ASO 101: Introduction to App Store Optimization

As we move toward a more digital and service-based economy, more and more businesses are including app functionality in their offerings. Find out why it's important to optimize your app store listings to help your efforts to get more users. 

In this tutorial, we'll go over the algorithms that determine your app's visibility in app stores, along with a few guidelines to follow if you want to make the most of those algorithms and boost your app's marketing efforts. We've put together a list of best practices for app store optimization (ASO) in this article so you don't have to look all over for the right answers.

What is App Store Optimization (ASO)? 

"App store optimization" is the process of making a mobile app more visible in the search results of the app store. Your app will have a greater chance of being discovered by users if it appears higher in the app store's search results. Higher rankings in the app store result in more people visiting your app's page.

The purpose of ASO is to increase the number of people who click through to your app's listing in the app store and ultimately install your app. To be successful with ASO, you need to know your audience inside and out, right down to the search terms they use to find apps like yours.

You can find the best keywords by doing research on popular search terms and learning more about the language of your target audience.

How does an app get optimized?

To optimize an app is to make it easier for people to find it in app stores (such as Google Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS). Your app has the highest odds of ranking highly in each of those app stores with app store optimization. For the most part, app store optimization can assist you in achieving greater popularity, downloads, user engagement, and reviews. 

Your ASO Checklist

Getting your app the best possible ranking in the app store isn't hard. In order to increase your app's visibility and search engine rankings, we have compiled the most important things you can do:

1. Learn Your Keywords

I'm guessing you've used Google before. And you don't use Google search to type in novel-length passages, right? Most of the time, you just type in a few words or phrases here and there to find what you need. Well, that's the same way people look for apps in app stores. The best way for people to find your app is to use the same search terms they would use to find similar apps, so it's important to put yourself in their shoes.

2. Pay attention to your app's name

Always make sure that the title of your app is perfectly optimized, as it will play a major role in the app's overall branding. Choose titles that stand out, get people's attention, and are interesting enough to make them want to click on them. If there's room, you should include relevant keywords and tags in your app titles to improve their visibility in the iOS App Store.

3. Be strategic when describing your app

Use keywords that are both relevant and unique to describe how your app works and what makes it different from the rest. You only have 4,000 characters to describe your app and what it can do. Make every word count. 

4. Aesthetics matters

The advertising for an app is  part of the app's identity. Users who are more visual may appreciate an introduction or explainer video, and it is always a good idea to provide screenshots of your app's primary features for those who would rather not read about them. 

The visual appeal of your app relies in part on the brand colors you choose, so it's important to do some digging to find colors that are both appropriate and pleasing to the eye. Small things like the font you use will also play a big role in getting people's attention, because let's face it, some fonts should never be used in business. Overall, these creative ideas will be a big part of how users decide which app to use, which, if all goes well, will be yours.