App A, App B. They both do the same thing. If you compare the two, App A has better UI/UX, better customer support, better pricing, better everything, basically. BUT App B has better visibility. It’s on the first page of app store search results, and App A isn’t. App A may be a better product, but App B will have more views and downloads. All things being equal, App B will be a more profitable business.
I’ll be covering App Store Optimization, also known as ASO, the science behind giving visibility to your app and converting that visibility into views and downloads. Let me caveat this by saying that App Store Optimization is marketing, not product development. It supports a valid app. It’s not going to save an app that doesn’t work, or a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Of course, marketing and product development should absolutely go hand in hand. I just want to be clear on where this adds value to your project.
Why Do You Need to Learn ASO? Why do you need to learn ASO, Why do you need to learn ASO, dear non-tech founder? Say you’ve created an MVP with a no code app builder. You’re gonna want to validate it with real users. You don’t want to ask your grandma. Actually, if old ladies are your target demographic, then by all means. Point is, you’ll need to source authentic users.
Second situation, you’re hiring an in-house team and need to evaluate someone’s marketing knowledge. In both these cases, you’ll need to understand App Store Optimization. ASO is not a technical topic. You should know enough to do a decent job yourself, or make sure the person you hire knows what they’re talking about.
And that’s all I’m covering, just the basics of ASO for Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store, to get any non-tech founder covered on the fundamentals. There are slight differences between Google and Apple, but it’s always two main stakeholders.
App Store Optimization Strategies for The Algorithm.
What you need to remember about algorithms is that their function is to promote relevant and quality apps to users. So your app store optimization strategy should convince them your app is worth promoting. We do this with Keywords, Positive user feedback, Performance metrics.
Let’s start with keywords. The specific term is metadata, just in case you ever come across that term. If a user searches for ‘apple’, the algorithm will look for apps that say ‘apple’ or something related, like ‘fruit’ or ‘pie’.
As far as we know, the Google Play Store algorithm looks for keywords from: The package ID, The app title, The short and long descriptions, User reviews.
The Apple App store looks for keywords from: The app URL, The app title, The app subtitle, The keyword field.
The biggest difference here is that Google scans your descriptions for keywords. Apple doesn’t. Instead, they’ve got a keyword field that’s only visible to you. You provide Apple with the keywords you’d like your app to rank for. With Google, you just do your thing, and they’ll see if they like it.
What can you do to maximize your keyword usage for either platform? Look up popular competitor apps and see what kind of keywords they’re using. Don’t repeat keywords, use a variety, provided they’re relevant. Don’t keyword stuff your product descriptions, space it out. You still need to appeal to users, remember to sound human. If this is for something serious, consider paying for a keyword tool like App Radar. If you want to see good keyword usage in action, I recommend checking out Signal’s product pages on both app stores. They’ve used a variety of keywords across their sections, and it doesn’t read like a boring manual. Of course, Apple won’t show you the keyword field, but it’s a fair bet that a lot of Signal’s keywords will also be used in their description.
Next up, we look at Reviews and ratings. Positive reviews, negative reviews, and no reviews all tell the algorithm something. Positive and negative reviews are pretty self-explanatory, I think. No reviews can be taken to mean your app is pretty meh, and a competitor with better engagement can overtake you in ranking.
We’ll stick to Signal, let’s look at their main stats in the Play Store. Three-quarters of their two million ratings are five-star reviews. They’ve got a teeny tiny percentage of people who gave them 1 star. You can’t please everyone, and the algorithm knows this. If you have a million users and a hundred negative reviews, no big deal. If you have ten users and eleven negative reviews, very big deal. Your app is so bad that somehow even people who haven’t used it don’t like it. But for MVP validation, you know that’s just what you need to do.
MVP Validation.
To add on to this, not all positive and negative reviews are equal. Some users will say stuff like ‘attractive or unattractive design’, which could apply to any app. The best kind of review you can get are ones that validate your USP. In the case of Signal, they claim to offer secure messaging, so this is what they want to see. Those underlined parts are great because it contributes towards ASO from the algorithm. It’s not you saying you’re good at something, here’s a real-life user verifying it. This also means the opposite is true, a review that criticises your app’s ability to deliver what it promises is very damaging.
As publishers and developers, focus on delivering great UX through an intuitive and attractive UI. Really understand your user journey, because then you can Ask for Reviews.
Be strategic about when to ask for a review. This is actually quite a bit less to do with marketing, and more to do with product development. The two really do go hand in hand. If you want reviews, you need to ask for them. If you want positive reviews, choose when to ask wisely.
You’ve experienced those annoying pop-ups on apps asking you to review and rate them. They’re like mosquitoes, and you know what we do to mosquitoes, right? Wait until users have had a positive experience with your app. After they’re done making a purchase. Gotten off a call. Read three articles. Opened a mystery prize that gives them ten billion coins. Just don’t interrupt them while they’re getting shit done. Also, space out your requests. Don’t ask them every time, it gets irritating fast.
If you’ve ever browsed Reddit’s website on mobile, you know they are relentless about asking you to download their app. I literally have to hit not now on every page. Thing is, I’m on Reddit a lot. I think I’d find the app useful, but I’m never downloading it just because I hate how Reddit put advertising above my user experience. And I’m not alone.
Handle Negative Reviews Gracefully.
Someone will still find something to complain about. Don’t ignore these people. Reasonable or not, their emotions are valid. Also, your app is new, and every review carries more weightage. So respond to all of them, especially unhappy ones. Apologise for negative experiences. Mention that bugs are being patched. Address requests for features. If you want to be a successful founder, you need to be responsive and care about users. Make them feel heard and appreciated. Turn critics into your most vocal supporters. Converting a low rating into a higher one has been proven to boost your user conversion rate like crazy.
Ok, that wraps up ratings and reviews. It’s more straightforward than keywords, I think. Just make sure you ask users for a review at the right time, and address negative feedback. That brings us to Performance Metrics for App Store Optimization.
ASO for the algorithm doesn’t stop once a user downloads and starts using your app. It’s just begun. In fact, it never ends. The algorithm will now monitor how well your app performs. Things it measures include: Stability, how prone is your app to crashing, and where? Rendering time, how fast does it take to load the interface? Energy-drain, how power-hungry is your app compared to competitors? Startup time, how long does it take for your app to go from closed to running? Permissions, how keen are users on granting you access to their devices and data?
For Google, this can be accessed via their Play Console, and for Apple, head to their App Analytics via App Connect. You need to check your stats regularly at first because there will always be bugs, and you need to address them quickly. Past that point, always make sure your app performs at or above benchmarks, especially as the user base grows and your puny little no-code app gets stretched to its limit.
Everything we’ve seen so far tells us how to speak to the algorithm. So I go, Look at these keywords I’m linked to.
App Store Optimization Strategies for User Conversion.
At this point, your app appears at the top when there’s a relevant search. But it’s not the only option, there will be competition. You need to use every visual and text-based trick to convince the right kind of users to visit your app product page and download it. There’s slight differences between stores, but here are the ones you need to focus on for both: App Icon, Screenshots, Video, and Description.
Let’s start with App Icon. Your icon alone should give an indication of what your app offers. Let’s look at Signal’s icon in isolation. Judging from the speech bubble, we can guess it’s a messaging app. Now let’s put it next to WhatsApp. They’ve both got speech bubbles, so they’re both definitely messengers. From there, the design differences are clues. Whatsapp has a phone, it’s telling users, hey, I can help you make phone calls. Signal has a line around it to represent a layer of protection, hey, I provide security for your messages. Look at the icon and the title as a whole, they fit. I have to say, I do think it could have been done better. I think on iconography alone, something like SafeSwiss does a better job of communicating ‘protection’. But hey, Signal’s icon is different enough to convince people, and that’s all it has to do.
Let’s look at Signal’s screenshots from the Play Store. Here’s what’s good about them: They use Signal’s brand colour. The screenshot is accompanied by clear and concise copy. Signal’s five screenshots, plus the accompanying copy, clearly show and tell users what they can expect to get out of the app. Plus, it’s a chance to show their user interface in action. Signal only targets phone users, so they only need phone-sized screenshots. If your app is also optimized for tablets, include a couple of screenshots from a wider screen.
If you have to ask, probably not. Longer answer: Good quality video content is expensive and time-consuming to produce. Evaluate what a video can communicate to your users that screenshots alone cannot. Signal doesn’t have a video, they’re doing fine. Are screenshots not enough to clearly capture what your app offers? Does your app contain video elements that are crucial to the UX? If you have a case for a promo video, make sure you set aside enough resources to execute it well.
Level up your keyword game by doing research, or paying for a tool. Plan when to ask users for reviews. Respond to negative reviews to convert them into supporters. Monitor your app’s vital performance metrics.
ALL assets here must be pleasing to the eye and consistent with your branding. Your icon alone should give an indication of what your app offers. Your screenshots should show users key value propositions and include some copy to clarify what users are seeing.
Again, these are the basics of ASO. These are things you definitely need to know, and need to do, if you want your app to appear on anyone’s radar. ASO is a rabbit hole. You can go way deeper than this. into things like A/B testing and localized keyword optimization.
Right now, you don’t need it. As a non-tech founder, you’re gonna be playing lots of different roles. You need to be a jack of all trades. Get your app optimized in the app or play store with these basic principles first. And because I know you’ve already forgotten, remember to submit your app for review with a 2-week buffer window. Whatever leftover time you have, pour it into product development.