ASO
Table of Contents
What is ASO (App Store Optimization)?
What is the difference between SEO and ASO?
App Store Ranking Factors in 2022
What is ASO (App Store Optimization)?
App Store Optimization aka ASO is the process of improving an app's visibility within an app store to improve app install rates. There are two main components that drive ASO: Searchability and Click Through Rates (CTR). Gone are the days of just focusing on searchability and keywords. At the end of the day, if users are finding your app but not installing it, you're leaving dollars on the table.
What is the difference between SEO and ASO?
If you understand SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and are wondering if ASO is simply the same thing as SEO but for mobile apps, you'd be 70% right. Though both processes are very similar, the main difference between ASO and SEO are the ranking factors. SEO ranking factors for websites on search engines like Google and Bing involve more than a few hundred factors, where as the list for ASO is much shorter. Towards the bottom of this post we jump into ranking factors if you want to skip ahead.
Why is ASO important in 2022?
For starters, Apple's App Store has roughly 2.22 million available apps for iOS users. Google's Play store has nearly 3.5 million apps. Needless to say there are more mobile apps than ever before which means individual app publishers are an ever shrinking fish in an ever expanding pond! One of the first factors app publishers should focus on is maximizing visibility, in doing so, you'll maximize downloads.
Another very important reason why you should care about ASO is that regardless of if you're running ads or have a fancy website to attract new users, at the end of the day new users must visit your app's page to download your app. If your page is hard to find or if it's not attractive or trustworthy, new users will bounce.
4 Benefits of ASO in 2022
- Improve visibility and discoverability → No mater how awesome your app is, if users can't find it, they can't download it.
- Increase organic app downloads → App publishers that make ASO a priority rank highly for keywords which in turn allows your app to be discovered and downloaded by users that haven't even heard of your app before searching. The best part? These users don't cost you a dime in marketing cost to find them.
- Reach a global audience → Though this is more of an expert level optimization process, if your app can be easily translated or used globally without a language barrier, you can make your app available in other languages through localization.
- Cut customer acquisition costs (CAC) → Instead of spending money on Facebook ads or social media influencer campaigns, you can lower your CAC by focusing on organic reach with ASO. This not only lowers your CAC it also provides you with a steady stream of new user growth.
App Store Ranking Factors in 2022
The following graphic shows the ranking factors shared by both Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store along with the unique ranking factors. Despite knowing the list of factors, app marketers and experts in ASO are still somewhat unsure which criteria are weighted highest. What they are sure of is that the App Title on both stores is the number one contributor to ranking highly.
