What is ASO and how should I apply it?
Competition in mobile app stores is brutal. With 9 million mobile apps on Google Play and 2.5 million in the App Store, it is essential for businesses to have a competent App Marketing strategy and — specifically App Store Optimization (ASO) — to place their apps at the top of the markets.
What is ASO?
ASO is to apps what SEO is to websites. As its name suggests, ASO, or App Store Optimization, is the process of optimizing an app to ensure that it appears among the first results when users search in app stores. The more visibility a mobile application has in the stores, the more likely it is to be found by users and, therefore, the more likely it is to get downloads.
ASO factors to consider
The more installations and the faster we get them, the better positioned the application will be. What is not so good is that the uninstallation rate is high. It is an indicator that the product (app) is not as good as it should be. Therefore, it is important that you have some points clear before configuring your application:
App name: The name of an app must contain the main keywords by which we want to be found and, in addition, be eye-catching.
Description: The description of an app, in the case of Google Play, must include keywords (without reaching spam) and, in the case of Apple, it must be used as a marketing weapon to captivate users. The limit is 4000 characters, but the text must be brief and orderly, and always explaining the theme or utilities.
- Choice of keywords: In the case of Google Play we do not have a “keywords” field, while in Apple we do. It is important to take this into account to speed up the search for our app.
- Developer’s name: It is good that the developer’s name includes keywords. In addition, the developer’s seniority is also an important factor since they have more “strength” to rank.
- Icon: The icon does not directly affect the ASO, however, it is essential to attract the attention of users since it is usually the first thing they notice.
- Screenshots: As with the icon, the screenshots chosen for an app’s page will not make it rank better, but a good selection of screenshots will make users “die” to install it.
Apart from these On-Site factors, we must always keep in mind some other Off-Site factors, such as:
- The popularity of the app: This factor directly influences the success of an ASO strategy, since the higher the number of downloads, the better position an app will have in a store.
- CTR (click through rate): A high Click Through Rate (percentage of clicks between the number of impressions) has a positive influence on ASO. For clicks to translate into downloads, a good option may be to offer the app for free to increase the number of downloads -even if there are in-app purchases- and thus boost positioning.
- Reviews and ratings: Positive reviews directly affect the ASO of an app as they are important for algorithms while generating trust in users, motivating them to download and try an app.
- Social Networks: Wherever the traffic comes from, it helps to improve the positioning so it is a factor that you should not neglect. Some social networks have specific advertising formats to promote apps (a good example is Twitter with its App Cards) and it may be interesting to explore them to get more downloads.
- Landing page: The landing page or landing page should have the mission to publicize the existence of the app and explain the features it offers in terms of benefits. Letting users know how having the app can improve their lives is a decisive factor in whether they decide to download it to their phones.
Do you want to know how to promote an app with inbound marketing and ASO? Here are 4 essential steps to carry out an inbound strategy for your app.
Advantages of using an ASO strategy
According to Apple, search plays a very important role in the way users discover apps, as search queries account for 65% of App Store downloads. Therefore, we can say that working ASO directly influences the success or failure of an app. That is why it is so important to use ASO techniques to position apps in app marketplaces.
As with SEO, anyone who applies this type of techniques in their applications is rewarded with several advantages that undoubtedly make an app more competitive and receive many more downloads. The main advantages are:
- Increased visibility: the better you implement your ASO strategy, the more visibility you will get and, therefore, your chances of getting users to download your app will be higher.
- Organic downloads: an organic download is one generated directly from the app stores, without any external influence (Social Ads, Search Ads, Mobile Ads, etc.).
- Increase your revenue: usually, the most common way to generate revenue with apps is through PPC (pay per click advertising). The more visibility you get, the higher your chances of getting clicks.
- Less competition: it is a relatively new market and competition is still low. The number of apps that develop ASO positioning is much lower, for example, than SEO positioning in web search engines.
- Low investment: as you will see below, carrying out an ASO positioning strategy is based on following a series of steps that do not require much cost or investment. We will have to pay for some tools, as in SEO positioning, but this type of strategy is within everyone’s reach.
As you can see, improving the ASO strategy is necessary to improve positioning, improve your position within the search results in the app stores and start making money with apps. If we combine ASO positioning techniques with a functional, fast, and well-designed app, success is assured.
This is a relatively new discipline (compared to others) within Digital Marketing. However, few companies take it into account in their app marketing strategies. For this reason, carrying out a good ASO strategy will allow us to give a blow to the table and differentiate ourselves from the competition.
