App Store Optimization
for the Rest of Us
Ariel Michaeli CEO/Co-Founder, Appfigures
We’re Going to Talk About:
What’s App Store Optimization, and why you need to learn how to do it
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The four components of successful ASO and their impact on downloads
How to actually do it, immediate results (probably) guaranteed!
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
You shipped your app 🎉
But...
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Lots of others did too!
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
1,000+ new apps/day
Every day, weekends too!
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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How will they find yours?
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
How People Find Apps on the App Store
They see it on the Today page or one of the other featured lists Apple curates.
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They find the category it’s listed in and scroll until they find the app.
They type what they’re looking for into the search box and check out the first few results.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Don’t count on it...
Yea, right 🤣
Bingo 🎉
You Need ASO
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
What Is App Store Optimization?
A set of techniques to find the best keywords to get your app in front of the right people.
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A way to indicate to Apple what your app is all about in a way their search algorithm will understand it.
A set of best practices for making sure people understand what your app does quickly.
An experimental mindset.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
What App Store Optimization Isn’t?
A way to illegally game Apple’s search algorithm and spam your way to the top of the search results.
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An annoying, useless waste of your time that could be better spent tinkering with SwiftUI.
Something only marketers do that’s expensive, takes a long time, and can only work if you have someone dedicated.
Something you can ignore.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
ASO Isn’t Just
About Marketing
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
The Four Components of ASO
Research - Find search terms that are relevant, popular, and are within reach.
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Keywords - Turn search terms into keywords and use them where it matters.
Visuals - Convey what your app does quickly and effectively to turn eyeballs into downloads.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Monitoring - Keep track of performance to know what’s working and what isn’t.
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1. Research
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
How to Research for ASO?
Identify as many relevant keywords as you can based on your features, benefits, and by looking at similar apps.
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The apps that show up for your keywords may not be “similar” to yours, but they are your competitors.
Use an ASO tool to look up the popularity of those keywords, and filter out ones with low popularity. No one cares about those.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Use an app intelligence tool to benchmark the top results for each keyword, and filter out ones where you can’t compete.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Keyword: flight tracker Popularity: 60
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Research Mistakes
Not learning from competitors
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Optimizing for keywords with a low popularity
Using keywords that are irrelevant for the app
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Optimizing for keywords that aren’t reachable
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2. Keywords
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Keyword List
App’s Name
App’s Subtitle
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE:
The Keyword List
Take all of your search terms, split into single words, and eliminate duplication.
Uses a variation of a full text search engine to turn search queries into relevant results. So you need to optimize for the algorithm.
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Separate them with , and remove all spaces
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De-pluralize all words.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Remove all stop words.
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Don’t include your app or company name, or the name of the category it’s in.
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Use all 100 characters
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Simplify complicated words
Spaces, repetition, quotes, not using all 100 characters.
Using all 100 characters, no spaces, more keywords.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
“Shoe shopping”, “Buy sneakers”, “Cool”, “Sneakers”, “Shopping”, “Buying sneakers”, “Shoes”
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shoe,shopping,buy,sneaker,cool,accessories,shop,style,boots,free,shipping,men,women,sandals,footware
✅ Good
The App’s Name
Include your most important keywords (that are also in your keyword list).
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The order is important. If your brand isn’t super popular (yet) push it to the end.
Don’t keyword stuff, it’s really ugly.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Rank 3rd for “send money”
Rank 6th for “music”
Rank 1st for “live traffic”
Rank 3rd for “food delivery”
The App’s Subtitle
Have a subtitle!
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Use keywords that can be combined with keywords from the name to create more search terms.
Doesn’t have to be grammatically correct, but it won’t hurt.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Use all 30 characters!
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3. Visuals
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
On-Page Optimization
Everyone checks out the app’s screenshots first, so they need to sell.
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Videos show how easy it is to use the app, and how the app does exactly what the person is looking for.
The icon is the first visual people will see about your app, so it needs to help them feel the app is relevant.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
“Sell” with Screenshots
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Good Screenshots
Show off the best benefits that the app offers to “sell” it quickly.
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Use color to engage the eye and add contrast that highlights the app’s UI.
Use short and simple captions to describe what the app can do and insinuate action.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Humanize the app by showing it in action, in the context of a real person.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Mistakes with Screenshots
Only showing the app’s UI.
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Sorting screenshots by order of use and not benefits they provide.
Using waaaaaaay too much text that no one will read.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Capturing boring UI.
“Engage” with Video
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
What’s a Video Good For?
Use the App Preview video as an opportunity to showcase the most important interactions/experiences in the app.
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Tie what you show to your most important keywords, and build around the intent they express.
Excite the person watching and engage them enough so they decide to download the app and not go back and try another.
Promote the biggest benefits the app offers with captions, animations, and voice-over.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Mistakes with App Preview Videos
Not uploading a video at all. You can have up to 3.
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Not using sound, which isn’t all that exciting.
Focusing on activities that are too complicated.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Not customizing the poster image.
Good Icons Attract
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Your Icon is Important
Use your logo and brand colors, or a simple illustration of the main benefit of your app.
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Use bright colors that are different from your search competitors.
Don’t pack too much detail. The icon is pretty small, and detail that the eye can’t make out won’t be useful.
Avoid text whenever possible.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
That’s (Almost) It.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
📈
4. Monitoring
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
Monitoring Is Critical for ASO
Keep tabs on which of your changes worked and which didn’t.
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Monitor the competition to see what they’re doing and whether it’s working for them.
Make sure you’re optimizing for the right keywords
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Stay on top of algorithm changes and make sure they don’t kill your bottom line.
Happy Scale lost 44% of downloads overnight 😱
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
What to Monitor
Keyword ranks for your important keywords
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App Store Impressions
Downloads
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Page conversion = Downloads / App Store page views
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Bonus: Experimenting
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
How to Experiment
Experimenting doesn’t have to be “disciplined” or pre-planned in advance, you just have to do it.
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Experiment with new keywords by making changes to the keyword list, app’s name, and the subtitle at the same time.
Try new ideas with your icon, screenshots, and videos. Go for big/abrupt changes first, and then refine what works.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Keep tabs on performance to make sure you didn’t hurt downloads when experimenting.
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Need Help? Just ask.
App Store Optimization for the rest of us
@arielmichaeli
📫 ariel@appfigures.com
🍻 Find me around here
Helpful Resources
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App Store Optimization for the rest of us
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Appfigures - For Monitoring & Optimization
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