Learn ASO from scratch: 10 minutes to help you fully master ASO!

According to the latest statistics, China has become the second largest country for iOS app downloads after the United States. Attracted by the huge market space, more and more applications are submitted to the App Store, the competition among similar applications is becoming increasingly fierce, and the discoverability of applications has become more difficult to grasp.

According to the latest statistics, China has become the second largest country for iOS app downloads after the United States. Attracted by the huge market space, more and more applications are submitted to the App Store, competition among similar applications is becoming increasingly fierce, and the discoverability of applications has become more difficult to grasp. Against this backdrop, ASO has gradually come into people’s view, and more and more people want to understand and master these skills.

For a long time, many ASOers and developers who are preparing to do ASO for their own products have asked us, "Is there any detailed information about ASO, preferably starting from the basics?" Summarizing our past experiences, we would like to present you an article on the basics of ASO.

one. What is ASO

To master ASO, we should first know what it is. ASO is actually the abbreviation of the English word "App Store Optimization", which means " Application Store Optimization" when translated into Chinese. To put it narrowly, it is the process of improving the ranking of the App in the rankings and search results of various application markets . Similar to SEO , but also different.

two. The Importance of ASO

Tune, a well-known American analysis company, conducted a study on iOS users in 2014. According to the data at that time, more than 47% of iOS users discovered apps through the App Store. Of course, in the past two years, this number has been increasing significantly. Moreover, the promotion market outside the app store is also shrinking.

In addition, users are increasingly inclined to discover apps by directly searching for keywords. This is further confirmed by Nielsen, a world-renowned market research company, which shows that more than 63% of users will discover and download apps through keyword searches.

Against this backdrop, more and more developers are turning their attention to the App Store, and App Store optimization (ASO) is playing an increasingly important role.

three. The main purpose of ASO

ASO has many purposes, one of the most important of which is to maximize the "exposure" of the App, and "exposure optimization" can be divided into two aspects: " keyword coverage optimization" and "keyword ranking optimization". So what do these two aspects refer to?

In layman's terms, "keyword coverage optimization" means that users can find the APP by searching for more keywords; and "keyword ranking optimization" means that we should strive to make our App as high as possible in the search ranking under the keywords.

Four. The main factors affecting ASO

Judging from the current App Store ranking rules and search algorithms, the factors that affect ASO effectiveness are mainly the following: app title, keyword domain, app description, icon, app screenshots and preview videos, download volume, user reviews, active users, etc.

1. App Title

Currently, Apple's backend allows the title part to be set to a maximum of 255 bytes, with each Chinese character occupying 3 bytes. In terms of search weight, the title is greater than any other place such as the keyword domain. Therefore, if you can add some of the most core keywords in the title, it will have a very good effect on improving coverage and keyword rankings.

2. Keyword fields

The number of characters allowed to be added to the Keyword part is 100, and 1 Chinese character is equivalent to 1 character. The weight of this part is second only to the app title. If you have an excellent keyword plan, you will be able to cover more core keywords and bring more traffic to the app. The ASO optimizer team of APP Top Promotion is very professional in this regard. If you need anything, you can contact them.

3. Icon, screenshot and preview video

Although they have no effect on search optimization, they still have a great effect on download conversion rate (which is commonly known as the "traffic-attracting effect"). After all, we live in a very visual society.

4. Application Description

App description, like app icon and screenshots, has little effect on search optimization, but it also affects users' download behavior, and download volume is one of the important factors of ASO.

5. Downloads

Although Apple has been adjusting the ranking rules and algorithms of the App Store, it cannot be denied that the number of app downloads and activations is still a very important factor in ASO. However, it should be noted that when it comes to ASO through download volume, real users and valid IDs are king!

6. User Reviews

In addition to promoting user download conversions, the number of positive reviews for an app also tends to have higher search rankings compared to competing products of the same level. Therefore, some developers would rather violate Apple's regulations prohibiting fake reviews and risk being demoted or removed from the shelves in order to post some reviews. Here, I would like to remind everyone not to take this risk, otherwise the consequences will be serious!

7. Active Users

The number of active users, the proportion of active users, etc. also have an impact on search rankings, and Apple is also constantly strengthening the weight of DAU for the healthy development of its ecosystem.

five. Available exposure positions

Recently, Apple updated its developer backend and introduced in more detail in videos and articles on the website how to display their own apps to App Store users and better acquire targeted users. In fact, in order to improve the discoverability of applications, Apple provides developers with many exposure positions that can be used: boutique recommendation pages, keyword search result rankings, rankings, popular searches, etc. As for the techniques of utilizing these exposure positions, you may want to take a look at the article “How many of the App Store’s super exposure positions have you managed to hold?!” published elsewhere.

Written at the end:

Currently, the number of apps in the App Store has reached 1.8 million, and it is no longer an easy task to stand out from tens of thousands of apps. With the rise of the App Store's status and the tightening of other promotion markets, ASO has naturally become a weapon for developers to compete with. The above article only briefly introduces how to optimize various ASO factors and seize App Store exposure. If you want to know more skills, you may wish to check out the WeChat public platform "Top APP Promotion". I believe you will not be disappointed.