App&More

App Store Optimization (ASO).

Stand out from the crowd with App Store Optimization (ASO), which is mobile app optimization in app stores.

What is ASO and what is it used for?

ASO is APP Store Optimization, which is the process of optimizing a mobile app in the available app stores of Google Play, App Store, Windows Store, Amazon App Store, or HUAWEI AppGallery.

Every month, 100,000 new apps are added to the Google Play store alone. So we are dealing with a huge competition. The average user uses 30 different apps in a month. What can you do to get your app among those 30? How to break through this thicket, to stand out from the multitude of competing products?

More than 50% of apps and games are installed after an organic search, and once a user searches for your app, you only have a few seconds to grab their attention. So what can we do to attract customer interest?

To find out, you need to conduct a thorough analysis of the app and how it is visible in the store. That analysis is the ASO audit - the first step we take when we want to improve an app's performance.

At App&More, we conduct in-depth ASO audits and help app owners get the best possible results. We are happy to help you with the optimization of your product, point out the most important aspects to improve and support you in the process of implementing changes.

What to do to get noticed?

The ASO audit is based on several key elements - when conducting an audit, we start by learning about the ASO Score. This is an indicator used on the AppTweak platform for analyzing data at ASO. ASO Score shows - on a scale of 1 to 100 - how well our app is optimized in the Google Play store or App Store. Looking at the value of this indicator gives us a general idea of where we stand and what needs to be addressed first.

The ASO Score consists of three main components: an assessment of the quality of the content appearing around the app (app name, subtitle, short and long description in the store); an assessment of the visual/graphic elements found in the stores (screenshots, promotional video); ratings of "other details" (app size, rating and reviews, app version).

Where to start with optimization?

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the application icon. We often know what application we are looking for, and a distinctive icon will help us locate and install the application we are interested in.

After analyzing the application icon, we can move on to the second key element - the application name. We can allocate a maximum of 30 characters for it, but it is recommended not to limit yourself to just the branch name of the application, we should add at least one word that will define the application for the users, and for the user it will become clearer its purpose. To this, it is best to add a subtitle of the application, also max 30 characters, which will clarify the purpose of the application for us.

One of the most important editable assets that has a real impact on the positioning of the application is the long description of the application. It should contain almost the maximum number of characters (4,000 characters). Let's try to include as many keywords as possible for which our app should be displayed. In the case of Google Play, this is actually our only option to "throw in" keywords somewhere. In the case of the App Store, it is a little easier, as we can designate the keywords that are most important to us (maximum 100 characters) and position ourselves for them.

One part of the product page is the graphics, which are supposed to give us an idea of how the application works and its functionality. You need to pay attention to the consistency of layouts and also make the most of the possibility to add as many as 8 screens. Let's also add a short video promoting the application, it will make the product page more attractive.

Another two values, achieving one is not possible without having the other. That is, the relationship between the number of app downloads and app ratings. We can, of course, encourage users to give feedback, but with 100 downloads a 5.0 rating will not be as impressive as with 5 million. However, at first glance, a 5.0 review even with a small number of installations looks ok.

Above, we can see how the average rating increases the conversion rate after going to the store. Achieving a score of more than 4 stars with a large number of reviews will be sufficient, while of course it is worth achieving better ratings than the competition. Additional reviews can be obtained with both in-app and out-of-app activities.

The last important point is to choose the right category of the app, this will certainly make it easier for potential users to search for it.

In conclusion

The most important thing when thinking about ASO is to try to understand how the algorithms in each store work and what we can do to meet their expectations. This will ensure that our app is visible to the right users which will give us an increase in downloads, without the need for paid advertising.

Let's now gather the most important issues that will help us increase our app's reach and thus the number of downloads which will ultimately lead to increased app revenue.

If you would like support with the optimization described above, reach out to us! We will be most happy to help you make changes that will shoot your application's results into space!