A Comprehensive Guide to App Store Optimization

Isn't it frustrating to see your app not ranking high on app stores after months of hard work and dedication? Obviously, it is. Then how can you compete with over 6 million mobile apps in different app stores? Well, it can only be possible with the help of App Store Optimization.

But before getting into the crux of how to do App Store Optimization, it's important to know ASO fundamentals. Also, you should know why ASO is so crucial for your newly built app. In the following few paragraphs, you will find some practical insights into making the most out of your mobile app.

What is App Store Optimization?

App Store Optimization is an optimizing technique for mobile apps to increase visibility in the search results of major app stores like Apple's App Store and Google Play Store. That increased visibility brings tremendous traffic to your app and helps to climb the high conversion ladder.

Why Can't You Ignore the ASO For Your Brand-New App?

No doubt, a major concern of ASO is increasing the app downloads, but that's not the whole thing. We also want some supplemental goals to be achieved. So here is the list of those additional benefits we will get after proper App Store Optimization:

1. Enhance visibility to potential customers

2. Improve the brand exposure

3. High audience engagement

4. Boost up the organic installs

5. Increase the App's Revenue

8 Easy-to-follow Steps for Complete App Store Optimization

After knowing the basics of ASO and its importance, now it's time to get into the business. Here is the breakdown of 8 factors you need to focus on while optimizing the app. By following this step-by-step guide, you would see incredible results after a few days of app publication.

So, without further ado, let's get started!

1. Start with Optimized App's Title & Subtitle

Your mobile app name is the first thing everyone will observe after landing on your app Store page. So, it's crucial to pick the name wisely as it has a huge impact on the ranking factor. A perfect app name is always easy to remember, delivers the message what it does, and sounds appealing to the prospect.

Moreover, the app name length must be less than 50 characters for Google Play Store and 30 Characters for Apple Play Store. Also, it would help if you incorporated the keyword in the title naturally as it will boost up the rank 10% higher.

On Apple Play Store, you have an option to add subtitles where you can introduce more insights. Hence, utilize this opportunity by logical keyword placement in the subtitle to encourage the ranking game.

2. Use Keyword Effectively

Proper use of keywords promises ultimate success for both the SEO and ASO. However, the placement of keywords in Google App Store is somewhat different from the Apple App Store. You have only 100 characters in Apple App Store to include all the keywords, while the Google Play store has no specific boundaries in this regard.

In Google App Store, the keywords in the description also influence the app ranking, so you have a total of 4000 characters to play with. But remember, there is a clear difference between keyword stuffing and optimizing the description. To ensure the best ASO practice, you should not use more than five times your main keyword in the description.

Before launching your app, conduct research about your keyword that should align with the queries user is searching for. Moreover, analyze the monthly traffic, demand, and difficulty of your selected keyword. In general, a keyword with a high search volume and a small number of apps are good to go.

3. Write an Intriguing App Description

Once your app is ranked high in search results and opened up by a user, then the next few actions will be based on your app description. An engaging and persuasive app description makes the customer hang on for a while and seal the deal at the end.

Your description should answer all the queries that can come to the customer's mind, like how it will add value, solve problems, and worth investing in?

Furthermore, app description plays a significant part in ranking, as mentioned by the Google Play Store ranking algorithm. That's why it's important to add keywords strategically in different places of description.

4. Add Compelling Screenshots and Preview Video

Visuals always prove to be handy in grabbing the audience's attention within no time. Therefore, your app store page outlook is critical for the customer to finalize his decision.

Also, the right designs are responsible for increasing the click-through rate after ranking. Apart from that, the text on the screenshots should clearly state the core benefits and engage the prospects.

According to research, around 85% of the US audience watches online videos. With this in mind, incorporate a high-quality preview video on your App Store Page to introduce your insights perfectly.

Most of the audience watch muted audio, so there must be text overlays to showcase the benefits and features of your mobile app.

5. Include the Polished App Icon

The app icon is the first visual interaction of the customer with your app, so make sure that it looks appealing. A person will only click on the eye-catching, unique, and engaging app icon in a large list of search results.

Maybe, your ASO strategy will work out, and your app manages to hold first place in search results. Still, there is no guarantee of many downloads unless the first impression inspires the users.

So go through the hit and trial process to test different icons design before a final launch. Never rely on a single design just because you like it. Maybe, it doesn't seem captivating to visitors.

On that note, it's better to take some time and brainstorm various designs. And one thing that must be adhered to is originality. Copying someone else idea and tweaking it a little bit will not make anything for you.

6. Encourage Positive Reviews and Ratings

A positive review on your mobile app from a user is like a statement of a witness for the new visitors. One of the main concerns of ASO is to inspire people to leave a positive review and high rating. Because both the App Stores promote high rated and popular apps in the search results.

But how to do so is the main hindrance. Here are few key ideas to achieve this goal:

• Encourage your fellows to download the app and share their experiences.

• You can send a push notification to the user after completing the first task or download it through your app.

• If someone opened your app frequently, send a polite message to know the reflections.

7. Drive Traffic to Maximize Downloads

Increased visibility and plenty of downloads are the two main objectives of App Store Optimization. However, these two factors have direct relation and depend on each other performance. A more visible app is likely to be downloaded by many people, and with a large number of downloads, you can get more reach as per algorithm policy.

To get more traffic, having an SEO-optimized website is the best option to host your app. By doing so, you can get engagement from simple google searches. Sometimes, running paid Ads on the Google Universal App Campaigns or Apple Search Ads drives more traffic to your App Store Page.

All in all, maximizing the install rate of your app is the end product. Do thorough research of the market and analyze the average of your category. Set up your goal and focus on keeping the install rate above that benchmark.

8. Improve the Localization

Do you think every potential prospect can read and understand English? Definitely not. Here comes a need to localize your app page in Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. To make your app globally appealed, it's just to translate your existing data into different languages.

A well-performed localization would increase the search visibility and get more engagement around the world. Making your app available all over the world can lead to generating more revenues. The reason is, people perceive information better in their native language, and they love to download it.

Despite all these benefits, there are limitations in localizing your app. For instance, Apple App Store has a limit of 40 different languages to localize, while it exists in 155 countries. On the other hand, Google allows you 77 different localizations. However, you should only pick up few languages for localization based on your target audience.

Conclusion:

Only a well-designed app is not enough for your business, but you need to do proper App Store Optimization to grab many audiences. Just like SEO, ASO also needs a regular update to bring results for you. So, you have to invest time and effort over an extended period.

Although Google and Apple never reveal their criteria to rank the apps, but certain factors influence the app ranking. To appear in the top search results is what matters a lot for any publisher, and you can easily achieve this feat by simply following the above techniques.