App Store Optimization (ASO): The Guide To Optimizing Your App

If you have an application, your promoting system can no more, in any capacity, leave out App Store Optimization. Why? Because the opposition is progressively wild. Throughout recent years, the basis for each business has been to work on their clients’ insight. The pattern to do this has been to make applications.

The Definition Of App Store Optimization (ASO)

Whenever we talk about App Store Optimization or ASO, we allude to a bunch of exercises to give the most extreme natural permeability to an application inside the reference store with the goal that clients can see it and make more downloads. So, through the ASO, we attempt to arrive at high rankings in the application stores’ indexed lists.

During this interaction, the catchphrases through which clients find a specific application are looked at, the transformation rate is improved, and, at last, the advancement of the application’s situation and downloads is checked. Application Store Optimization systems are like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques. A couple of more minutes, and you will see how they resemble the other the same and how they contrast.

So What Is ASO

App stores function like search engines. What does this mean? By using the right keywords, it is possible to take advantage of the search terms entered by users looking for an app similar to yours to position it.  This way, you will appear in the results list and earn many views on users’ smartphones. In short, you will get a much higher number of downloads. The two leading stores are Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store. The objectives are, therefore: 

1. Achieving a better ranking in the search;
2. Raising the click-through rate (CTR) or click-through rate;
3. Conversion rate optimization.

You also need to know that app stores have evolved significantly over time, leading to a natural evolution of App Store Optimization. 

How App Store Optimization Is Done

Since the theory is always dull, it’s time to get your hands dirty. So far, you have discovered what App Store Optimization is, how it has evolved, why it can be called App Store SEO (but don’t confuse things!) And why you should invest in this business. We have to see how to optimize your app. 

Define An Optimization Strategy On The App Stores

The first step to building the entire App Store Optimization strategy is understanding the target audience. Your ideal audience comprises relevant people interested in your app who can then download it. This is the basis of everything. Therefore, before any other activity, it is necessary to prepare all the information on which the other ASO techniques will be based. Chances are, you have already done market research for your business. 

If so, you can use it to narrow down your audience. During this phase, you need to start “speaking their language,” trying to figure out what keywords they might be searching for in your app and what they expect to find. Once this is done, you can move on to the actual optimization of the presentation card for the app store. 

Choose The Right Name For The App

What is the first thing a user sees about your application? His name about him is the information that stands out already in the Search field. True, we said that the visual part strikes app store users, but if there is also a textual part, this is the app’s name or title. What is the role of the title? Get the user to click. Don’t be in a hurry. The choice of the title requires a reasonable amount of time (but we can assure you that it will be time well spent!). It must be clear, impactful, but also captivating. And let’s not forget that you have 30 characters to express all of this. Here are some characteristics that an app name must have: 

1. Simplicity: do not choose difficult words. The title must be understandable at a glance (many famous app names, for example, are composed of a single word); 
2. Relevance: it must give an idea of ​​the sector and the topic (it is not a hard and fast rule. Many great apps break it, but it is a good starting point if you have no other ideas); 
3. Uniqueness: the name or title of the app must be unique, do not copy other apps on the market.

You will know that you have found the right name when reading it. You will be encouraged to click “download.”

Write An Adequate Description Of The App

Another textual element that App Store Optimization deals with is the app’s description. After finding your app and being impressed by the title, users want to know more. The definition has two objectives : 

1. Give users information on the characteristics of the application; 
2. Contain metadata to help the algorithm position your app.

Here we must clarify. If you have developed an Android app, you should also include keywords within the description because the algorithm scans the text and uses it to rank the application. Apple no. However, we remind you that keywords also help the reader identify the context, and therefore entering them does not hurt in any case.  Here are some of the characteristics that the description must possess: 

1. Clarity: this text is for users to understand what your app does and what its main features are, all of this must be clearly and easily exposed, and you can do it using bullet points; 
2. Length: the description must be exhaustive, but without boring users, for this, you have a maximum of 4000 characters, and you must use them wisely;
3. Relevance: avoid unnecessary turns of phrase or call to action phrases such as “the best app” because they are not well seen by the stores and would not be of any use to people. 

 The description, like the title, must convince the user to download. 

Choose The Right App Icon Using A / B Tests

The textual elements are finished. Let’s focus now on the visual ones. Along with the app name, the first item the user sees is the application icon. This plays the same role as the title: it must attract attention and convince users to click. The shapes, the color, the font of the writings are all details that work on the psychology of people to direct their choices. Do you think it is a coincidence that Coca-Cola has chosen the color red?

It is not. So not even you have to make these choices lightly, thinking that they are not decisive. On the other hand, red is perfect for a drink that contains caffeine—much more than, for example, for a yoga app. The essential elements of an icon are: 

1. Color: must be relevant to your industry (blue, for example, is perfect for apps that have to do with the sea);
2. Text: must be reduced to a minimum (maximum 4 or 5 letters), people do not look at an icon to read something inside; 
3. Simplicity: an icon is tiny. This means that the graphics must be simple. Otherwise, the user does not understand what he is looking at, and even less will he remember it;
4. Uniqueness: do not copy the icon of a competitor or another app. 

Marketers always resort to A / B testing to make sure they choose the proper icon. It involves creating different versions of the same icon, perhaps changing the colors and some graphic elements, to understand which one brings the most clicks. 

Is There A Difference Between The Apple App Store And The Google Play Store?

It is no mystery that there are many similarities between Apple and Android and substantial differences.  At this point, you must know that the App Store Optimization cannot be carried out in the same way on the two stores. Depending on where you want to publish your app, you will have to choose some strategies rather than others. Why? For several reasons: 

1. Users: the audience of the two stores is entirely different, and so is their behavior. For example, Android users tend to scroll the page much more than Apple users do, while the latter are more inclined to consult the gallery;
2. Layout: users expect graphics with different elements based on the operating system they are used to using;
3. Personalization: Google works on the store in a similar way to what it does on the search engine, that is, it tries to reward well-indexed apps, with good reviews and a high conversion rate, considering more aspects than Apple does; 
4. Search: Google Play Store has a better search because it suggests apps even when users misspell;
5. Algorithm: the algorithms of the two systems work slightly differently. Google gives much more importance to texts than Apple;
6. Ranking factors: many of these are shared by both systems, such as category, name, visuals, reviews, number of downloads, and updates. However, there are also differences because Google values ​​descriptions and backlinks, while Apple prefers URLs in the app, keywords and also allows you to add a subtitle. 

As you can see, the work of App Store Optimization must be done ad hoc based on the chosen platform.

Also Read: What Is Machine Learning And Its Role In E-Commerce?