Discover with this manual or guide of App Store Optimization (ASO) 2018 the keys to position your app in the first results of Google Play or Apple App Store. Start getting more organic downloads!

The number of mobile applications or games keeps growing in recent years, which makes it increasingly difficult to stand and stand out in the first results (without paying for it clearly).

Brands and developers must know the ASO factors that affect the positioning of applications chief technology officer email list, since it is a fundamental part of the success of an app.

What is ASO (App Store Optimization)?
The ASO or App Store Optimization is the process of optimizing the tab of an application in the application store (iTunes App Store or Google Play) with the aim of positioning it in the first results of the search and the lists of categories.

It is divided into two types of factors, the ON-Metadata factors, which refer to the actions of which we have total control, and the OFF-Metadata factors that are the aspects that do not completely depend on us.

As in SEO, organic position is essential to achieve “free” results and not depend on the investment in recruitment marketing.

The positioning in iTunes and Google Play is similar, but you have some differences, so we will treat it separately, to not lose detail.

ASO for Google Play
ASO ON-Metadata Factors
The ASO ON-Metadata factors are fields that can be modified in the tab of the app and are practically instantaneous, do not need a version update as in iOS. Its main characteristic is that we have absolute control, as with the ON-Page in SEO, they depend solely on us.

App Name
The App Name or the title of an app is considered one of the most important ASO positioning factors. We have 50 characters to include the name of the app or brand and the main keywords.

There are apps that only have the name of the brand (WhatsApp, Facebook, …) because they are widely known. However, if the app is new in the market it is interesting to add some important keyword. For example, if WhatsApp was launched now:

Whatsapp: Instant messages

Description
The description on Google Play is another important point, not like on iOS. This happens mainly because Google uses the keywords of the tab to position, while in the App Store the keywords field is used. If we are going to carry out campaigns of Universal App Campaigns it is fundamental to have chosen these keywords well.

The description should be simple, use affordable language and take advantage of the use of bold to stand out in the text (
Word to emphasize ). We have 4,000 characters to complete this field.

Short description
The brief description helps to the app, but above all it has a key function to convert a user into a download.

It must be concise, at most 80 characters, so we have to think that if the user does not display the long description this will be the only text that you see.

Icon
The icon is not an ASO factor that directly affects the positioning, but it does influence the CTR and therefore the conversion rate. The higher the conversion rate, the better positioning.

Screenshots
Screenshots or screenshots should show the greatest benefits of the app with a striking and different design. We have to get away from the typical “screenshots” of the app.

A good idea is to create a story with the 8 images that the Google store allows us to upload.

Outstanding image
The highlighted image is something particular about Google Play, in the App Store we can not find it. If before I commented that the icon was an important visual factor to improve the CTR or the conversion rate, the highlighted image is even more important in this regard.

Video
Including a promotional video helps a lot to download the app. If we are creative and we do not spend with the seconds of reproduction, we can improve the conversion ratio a lot.

The video can be an explanation of the benefits of the app or show to be aspirational. In this sense Google is very permissive with the type of videos that lets us use.

Category
We must select a single category to include our app. This is why you have to have precise, when some searches to a category expect to find a type of applications, if we are badly placed we will not get good results.

Some categories are: Lifestyle, Home and Home, Appointments, Productivity, Social, Entertainment, Transportation, etc.

Developer’s name
The name and age of the developer is a factor recently incorporated by Google and can help us gain visibility. If the developer account has launched several apps and has not given problems, it is possible that the following apps that are from that account are seen with good eyes.