Sunday 5 June 2016

Beginner tips for ASO (App store optimization) : Part 1

What is app store optimization?


There are more than 2 millions of apps in app stores (Google play, Itunes).  According to Pocketgamer.bi There are a total of 1.9 million apps seen in the US App Store, out of which 1.7 million are currently available for download. Apple.Developers are currently submitting more than 1,000 apps to Apple's App Store per day.




Getting your app discovered on the app store is the biggest issue facing by developers and publishers now days. If you have mobile app  and you want to market your app well, Its important for you to understand the different strategies for your game marketing .

I am going to share some tips with you to understand the most important technique which increased yur downloads – App store optimization(ASO).

Why ASO?


 Have a look on below statistic by Apptentive. Most of the apps are getting discovered by the search on app store than any other method

According to Google I/O, Ankit Jain reported that “For the average app, search actually makes up the vast majority of installs.”.which means  ASO is the most important app discovery channels for your app. If you are using ASO then It will be the one of the most important factor for ranking and overall success of app.

What Is ASO (App store Optimization)?


App store optimization is the process of optimizing your app for best search ranking in apps store (Google Play, Itunes). Better Ranking increases your visibility in apps store search pages which ensures your app getting more noticeable by potential user for their relevant keyword. Which increase a lot of traffic to your app page and meeting your goal of getting highest download.
According to research from Forrester, app store searches have resulted in the discovery of 63% of all apps.It is  most amazing fact that publishers are not investing in App store optimization. If you improve your ASO it will become very special weapon for you.


How ASO works?


How well do you know your competitor and your customer?
The Best ASO strategy start with understanding your customer and competitor in detail, For That you need  think like your potential user. Moz blog has given a great check-list to understand your customer deeply.

To start ask yourself the following questions:

  1. ·         What language do my customers naturally use?
  1. ·         How would they describe my app?
  1. ·         What are their top reasons for downloading and using my app?
  1. ·         What is my competitive advantage?
  1. ·         What keywords do my competitors target?
  1. ·         How easily can I compete against these apps on the same keywords?
  1. ·         Should I target the obvious keywords or the less obvious (and less trafficked) keywords that better speak to my unique offering and points of differentiation?


·         Your ASO strategy begins with putting yourself in your customer’s shoes. Your goal is to improve discovery in app store searches and target those keywords that drive the most traffic. The best way to identify these optimal keywords is consumer research — finding out exactly what search queries brought your customers to your app and the natural language they use to describe it.

Its Important to check your competitor too for understand which keyword they are using and how many are similar as yours? Is it important to target the same keyword or just choosing some low competition keyword which makes more sense to your app.

Factors which are important for ASO
1.    Your App Icon
App Icon is the first impression of your app when someone searching your app in app stores. So its important to make it unique so that it would stand out from the crowd.
Its not to be over complicated, It needs to be very simple and clear to understand that what your app is about.


























In fact, Google now allows you to A/B test app icons and screenshots in real-time.


 1.    Magic of Keyword

Keyword selection is very crucial thing for ASO.
Keyword research will take significant amount of time to choose most relevant and best keyword to rank on app store pages.

Tools For  understanding current Keyword Trend.


Tools For Keyword Analysis



Best practices while choosing your keyword

·         Use the singular form of words
·         Do not repeat keywords
·         Do not use keywords that are already in your app’s title
·         Do not include any spaces in your list
·         Put commas between each word, even if it’s a phrase like “bingo card”
·         Try to max out with 100 characters (Google “character count” to help you)
·         Use singular form for example. “Bird” instead of ”Birds”
·         Its always good to be on first for low ranking keyword than on 10th for high ranking keyword  (Source: appempire.com)

App Name:

It is good to include search friendly keyword in your app name
Its important to have clear and descriptive app name. Maximize the use of long name which will describe the app as well as help in branding.


Apple provide 255 character limit for Titles in the App Store.Google provide you  30 character limit for play store. You can use allowing for plenty of keywords or keyword phrases in character title.
As I said App name is 1st impression for for your user so take care of relevancy fact instead of overstuffing the keyword.Longer titles, however, will be truncated on a search results or top chart page. Titles are typically truncated after the 23rd character (including spaces) in the App Store and the 30th character in Google Play.

App Description


Optimize App description is also important factor of ASO.It is important to use your keyword statigically in description.Your app description needs to targeted for user customer than for writing it for serch engine.Describe your description in very simple word so that it should be worked as a call to action for your potential user.

 First two Lines are the most important lines for user and for ASO.                                  
 First tell the user what your app is about then list award and feature of app.


              Of course, App Store Optimization is an ongoing process, thanks both to the continually evolving ranking algorithms and to the competitive nature of the app stores. A successful ASO strategy requires a keen eye, a penchant for analytics, and regular check-ins.

Stay tuned for beginner tips for ASO : Part 2 :)