App Store Optimization (ASO)

The Two Jobs ASO Does

ASO has to do two different things at once. It has to help the app get found, through the title, subtitle, and keyword field the app stores index for search. And separately, it has to convince someone who already found the app to actually download it, through the icon, screenshots, preview video, and description. An app can rank well and still convert badly, or convert well once someone lands on the page but never get found in the first place.

What We Actually Test

Screenshots and the icon move download rates more than almost anything else in the listing, so that’s where we test first, usually with the A/B experiment tools the app stores support directly. Keyword placement in the title carries more ranking weight than keywords buried in the description, which most app owners get backwards.

Where ASO Ends and Paid Acquisition Begins

ASO improves what happens once someone reaches the store listing, whether they arrived from an organic search or a paid ad. It doesn’t replace paid user acquisition, and a strong listing with no traffic driving to it won’t move download numbers on its own. The two work together, one earns the click, the other pays to create the opportunity for that click to happen.