App Store

Optimization
 WHAT IS APP STORE OPTIMIZATION
And Why is it Important?

1 Improving an app's visibility and user

appeal in the app stores

3.3 million apps in Google Play

Increasing app conversion rates to Store by the end of Q1 in 2022;
2 get more downloads 3 Over 2.1 million apps in Apple’s App
Store

Getting app downloads and Major methods of getting downloads:

growing user base - most • Running paid app campaigns
4 important KPIs for app marketers 5 • Optimising the app for organic
and publishers traffic
 BENEFITS OF APP STORE OPTIMIZATION

Reach a Global Audience Improved Visibility

ASO allows app localisation that If your app is not easily discoverable, you
makes your app available in multiple won’t be able to improve the number of

6 1
languages, thus reaching a wider installs
audience

Increased App Revenue and

Conversion Rates Get Discovered by the Right Users
Reduced spending on ads and higher
organic growth leads to increased
5 2 ASO leads you to the rights users as
it matches your app to relevant
revenue keywords

4 3
Cut User Acquisition Costs
Organic growth through ASO lowers Increased Organic App Downloads
user acquisition costs as you spend
less money on ads Right keywords boost organic installs and ensure
long-term results
 HOW USERS DISCOVER APPS

Search Traffic
1 • Some users search for a specific app. For example, a user searching for ‘Swiggy’ has a
clear search intent
• Some users also like to explore apps. For example, a user searching for ‘food delivery’
is looking for non-specific and different service providers
• Keyword optimization plays a crucial role in your app’s discovery

Browse Traffic
2 Browse traffic comes from users that browse through categories, top charts or featured apps

App or Web References

3 App or web references that come to your app from another app or web page
APP STORE LISTING VISUALS
3 Types of Visual Elements

Textual Elements App Icons

• Present throughout the user
Vital for keyword
optimization and for
01 experience in app stores
providing quality information • Should be clean and
02 appealing
a
Visual Elements App Screenshots
Crucial to use high quality • Visual story of your app
visual elements to create a
solid first impression
02 • Include key messages and
match with how the app is
used
02 • First 3 portrait screenshots
b appear in search results

App Promo Video

• Shows the app’s most exciting and
02 c powerful aspects
• Shows in-app user experience in first few
seconds
 METRICS OF APP CONVERSION RATES

Conversion Rate - % of users moving

from point A to point B

Listed here are some typical app

conversion metrics

Impressions to product
1 page view (Apple App
Store)

Impressions to install
(Apple App Store) 3
Store or product page
2 views to install (Google
Play and Apple App Store)
Installs to sale or any other
KPI (Google Play and Apple 4
App Store)
 IMPROVING VITAL CONVERSION RATES

App Title
Add information
that users might
Include keywords find important;
that people use Test first few
for describing a sentences
specific catgory App
Description
App
Screenshot
A/B test
App Icon screenshots and Create a video that
User research and find the option gives a good
A/B testing on that brings the overview of your
different icon best conversion app’s features and
styles to find the rate. test it
optimal variant

App Promo
Video
 APP RATINGS AND REVIEWS
Importance of Ratings and Reviews in App Growth

• Goal as an app marketer - reach • Help in branding improvement

• Ratings - Quantitative measure of
how well your app is performing
• Reviews - Qualitative feedback
that users give to your app
4.4+ star rating
• Shown throughout the user
journey in app stores
• Users don’t consider apps with
ratings <4
and user management
• Identify and address potential
issues on time
• Positive reviews provide social
proof of good quality

Ratings vs Reviews The Higher the Better App Reviews

• New keywords can be added to • Track how ratings and reviews

the metadata by analyzing app • Not possible in Play Store but evolve over time
reviews can in done in App Store with • Actively work on gathering more
• Areas of improvement can be every new update ratings
found by analyzing competitor • Risk of ranking degradation due • Reply to user reviews and address
reviews to absence of ratings issues on time
Market and Competitor Resetting App
Critical Aspects
Research Ratings
 SEASONALITY AND INFLUENCE ON APP DOWNLOADS

“
The more you
You can take a few steps to optimize the effects understand your
of seasonality on your app downloads audience, the
easier it is to
integrate their
interests

Map Regular Events

Map the weeks or
New Visual
Elements
Add new screenshots
or messages that will
”
months when you
align with seasonal
need to change your
events
app store data to
better plan app 3 4
updates
1 2 New Features
Introduce new features
that are closely
Update Keywords connected to seasonal
Update your keywords elements
on time that will reflect
seasonality
 A/B TESTING IN APP STORES

• App A/B testing - Creating two variations of an

app store asset and testing the asset
performance on two audience groups
Final
• Each A/B test for mobile apps needs to follow a Implement
simple logic and process: A/B testing
Step 04 in your ASO
Analyze and process and
decide if you make it a
Step 03 want to continuous
Create your implement part of your
variations the testing activities
Step 02 using the variant.
Create testing hypotheses Check traffic
hypotheses - and run the volumes,
Step 01 what do you experiment. conversion
want to Ideally, you rates,
Research on
change? Which need 14 days engagement
potential
app store do to collect metrics,
improvements,
you want to enough data retention
check on
prioritize? Do rates etc.
competitors,
you want to
explore top apps
optimize store
in your category
listings? etc.
 KEYWORD OPTIMIZATION PROCESS

STEP STEP STEP

01 02 03

App Store Keyword Search
Find keywords that are relevant to
your app and have the potential to
bring users
Competitor and Market Use ASO Tool
Research
Visit the app store you are targeting and Collect data on
look at the top charts results, the most keywords such as
popular apps in the category, and the keyword volume,
keywords they use. keyword difficulty,
number of competitors,
top competitors, long-
tail variations etc.
 PRIORITISING RIGHT KEYWORDS
Most Common Methods to Prioritize Right Keywords

Search Volume Data

Keywords need to have enough search
volume to avoid wastage of metadata on
1 2 Current Keyword Rankings
Look at your current keyword rankings
and target their variations, rather than
keywords with no potential targetting an entirely new set of
Keyword Relevancy keywords
Keyword Competition
Go after specific long-tail keywords
that have the most chance of
attracting the right set of users
3 4 If a keyword search results in a large number
of apps, it becomes challeging to rank it. Use
long-tail variants when possible
KEYWORD SEARCH VOLUME AND DIFFICULTY

App Store Keyword Search Volume

• Determines how popular a keyword is among the users in
app stores
• If a keyword or its variation is not very popular, you can
rank for the #1 position, but you won't get many downloads
• Find the keywords that are relevant, not too competitive,
and with a decent search volume

App Store Keyword Search Difficulty

• An estimation of how difficult it is to rank your app in the
top 10 results in app stores
• A highly relevant keyword that you might want to target
would most likely be used by already established
competitors
• You want to combine solid app keyword popularity with
moderate keyword difficulty
Manual Research vs External Tools
• Manual reseach - You need to find your processes and
invest a lot of time, but research methodology may not be
exhaustive
• External tools - Use a tool that has a large keyword
database and crawls keywords daily

Current Market Options for ASO Tools
• All-in-one tool that combines ASO
and paid UA
• Market research, app
management, paid user
acquisition, advanced ASO tactics
App Radar
• Focuses mainly on app store
ratings, review management and
analysis
• Provides specific optimization tools
and offers a range of premium
options
App Follow
ASO TOOLS
• Provides app analytics, keyword
optimization and market
intelligence
• Expensive if you have many
localizations to manage
App Tweak
• High-end tool focussed on market
intelligence data and ad platforms
• Yearly pricing of the tools makes it
amongst the most expensive ones
in the market
Sensor Tower
• Performs app optimizations, check
market intelligence data and
competitor analysis
• Price tag of additional options can
be very high
Mobile Action
• Primarily a tool for understanding
market intelligence data on
mobile apps
• Contains an ASO module but
yearly subscription price is high
Data.ai