A Basic Guide to Understanding ASO for the App Store & Google Play
One of the longest and more complex stages in launching an app is the development phase, without forgetting the previous phases of research, user testing, design, etc.
But make no mistake, because once this stage is over, it doesn’t mean that our work has finished and we can send our app to the store and forget about it. Just the opposite! It’s necessary to carry out a detailed research and to create a strategy so, once launched, it reaches our target. However, with more than 2 million apps in each store, how can we stand out?
We’re gonna make this through App Store Optimization, better known as ASO. ASO is the process of optimizing the positioning of an app to reach a higher rank in the search results of the stores. Currently, there are two main operating systems (iOS and Android) and each of the stores has its own positioning algorithm.
In this case, we’re going to study the steps we need to follow to develop the strategy and main differences between the 2 operating systems in a simple scheme.
App Store
Let’s start with App Store ASO!
- App Name: along with the icon, the app name is the first thing the user sees so it should be noteworthy . Even if the App Store allows 255 characters, it’s better to choose a short and brief name.
- Description: the App Store allows 4000 characters but only the first 3 lines are displayed as a preview. Although the description doesn’t affect the search results, it’s important to work on it since it’s the way to explain to the user the benefits of an app. It should be short and concise to get more downloads.
- Keywords: these are the keywords through which we want our target find us. It’s really important to take time to properly choose the keywords since you can only use 100 characters. So, it’s best not to use spaces, but commas (no space after them) and, specially, use all the characters. Keywords must be localized by country to boost downloads.
- Category: although it doesn’t affect the search algorithm, it allows the user to easily find the app. The App Store lets you assign a primary and a secondary category, being the primary the most relevant.
- Developer Name: when the developer has a positive history of applications, it gets better positioning.
- Icon: it doesn’t affect the search results, but it affects the user’s perception. It should reflect the functionality of the app and attract user attention.
- Screenshots: it doesn’t affect the search algorithm. After the icon, the first two screenshots are the most important. It’s necessary to show not only the app design, but also its functionality to provide clear and concise information to the user.
- Video: directly from the App Store, you can upload a video with the goal of getting more downloads.
- Downloads: along with the other factors, the more downloads you get, the higher your position in the ranking will be. The reviews and ratings, the media appearances and social media help achieve this position.
- Reviews and ratings: these don’t directly influence the App Store algorithm but it influences the user perception. So good reviews and ratings will generate confidence in this.
Google Play
We’ve seen the App Store ASO, but we also need to know about Google Play ASO because there are a lot of differences, as you’ve seen in the scheme above.
- App Name: in this case, Google Play only allows a name with 30 characters, so you have no choice but to be concise. It should include the main keyword of the app, because you don’t have keywords like in the App Store to help position your app. The name, short description and description is what most affects your positioning.
- Description: in Google Play, it doesn’t affect the search results and allows a maximum of 4000 characters. You should use the main keyword 4 or 5 times to climb in the ranking, even though you must be careful because the excessive use of a keyword can mean a penalty from Google.
- Short Description: it also affects the search algorithm and 80 characters are allowed.
- Category: it doesn’t influence the search algorithm but it makes easier to be found by the user.
- Developer Name: like in the App Store, a positive history of the developer, favours the positioning.
- Icon: in this case, it doesn’t affect the search algorithm. But, since it is the first thing the user sees, it’s necessary to spend time designing the one who fits the app.
- Screenshots: Google Play lets you include up to 8, and it’s advisable to place the most important at the beginning.
- Video: you can add a promotional video just by adding the Youtube URL. This video is placed in first position and for the user’s eye it’s much more attractive than the screenshots. It’s advisable that the video be short, from 30 seconds to 2 minutes maximum.
- Downloads: in Google Play, the user can view an estimate number of downloads, so it becomes a factor that influences the user. It also affects the search algorithm.
- Reviews and ratings: the rating influences the user conversion while reviews affect the search algorithm as Google takes into account the keywords present in the review.
Once we have thought thoroughly each and every one of these steps, it’s time to send the app to the Store! But no, this process doesn’t end here. Now is the perfect time to try A/B testing with your app. At Lateral View we begin by changing the category, transforming the icon, modifying the keywords and more, to see which option performs best with our audience. However, we’ll be discussing specifics in future posts. Also, we’ll be introducing the concept of App Indexing, which is the ranking for our app in Google search results for mobile, which can be organic or paid.
This is the first step to reach the top 10 ranking with your app! Are you ready to start?
