In Business World App Store Optimization or ASO is SEO for apps. Yes, as you read it.
Suppose there are strategies to position a web page. In that case, there are also others that you can apply so that mobile device users find your application in the Google, Apple, or Microsoft application store.
According to a Statista report, the number of mobile app downloads in 2020 reached 218 billion. These data are overwhelming. Therefore, developing a strategy to know how to stand out in the application stores and not be forgotten by the apps is very important.
In this article, I will explain what ASO means, what are the reasons to apply it, how you can do it and why it is necessary to complement it with your SEO strategy.
Table of Contents
What is ASO?
The acronyms that make up this word refer to the acronym in English: App Store Optimization. This translates to app store optimization.
It means that just as you apply strategies and recommended practices to achieve Google rankings based on articles and pages on your website.
You can make your app visible in the application store by following specific ASO optimization guidelines.
The most used application stores are Google Play, App Store (Apple), and Microsoft Store. The paragraphs that follow take these platforms into account.
Why is ASO important?
Below I outline five reasons why you decide to learn ASO and then spend time implementing each of these optimization practices.
You gain visibility
The first task for any application is to appear and be seen. Between the number of published apps every day, the visibility in the app store and the possibility of being discovered is quite unlikely.
Therefore, you must optimize the presentation of your app. With good keyword research for ASO, the knowledge of your ideal audience.
With the copywriting of your texts and other details, you will have more options to be recognized both by the algorithm of the app stores and by the users.
That will take your app to the front page of the Google, Apple, or Microsoft store.
You increase organic traffic
Suppose you apply ASO good practices and do not stop measuring optimization results. In that case, your application will be shown to more users; impressions will grow, and, therefore, organic traffic to your product page can be increased.
With tasks done well, you will earn many visits, some of which will automatically convert to potential users.
You don’t spend money on user acquisition
As with SEO, to position products or services from a website, attracting new users and downloads will save money on user acquisition.
Being organic traffic, the money spent on these optimizations is at zero cost. The only expense that is made is in time, creativity, and experiments.
You promote one more channel for your business
It would help if you looked at the ASO approach as one more of the legs of your marketing strategy.
Keep in mind that your final goal is not optimizing application stores but that this practice is one more way to reach that ideal customer or audience by solving their needs or problems with your application.
This will contribute to brand awareness or brand recall, and then they will get to know your different channels, services, and products.
What are the best ASO practices?
Although each application store has its design, these elements and requirements repeat, in general, in each one of them.
Before starting, it is necessary that you become familiar with the language of your ideal audience.
That you understand it and know its characteristics, and that you carry out keyword research on it.
On the one hand, there are some ASO elements that you can control, monitor, and modify according to your needs and the growth of your users.
- App title and name
- App caption
- Design: icon, video, and screenshots
- Reviews and rating
- Number of downloads
- App description
ASO, SEO, and marketing: what you can do outside the app store
Although ASO tactics are actions that you must implement and measure within the application stores, consider that your strategy to lead users to download your application should not start or end with them.
Good ASO practices should be a channel that joins your global marketing strategies. This strategy should also consider the SEO of your website.
The copy aim at making your application and its functionalities know, and the visibility that you can gain if you appear on other channels.
Such as paid advertising, podcasts, YouTube, etc.
ASO allows us to save money and becomes a fundamental weapon to achieve downloads. Still, if you assimilate it within a more ambitious approach, you will see how it contributes to your business strategy and brings you very profitable results.