the App Store will reject your App.
• Keyword Field (Only for Apple App Store): Same as for keywords.
• Description of the App: Never overload the description with too many keywords. It creates negative impressions. 
• App Icon & Screenshots: Both text & images are essential for App Icon and screenshots of the designs of your App. Thus, keep the Icon & screenshots eye-catchy and the texts easy to read.
• App Size: Keep it as low as possible. Nobody likes to install Bulky Apps.
• App Localization: Do not forget to optimize your App for local users. Always remember to add descriptions of your App in local languages. 
• App Promotional Texts (for Apple App Store only): It’s a short pitch or a tagline that provides quick info about your App. Hence, think accordingly.
• App Update Frequency: This is highly recommended since users want high security and end-to-end encryption regarding their info. Please do not take it lightly.
• Ratings & Reviews: These are feedback from users about their experience with your App that helps others decide whether they’d like to try your App. Do not forget to ask for ratings and respond positively.

Besides mentioned above, an effective and smooth ASO process depends upon how much research you do, what level of understanding you have for your customers, and which language your users are using to search for similar apps like yours. That is the key to a rewarding plan to market your mobile App successfully if you can get that.

Last words

All in all, never forget that ASO is like a marathon, not a sprint. Because by definition, it is a continuous process like SEO that never comes to an end. Thus, when you have everything discussed above ready, it’s time to explore and analyze the factors that affect the performance of your App. Following this, you can make all the necessary changes & improvements. And repeat – try, make mistakes, and try again! If you have enjoyed this quick review, follow our blogs and social media channels for more updates. Also, if you are looking for any help in mobile app development or consultations, Quokka Labs is the team.