The Advanced App Store Optimization Ebook 2022 v1.3

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TA B L E O F
Contents
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
INTRODUCTION INCREASING VISIBILITY INCREASING CONVERSION
16 40 162
1.1 Introduction to ASO 2.1 Increasing Search Visibility 3.1 Main Considerations for
Conversion Rate Optimization
Brief History of ASO Understanding the Search Algorithm
Understanding Which KPI to Use
Definition of Modern ASO The Keyword Optimization Cycle
Conversion Benchmarks Per Category
ASO Team Structures & Roles 1. Keyword Research
Optimizing Efforts: Which Store Listing
2. Keyword Prioritization Elements to Optimize First?
1.2 The ASO Stack 3. Targeting Keywords in Metadata
The 4 Building Blocks of the ASO Stack 4. Measuring Keyword Performance 3.2 The Conversion Rate
The ASO Stack Report Card Optimization Loop
Advice for Strategic Execution 2.2 Increasing Visibility Through 1. Conducting Research
Getting Featured 2. Hypothesizing
How to Pitch Your Product to the Stores 3. Prioritizing
Impact of Being Featured 4. Creating Store Assets
5. Testing: Running A/B Tests
2.3 Increasing Browse Visibility & Experiments
Outside of Featurings 6. Reporting & Analyzing
Top Chart Rankings
Burst Campaigns
Category Switching
Similar Apps
Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Credits
LOCALIZATION RATINGS & REVIEWS STORE PROMOTIONAL TOOLS PERFORMANCE REPORTING GUIDE TO APPLE SEARCH
& SEASONALITY & CUSTOMER INFORMATION DASHBOARDS & ASO TOOLS ADS (ASA)
302 354 392 438 566 634
4.1 Introduction to Localization 5.1 Why Are Ratings and Review 6.1 Store Promotional Tools 7.1 Creating Dashboards for 8.1 The ASA Stack
So Important? Performance Reviews
Available Languages on the Stores Pre-Registration Pages How Does the ASA Stack Work?
New Apps vs. Established Apps The Challenge of Isolating Organic
Localization on Google Play Giving Customers a Foretaste of the Installs Campaigns
App
Localization on the App Store Visibility & Conversion Ad Groups
5.2 Creating a Review Strategy Promoting Specific App Content on the
Example of a Multi-Index Localization Stores Final Words About Interlinked Metrics Keywords
Strategy Ask for Reviews From the App Listing
Store-Run Marketing Programs Console & Reporting Tools Tools
How to Prioritize App Localizations Controversial Practices
Supporting Insights
6.2 Customer Information Tools 7.2 Third-Party Tools The ASA Stack: Conclusion
4.2 The Localization Process 5.3 Choosing the Right Trigger
Data Privacy Sections Platform Tools
Minimum Viable Localization (MVL)
Search Adjustment Tools ASO Tools 8.2 How to Create Synergies
Keyword Research & Localization of 5.4 Designing Your Prompt Between ASA and ASO
Metadata Keyword Discovery Tools
System vs. Custom Prompt Testing Creative Sets
True Localization Is “Culturalization” A/B Testing Tools
Gating the Prompt Increasing Organic Visbility With ASA
Competitive Intelligence Tools
Design
4.3 Custom Store Pages on Google Review Management
Play Voice 8.3 Cannibalization
In-App Rating Prompts
Experience Measuring the Cost of Cannibalization
Screenshot Builders
4.4 Additional Resources
5.5 Replying to Reviews 8.4 Closing Thoughts on ASA
4.5 Introduction to Seasonality

The Importance of Seasonality in ASO 5.4 Measuring Rating and Review
Impact
How to Leverage Seasonality
Analyze User Feedback
A Note on Time-Sensitive CRO
The User Journey
FOREWORD
Foreword
Introduction to the
Advanced App Store
Optimization Book
When Apple and Google launched their respective app In 2016, Moritz Daan, Co-Founder and Partner at
stores in 2008, a new field of marketing was born—App Phiture, Gabe Kwakyi, Growth Advisor and Co-
Store Optimization (ASO). Marketers rightly saw the Founder at Incipia, and over 6 guest authors produced
potential of this new channel and immediately began the first edition of “Advanced App Store Optimization:
efforts to increase the visibility and conversion of their The Complete Guide to ASO.” Spanning 370 pages,
landing pages within the app stores. the book became a staple in the world of App Store
Optimization.
Authors of the 2018 edition

of “Advanced App Store
Optimization: The Complete
Guide to ASO,” Moritz Daan
(left) and Gabe Kwakyi (right).
6 7
FOREWORD
Evolution of the
Advanced ASO Book
The first edition of the Advanced ASO Book sold With Maggie Ngai, ASO Lead, overseeing the project, The following members have also contributed their
thousands of copies around the world and in late 2020, Phiture recruited expert writers from AppTweak time and knowledge to this book:
Moritz and Gabe made the 2018 version available and Haystack Reviews to revamp the ASO Book. This
online for free for all ASO practitioners to use. newest edition of “Advanced App Store Optimization” • Adzsa Hatano, ASO Consultant at Phiture • Jorieke van den Broek, Senior Performance
spans more than 600 pages and features all the latest • Alexandra De Clerck, Head of Marketing Marketing Consultant at Phiture
However, our ever-moving landscape has experienced store additions, including information on iOS 15, a at AppTweak • Kahnar Abdulqader, Head of Marketing at Phiture
various changes since 2018. With algorithm changes, new ASA Stack for Search Ads, and up-to-date tips and • Andrea Raggi, Performance Marketing Lead • Mariano Briozzo, Designer at Phiture
new features, and more advanced functionalities on tricks to help ASO practitioners increase visibility and at Phiture • Mateusz Wrzeszcz, ASO Consultant at Phiture
both the App Store and Google Play, the need to update conversion. • Andrew Hart, ASO Consultant at Phiture • Natalie Rozenblat, Senior Performance
this leading ASO resource has intensified over the • Anton Tatarynovich, Senior ASO Consultant Marketing Consultant at Phiture
years. • Catarina Rosa, Senior Designer at Phiture • Pablo Penny, Managing Director at Phiture
• Chun Yee Julia Li, ASO Consultant at Phiture • Parv Bhargava, ASO Consultant at Phiture
• Eloïse Clement, Marketing Designer at AppTweak • Sarah B. Touimi, ASO Manager at AppTweak
• Florentin Zachary, Product Manager at AppTweak • Sebastian Gallese, Co-Founder at Haystack
• Gawie Joubert, Senior Designer at Phiture Reviews
• Georgia Shepherd, Digital Marketing Specialist at • Sofia Nardone, Junior Designer at Phiture
AppTweak • Thomas Schultz-Wenk, Co-Founder at Haystack
• Haitam Boulaich, Performance Marketing Reviews
Consultant
• Ini Müller, Junior Designer at Phiture
• Jonathan Frisch, Head of Data Science at
AppTweak
Maggie Ngai, co-author of the

2022 edition of “Advanced App
Store Optimization” and Simon
Thillay, contributor and Head of
ASO at AppTweak.
8 9
FOREWORD
Get to Know Our

Authors
Moritz Daan is a serial entrepreneur Gabe Kwakyi is Director of Acquisition Maggie Ngai leads a team of over Simon Thillay is Head of ASO
who had already sold two online gaming at Phiture, and former Co-Founder and 26 ASO experts who provide top at AppTweak, ASO Tool for Apps
companies when he started his first CEO of Incipia, a mobile app agency that mobile growth consultancy services & Games Driven by Data Science.
full-time ASO role with SoundCloud built and marketed apps for companies to renowned brands like Adobe and Having previously worked as Growth
in 2014, right when ASO was ramping and entrepreneurs. Throughout his Headspace. With an array of marketing Marketing Manager at music app
up as a marketing function. He began career, Gabe has worked with apps and mobile marketing experience, Deezer, he now advises on the
building out an A/B testing platform for of all sizes and categories, from indie she’s an expert in mobile growth ASO, strategies of mobile apps and games
the online audio distribution platform developers to high-profile companies and attends conferences and drives around the world and contributes to
to test App Store assets (remember: including Canva, Walmart, Playtika, knowledge sharing in the industry, the advancement of ASO knowledge
in those days, Google and Apple were and PeopleFun. Prior to Incipia, Gabe together with her team. Her down-to- through practical research and
not providing native experiments and cut his teeth into search advertising as earth leadership empowers her rapidly frameworks, such as A/B/B testing or
third-party services like SplitMetrics an Account Manager at Microsoft Bing growing team to develop into renowned brand defense cost modeling in Apple
weren’t even around yet). Moritz Ads, helping clients such as Airbnb, industry experts. Search Ads.
soon moved on to take up a Growth the NHL, and Spotify optimize their
Team Lead position focusing on PPC budgets, managing more than $21
international growth at SoundCloud million in annual PPC spend.
and, in 2016, started his own mobile
growth consultancy, Phiture, alongside
industry expert Andy Carvell.
10 11
FOREWORD
With content divided into 8 main

chapters, this book will discuss the
following ASO-related topics:
What to Expect Introduction to App Store Learn about the history and evolution of App Store
From This Book Optimization
Increasing Visibility
Optimization.
Drive app awareness by leveraging a solid keyword

optimization strategy, getting featured on the stores,
or through other discoverability means.
Increasing Conversion Learn how to structure your conversion rate

optimization work and conduct effective research,
create impactful store assets, and accurately measure
your changes.
Localization and Seasonality Address a global audience through localization to

grow your user base worldwide. Understand the
importance of (and learn how to benefit from) app
store seasonality.
Ratings and Reviews Learn how to create a convincing strategy to improve

ratings and reviews by choosing the right trigger,
designing your prompts, and replying to reviews.
This book is based on the industry- In this book, we focus on two main
leading ASO Stack developed by ASO goals: visibility and conversion. Store Promotional Tools and Understand how to capitalize on the promotional
Phiture, a framework that we explore Visibility includes everything from Customer Information tools available via app store consoles & developer
in depth throughout this book. Suffice it keyword optimization to in-app events tools, including new iOS 15 marketing features.
to say that the ASO Stack is a one-page (iOS 15) and Browse traffic. Conversion
cheat sheet for ASO understanding and covers anything that can help to Performance Reporting Discover how to create valuable reporting dashboards
strategy, providing applications for increase app conversion, from asset Dashboards and ASO Tools and learn about the range of ASO-related tools that
newbies and veterans alike. optimization to ratings and reviews can facilitate your work.
and localization.
Guide to Apple Search Ads Deep dive into Apple Search Ads; learn how to use
ASA effectively to improve your ASO strategy.
12 13
FOREWORD
Tips for Your

Reading
We’re glad you’re joining us on this
journey to sharpen your ASO skills! We
appreciate your time and promise to
make it worth your while. We start with
the basics and then delve into specific
strategies (with examples), but feel free
to skip around to the information you
need.
Along the way, keep an eye out for Beware: Find a helpful tip to avoid and address
special icons or concepts that represent pain points and challenges of ASO management.
topics of particular interest, including:
Pro Tip: Learn a powerful tip that you can’t find
just anywhere.
Case Study: Understand the activities we’re

talking about in action.
Data Study: Unique data you won’t find Happy reading!

anywhere else.
14 15
CHAPTER 01
Introduction
CHAPTER 01 INTRODUCTION
Introduction to App Store

Optimization (ASO)
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Understand the history and evolution Example of an app title from the early days of the App Store. Source: Thomas Petit’s presentation at the 2019 ASO
of App Store Optimization. Conference.
Brief History of ASO

When Apple and Google launched their the impact of keywords used in an app’s As Thomas Petit pointed out during The initial lack of policing from Apple
respective app stores in 2008, a new metadata on its visibility in store search his presentation at the 2019 ASO & Google also left the door open to
field of marketing was born—App Store results; this also led to the introduction Conference, this was not without its some very obvious “black hat” ASO
Optimization (ASO). This new channel of the first resources and tools drawbacks: With a maximum of 255 tactics, such as the overt duplication
was accompanied by great potential; dedicated to ASO. As only a few apps characters available for app titles, of other app titles. This technique saw
as such, marketers immediately at the time realized the importance of those who used this immense space store search results filled with dozens
seized this opportunity to increase the adding keywords to their app title and for keyword optimization were able of clones of the same app and made it
visibility and conversion of landing selecting (relevant) search terms for to implement extremely long and far- difficult for developers to present their
pages on the app stores. their keyword field, competition was from-user-friendly titles. app as an original product.
low and many startups were able to
As early as 2009, marketers started compete with big brands that failed to
leveraging their experience in search optimize their store presence.
engine optimization (SEO) to theorize
18 19
At the time, “boost” campaigns were

also more popular and more prominent,
making it easier for app developers to
gain visibility beyond search results.
Thanks to these campaigns, apps were
able to benefit from sudden increases in
traffic which would then lead to surges
in store rankings.
Much beyond the number of characters (and therefore,
For those fortunate enough to get the keywords) allowed in an app’s title, over the years Apple
attention of editorial teams, featurings and Google have implemented several considerable
would also bring massive influxes of
traffic, often without apps being aware changes that have transformed ASO from a “growth
they were even promoted by the store. hacking” tactic into an entire growth channel and
For instance, back in 2013, Duolingo marketing effort.
received 2.8 million downloads in one
week as a result of being featured by
Apple.
To list only a few of On the user-facing side, iOS 11 On the developer side, store consoles
However, as the booming interest the most noticeable introduced the editorial Today tab and and advertising platforms progressively
in ASO rapidly evolved (especially changes that have the presence of creatives in search introduced more data specific to users’
in the second half of the 2010s), the taken place since result pages. While Google Play did store behaviors. Google first added
need for store policing from Apple 2016: not entirely follow Apple’s layout of Play Store data on organic keywords
and Google increased. In 2016, Apple search results, both stores started in 2015 as part of its Keyword Planner
reduced the length of app titles to 50 providing developers with more tool before disclosing organic keyword
characters before changing this to only creative flexibility by allowing videos installs on the Google Play Developer
30 characters in 2017; at the same time, to be uploaded as part of apps’ creative Console in 2018. On the flip side, Apple
a 30-character subtitle was introduced galleries and increasing the different introduced “Search Popularity” scores
on the App Store with iOS 11. In turn, formats available for screenshots. Both for the US with the launch of Apple
Google also restricted its app titles to stores also started to venture into app Search Ads in 2016; this was quickly
30 characters, increased this limit to 50 recommendations with new editorial expanded to include data for over 60
characters in 2017, and reverted once placements based on additional additional countries in the three years
again to 30-character titles in 2021. algorithms and functionalities. that followed.
20 21
Definition of Modern ASO
Now considering its former definition, the idea of ASO being “SEO for apps” is
incomplete at best once we understand the practice is no longer limited to the
optimization of metadata for the purpose of maximizing an app’s visibility in store
search results. Instead, we offer the following definition as a more appropriate
view of modern ASO:
“
App Store Optimization is the process of improving an
app’s visibility in an app store and maximizing its appeal
to users throughout the app’s lifecycle, with the objective
of increasing the amount of downloads it will receive.
“
The launch of advertising in the app stores added an extra layer of
complexity to the growing discipline of ASO as app developers were
now faced with a “pay to play” dilemma, complicating the work for
those aiming to measure return on investment for their organic By this, we underline that ASO not only aims to maximize visibility in all the
efforts in the stores. available placements on the app stores, but also to optimize an app’s appeal to
users with the goal of converting views into downloads. In practice, ASO covers
Changes on the stores over the years—combined with the increasing a large spectrum that ranges from the optimization of text and visual metadata to
investment of resources into the discipline—have led to a complete the use of tactics to encourage users to leave positive reviews and ratings, and also
transformation of the notion of ASO. Other than its growing level includes other efforts such as increasing visibility through store featurings.
of competitiveness, the practice has migrated from its initial idea
of “applying SEO principles to app store search algorithms” to its Through this definition, we see that modern ASO requires multiple fields of
modern form of “a discipline that encapsulates multiple types of expertise. This affects the formation of ASO teams and the relationships between
marketing efforts.” the practice itself and other growth channels.
22 23
ASO Team Structures

& Roles
The Task Force The Coordinator The Studio

K E Y TA K E AWAY S
A group of experts, each with a Most often one single ASO A larger team in charge of piloting
Understand common ASO team specific role and set of skills, who manager in charge of managing all aspects of ASO, often across
structures and the responsibilities join forces to conduct ASO. a network of internal or external multiple apps and/or locales.
of each role. resources to execute the ASO
strategy.
ASO Team Structures

The variety of approaches in ASO Depending on a company’s size, people Each team structure has its advantages: While an internal team already knows In fact, participants in
demonstrates both an advantage and involved in the ASO team may be so in a your brand and product features, a freelancer or agency will have more experience the ASO Conference
challenge of practicing it. Your ASO part-time-only capacity alongside their in the intricacies of ASO and knowledge of other use cases. When deciding between 2021 panel on “How to
activities could include anything from larger role or be fully dedicated to ASO. dedicating full-time resources or maintaining a multi-function team, the former Structure an ASO Team”
creating store videos to running data At the same time, companies may prefer guarantees more time allocated to ASO and is likely to accumulate experience shared that this was crucial
analyses. This combination of required to completely conduct their ASO efforts much faster, but the latter can facilitate coordination between ASO projects and regardless of the team
skills means that organizations willing internally or use external resources for other marketing projects. structure, as they saw the
to invest in ASO will usually need to partial or full assistance, depending on need for very frequent
form a dedicated ASO team and, even their own resources and ASO knowledge. Whichever type of team you find yourself in, you’ll want to reflect on its syncs with multiple teams
then, may need to call on other in-house As a result, we observe 3 common types organizational challenges. You will want to start proactively thinking about alongside the monitoring
or outsourced resources. of ASO team structures: ASO solutions so there aren’t any unforeseen roadblocks; in particular, actively of hypotheses and
considering where your ASO team falls within the larger company structure may experiments.
facilitate communication and cooperation with other teams.
24 25
ASO Roles Keyword Research Video Production Data Science & Analytics
As you start to evaluate which ASO team structure The keyword researcher finds keyword Video producers help create quality Data scientists help measure your
best fits your organization, you’ll need some more ideas from various sources and collates video content. Their contributions ASO work (such as determining install
information on the roles and skills that ASO teams a full keyword list for an app’s limited make apps more enticing to download rates after optimization), estimate
typically employ. Depending on your company’s metadata space. They then analyze and significantly improve an app’s the share of organic vs. paid traffic in
business activities, you may have a separate person for changes in keyword rankings based conversion rate. The catch is that low- your store console data, and interpret
each one of the following roles or combine overlapping on ASO metrics and determine next quality videos often harm conversion performances to best inform next steps.
skill sets for one individual. steps. Keyword research plays a rates; this makes an expert eye truly Continuous optimization is at the heart
more technical role and is absolutely valuable in leading the task of video of ASO; the information your data
fundamental to app growth. production. scientists uncover will be essential to
developing your strategy.
Copywriting Development
Copywriters determine the best text Without developers, we would have Customer Service
(with the help of keyword research) to no apps and no ASO. However, the Customer service agents capture
add to your app’s text-based metadata work of a developer does not end when negative feedback, resolve customer
elements, as well as the text that the app is published. To ensure an issues, address product needs, and
may overlay visual elements such as app succeeds, the developer(s) must respond to customer reviews. This last
screenshots. Copywriters can also maintain and grow the app by adding point is especially important, as ratings
support customer service by writing features, fixing bugs, sizing files, or & reviews are publicly displayed on the
the text to be used in standardized implementing and leveraging new app stores and hence affect conversion
review prompts. technologies made available by Apple rates. The feedback and data gathered
or Google that can benefit users and by customer service agents can also
present more opportunities for your help other roles in the ASO team
Graphic Design app to be featured and gain visibility optimize their work.
Graphic designers are core to your ASO in the store. Developers are also most
activities. ASO design is a mix of data- often responsible for publishing the
and art-driven visual assets that are latest app updates on the store, which is Project Management
key in boosting conversion by making the only time you can change metadata Project managers coordinate team
a stellar first impression. While basic or creatives on iOS (at least, up until members and stakeholders to keep your
visuals, like screenshots of an app’s iOS 14). Keeping up with their update ASO efforts on track. It’s especially
interface, may sometimes suffice, frequency is therefore key to your helpful to have a project manager when
custom designs can make a critical ASO efforts. you are dealing with a large team and/
difference in driving ASO results. or localization in multiple countries.
This way, your experts can focus on
their specialty instead of admin work.
26 27
Paid User Acquisition

Paid user acquisition specialists qualify
large amounts of leads across multiple
ad networks to bring a steady stream
of new daily downloads to your app.
This considerable influx in traffic has
the potential to significantly change
your app’s visibility and conversion
rates, as most store algorithms account
for overall performance and do not
differentiate between traffic sources.
Furthermore, with the growth of native
store advertising, user acquisition
must now, more than ever, use a variety
of strategies that synchronize organic
optimization and paid ads. Remember:
Paid ads affect organic search and the
appearance of store creatives and their
campaign install rates.
Relationship Between ASO
and Other Growth Channels
User Retention
User retention specialists (often Going over the various roles to consider for your
combined with user acquisition ASO team can already highlight the relationship
specialists) have risen in importance between ASO and other growth channels. First and
as Apple and Google’s algorithms foremost, you should consider the co-dependent
increasingly consider user retention relationship between paid user acquisition and ASO.
rather than install rates alone. User However, marketers should also be aware of the
retention specialists use customer interdependency between ASO and other organic
data to inform customer relationship growth channels.
management (CRM) campaigns and
keep users happy and engaged. These From its formation to the latest trends, App Store
specialists can also influence ASO, Optimization has evolved into a multi-layered
having a clear understanding of the At the end of the day, how you structure your team and discipline of its own. This allows us to analyze
product features that are favored by assign responsibilities will depend on your resources. the practice through a comprehensive framework
store visitors and will likely drive the Take stock of the skills you already have on your team that was first introduced by Phiture in 2016:
interest of future users. and be open to innovative combinations. The ASO Stack.
28 29
ASO and Paid UA ASO and Brand Marketing ASO and Referral Programs ASO and Partnership or Influencer Marketing
As app store ranking algorithms have historically With the overwhelming majority of store search While often left in the hands of product teams, Once again, while they appear mostly unrelated, there
relied on total download velocity and global terms being brand names, the impact of brand referral programs are rarely expected to relate to ASO. are opportunities for partnership and influencer
conversion rates (and even retention rates) as some of marketing on ASO is undeniable. As such, an app’s Nevertheless, the relationship between referral loops marketing to synergize with ASO. From aligning
their primary factors, ASO managers have long been store page should reflect the brand beyond the and ASO can be quite strong, as ASO teams may be able messages to utilizing custom pages or working on
aware of the impact of paid UA on their own efforts. product in order to reassure brand-focused customers to identify specific app benefits that could turn users cross-app promotions that incite store editors to
However, this relationship works both ways, as the while also exposing its unique selling point to any into product ambassadors. This can be determined by feature related apps, ASO efforts and influencer/
costs per install (CPI) for paid UA can be affected by store visitors unfamiliar with the brand during this scanning store reviews or monitoring the increased partnership marketing can benefit from close
the consistency between the initial store touchpoint “bottleneck” stage of the user funnel. Consequently, visibility and/or conversion after adapting your app’s communication and the deconstruction of silos
and the messages displayed on an app page and/or its the relationship between your brand team and ASO metadata based on the focus of a referral program. between teams.
ratings & reviews. With the increasing importance team will have to be strong so that your app store Furthermore, with new marketing tools increasingly
of in-store advertising channels and the apparent page best displays the app’s benefits beyond product integrating store consoles (see Chapter 6), ASO teams
will of both Apple and Google to add full marketing features and complies with the specific requirements may be able to inform and guide teams that design
functionalities to their respective stores, we expect to and best practices of each store. referral loops to leverage the latest features released
see the relationship between paid UA and ASO grow by Apple and Google.
even stronger in the coming years.
30 31
The App Store

Optimization Stack
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Become familiar with the ASO Stack,

understand the building blocks of ASO
strategy, and learn how to evaluate/prioritize
your own activities.
Let’s start by familiarizing ourselves with the App Store Optimization
(ASO) Stack. In later chapters, we’ll dive into specific strategies,
but first, we’re going to build a strong foundational knowledge of We’ll begin to unpack all these elements throughout the
the essential building blocks. If you’re already acquainted with this ASO Book, but first - how did this all start?
framework, feel free to skip ahead.
To give you a little background on how The success of the Mobile Growth Check out
the ASO Stack came to be, it all began Stack inspired Moritz Daan and Gabe phiture.com/asostack
Visibility Conversion when Andy Carvell, Phiture partner Kwakyi to create a standalone ASO to see the latest version.
Get your app in front of more Convince people to download and former SoundCloud mobile growth Stack to provide practitioners with a
people inside the store. your app. lead, created the Mobile Growth similar, easy-to-use framework that
Stack—a marketing framework to help would power their growth activities
apps develop a holistic mobile growth specifically within the app stores. The
Tools Supporting Insights strategy. App developers, marketers, ASO Stack is regularly updated to keep
Improve your app store Understand the impact of and growth practitioners ran with this abreast of changes and innovations
presence faster with ASO tools. outside influences on ASO framework, adding new twists like color within the industry.
outcomes. coding the boxes to track progress.
32 33
The 4 Building Blocks of the ASO Stack
Visibility Conversion
How do you get your app in front of How do you convince people to
more people inside the app stores? download your app?
Increasing your app’s visibility within Once you get your app seen, you want
the stores is your number one goal. You to convert this increased visibility
want more people to see your app in into actual downloads. That’s when
their discovery process, whether they the second vertical of the ASO Stack
are looking for a new game or searching comes into play. Typical conversion
for a specific app title. Typical rate optimization activities include
initiatives to increase visibility include improving assets, such as icons,
keyword optimization (KWO), search screenshots, videos, and copy, as
ads (these ads are paid but also affect well as undertaking high-quality app
organic search outcomes), ranking localization. Conversion will feed back
highly on category/country top charts, into visibility as Google and Apple’s
or getting a feature spot from Apple algorithms reward apps with higher
or Google. Each of these activities is conversion rates, so it’s a win-win.
represented by a box in the ASO Stack.
Check out Chapter 3 for a deep dive into

ASO Stack 2020. Check out Chapter 2 for a deep dive into visibility. conversion rate optimization (CRO).
34 35
The ASO Stack Report Card

Apply the ASO Stack Report Card to your activities
using the first two verticals of the ASO Stack—
Tools Supporting Insights “Visibility” and “Conversion”—which fall under the
“Goals” header. Much like the early adopters of the
How can ASO tools help speed up and How do outside influences impact your
Mobile Growth Stack, you can color code the boxes of
optimize your app store presence? ASO outcomes?
the verticals to indicate their status. This will give you
a quick overview of your progress.
We all need a little help sometimes; In the early days of ASO, our focus
as practitioners of mobile marketing, pointed towards prospecting, testing,
we shouldn’t be afraid to leverage the and iterating. Yet, as app discovery in This is what the four colors could mean to your ASO
latest tech tools for optimal results. the stores evolved, so did our purview. activities:
This third vertical of the ASO Stack is Today, practitioners must consider
a comprehensive list of ASO tools that rollout and stakeholder alignment Green The activity has been well-executed
promote more efficient ASO. Since we to avoid blockers or gaps between and produces a strong, measurable
are practitioners ourselves, we also expectations and results. These impact.
know where the app stores lack in peripheral activities are essential
testing or insight functionalities and to reach your app’s maximum ASO Yellow The activity is being executed, but with
thus recommend tools to bridge the gap. potential. This fourth vertical is here some difficulties.
to support your mastery of things
like accurate forecasting, paid/ Red The activity is failing to deliver
organic marketing team alignment, satisfactory results or hasn’t been
prioritization, education, and much measured properly.
more!
Check out Chapter 7 for a deep dive into ASO Check out Chapter 7 for a deep dive into Gray The activity does not presently apply to
tools. supporting insights from acquisition. your ASO strategy. Example of an ASO Stack Report Card.
36 37
Advice You’re probably excited to act on your ASO Stack

for Strategic Report Card insights, and that’s great. But before you
do so, we have some advice: Start with the low-hanging
Execution fruit. Consider the impact vs. effort breakdown for
each ASO initiative. Some activities may take a lot of
time and/or effort to produce a measurable impact
while others will start showing results right away
and/or with considerably less effort.
Of course, there will always be some effort required

Use the information to decide where when it comes to ASO, but your focus should be
your focus should go next. Keep in mind on working smarter, not harder. In our experience,
that ASO is an interconnected system moving from the easiest tasks to the hardest is the way
in which nearly all activities influence to go. What’s the low-hanging fruit? Think of activities
one another: As previously discussed, a that can be done with internal marketing activities,
better conversion rate will likely boost like KWO, without needing to bring in other functions
your visibility; in turn, more visibility like programming or design.
yields more insights into your users’
preferences which can circle back into This book actually mimics the simple-to-complex
better CRO. Visually connecting these workflow that we recommend, starting with KWO and
concepts in the ASO Stack Report Card moving to the right across the verticals pictured in the
will facilitate a more sophisticated ASO Stack. Of course, within each activity, there are
understanding of your ASO activities. often short-term and long-term wins.
38 39
CHAPTER 02
Increasing
Visibility
CHAPTER 02 INCREASING VISIBILITY
Increasing
Visibility
K E Y TA K E AWAY S Improving your app’s visibility on the app stores is one of the primary
concerns of ASO; as such, it is important to understand the range of
Learn how actions you can take to get your app in front of as many potential
to drive app customers as possible on the stores.
awareness that Following the ASO Stack, we will first explore the concept of
leads to actual “increasing visibility” through four subchapters:
downloads.
Search Feature
Increasing visibility through Increasing visibility through
keyword optimization. featurings on the App Store or
Google Play.
Browse & Explore Store Ads

Increasing visibility through Increasing visibility through
methods related to casual paid methods.
Browse and Explore traffic.
Source: Phiture.com/asostack
42 43
Increasing
Search
Visibility Just about every app can benefit from keyword
optimization (KWO). It’s just a matter of finding
the right keywords. To get there, it’s important to
understand how people search for your app when
they don’t even know it exists.
Asking the following questions can help assess

K E Y TA K E AWAY S whether your app might benefit from KWO:
Leverage keywords
to increase visibility Does your app solve a certain need?
through searches. An example could be “flashlight app” or “baking
recipes.”
Is the market for this app already well-defined? Babbel (left) will see bigger benefits of KWO while Snappii’s app (right)
Do people already know how to search for your will see fewer benefits of KWO.
app? If so, your app can benefit from this category

awareness. An example of a well-defined market
could be “period tracker,” as potential users already If the answer to all these questions is no, KWO can still help your app
know how to search for this product. On the leverage search traffic to some extent. That said, building awareness
other hand, niche apps, such as “plumber invoice for your app in this scenario will also require supplementary
scheduling,” may have to incorporate more generic external/inorganic sources of traffic to rank for similar — but more
keywords. These apps have less-defined markets and generic (and thus more competitive) — organic keywords.
might need to educate users by tapping into similar
but more general keywords like “invoice.” To recap, while nearly all apps may benefit from keyword
optimization, it’s important when setting expectations to understand
For games: Does your game belong to a certain that apps that solve specific, well-known needs will see the most
category, theme, or genre of games that people significant visibility results from KWO. This is because, by nature,
know to search for? keyword searches on the app stores are “short-tail” (e.g., “invoice”)
An example of this could be “puzzle games” or and less likely to resemble “long-tail” web searches (e.g., “plumber
“card games.” invoice scheduling”).
44 45
Understanding the
Search Algorithm
Indexing
Understanding the inner workings of the app store Are you eligible to rank for a certain The app stores index (show in search algorithm matches similar words and
ranking algorithms is a million-dollar topic. This keyword? results) apps based on the keywords then the search engine “guesses” the
subject puts the ASO industry at constant odds Often, this requires specifying the developers include in the metadata (i.e., intention behind a search. This means
against Apple and Google in attempts to capture clues, keyword in your app’s metadata. app title, subtitle, short description, that if a search keyword is algorithmically
tips, and tricks to better understand the mechanisms keyword field, etc.). This is the first core linked to another keyword found in the
behind store rankings. factor that influences search algorithms. app’s metadata, your app can rank for
that associated search term, even if the
There are three things to consider when considering How relevant is the given keyword Like SEO, the app stores will consider keyword itself is not found in your app’s
how the app store ranking algorithms work and to your app? the keywords included in metadata to try metadata.
whether your app will rank for a keyword (and if so, While influenced by “secret sauce” and match an app to a user’s search query.
where it will be positioned): factors, this is mostly defined by the Therefore, it is important to make sure you Apple has a much simpler algorithm than
placement of the keyword within your include relevant keywords in these fields Google but also allows apps to rank for
metadata. based on users’ search behaviors. several keywords that do not need to be
specified in metadata.
It is also possible to rank for a keyword
How much ranking strength does despite not specifying that term in your We will discuss how you can choose
your app have for the keyword? app’s metadata: Google’s algorithm the right keywords for your app in a
Strength is defined by factors outside employs machine learning, including later chapter. However, besides picking
your metadata, such as install embedding neural network models the right keywords, you should also be
conversion rate and keyword retention. like skip grams, to determine relevant aware of some special rules concerning
relationships between keywords beyond indexation on the app stores. We will now
app metadata (e.g., synonyms, similar list out some major observations regarding
context, misspellings/slang, etc.). The indexation by the search algorithms.
46 47
Apple’s Shortcomings When Ranking Plural or

Compound Keywords
From our experience, Apple does not always rank apps for the For this research, it is very important to
plural or compound versions of singular keywords. While Apple’s look at the number of results. Beware
algorithm is getting better at matching plurals to their singulars, From our experience, an exact keyword
this process is still far from fully baked on the App Store, In our experience, if one type of match weighs more than the matching
especially regarding non-English searches. To decide whether to variation (e.g., compound words) rules Apple offers. If a search term is
include both singular and plural or compound keywords in your closely matches the rank of the root one of your primary keywords and both
metadata, it is important to test, rather than assume. word (i.e., the discrepancy is less variants bring in substantial volume
than 15%), then it’s highly likely that (i.e., “podcast” = 68 and “podcasts” =
First, you should analyze both singular and plural variants of the Apple also matches these variations 49), we suggest that you target both
root word (e.g., “fox,” “foxes”), as well as compound words (e.g., and that you will rank for both by just the plural and singular forms in your
“audiobooks,” “audio books”), using your favorite ASO tool. specifying one. You can see this being metadata for best results. Over the
the case for “audiobooks” and “audio course of metadata iterations, you
books” (compound) and “podcast” can conduct tests to understand
and “podcasts” (plural). The reason whether you’re safe to remove plurals;
for these variants never matching up nonetheless, the safest default mode
entirely is the likely existence of other in this case is to add both forms of the
matching rules at play. keyword.
On the other hand, we see a huge

discrepancy between the singular and
plural forms of “mouse” and “mice.” It
is therefore highly unlikely that Apple
is matching the plural to the singular
for the keywords “mice” and “mouse”;
to rank well for both terms, you would
have to add both variants to your
metadata.
Singular/plural and compound keywords, alongside their search volumes and
results (number of apps that rank for that keyword). Source: AppTweak.
48 49
The Week-Long Keyword Boost

on the App Store
The first week of your app’s launch is

not only a time to test its credibility
and ability to “flop or fly,” but also the
only time that Apple artificially boosts
your app’s visibility. Therefore, any
marketing efforts during this time will
be more fruitful.
For Apple, it is a guessing game to

understand how good a new app is
or how relevant the keywords in its
metadata are. For the algorithm to be
able to gauge metrics like retention and
conversion rates from different search
terms, in its first week (seven days),
Apple will place your app artificially On the graph, we see an initial boost in keyword ranks during the
high in the search results for keywords first week post-launch, after which the average keyword ranking
drops. Source: Ido Schoonen, ASO Expert at Lab Cave Games.
provided in its metadata.
The week-long boost is To take full advantage of this keyword

relevant for iOS apps only. boost, you could target vaguely relevant
but super high-volume keywords in the
pursuit of capturing more downloads.
Contrastingly, you could make sure your
app covers the most relevant keywords
from the start so that your performance
history for those keywords starts high,
giving your app a better chance of retaining
your higher rank for these keywords
In this graph, we see the impact of the first week post-launch beyond the week-long keyword boost.
on app unit volume, filtered for App Store Search. Source: Ido
Schoonen, ASO Expert at Lab Cave Games.
50 51
Ranking
Keyword Ranking Strength
Pro Tip
Now, imagine if the app stores were On Google Play, keywords mentioned
suddenly to start on a clean slate by losing frequently and earlier in the long
all their historical data. How would they description have been found to be
choose to list the results for a search query considered more relevant, and thus earn
of, say, the keyword “photo editor”? a better ranking than those found in later
lines of the description. For example,
The first step Apple and Google take to mentioning the word “restaurant” five
determine search results is identifying times in the first few sentences of your
which apps are eligible to show for long description would allow the Google
the keyword based on the metadata all Play algorithm to assign your app a better
apps have provided (indexation). This just relevance weight for “restaurant” than
concerns whether the keywords “photo” mentioning the keyword the same number
and “editor” can be found within an app’s of times but spread throughout the entire
metadata. long description.
The next step would be to decide how

relevant your app is to a specific
keyword. To unpack this second step, the
algorithms primarily look at the placement
of a specific word in an app’s metadata to
determine relevance. As a rule of thumb,
the algorithms look at:
Regarding the relevance of your metadata
• How visible the metadata is, with the for a keyword such as “photo editor”—
title weighing more than the iOS keyword and this holds true specifically for Google
field, for example. Play metadata and the App Store titles/
subtitles—the algorithm also assigns more
• How many characters a metadata relevance weight if your metadata contains
element allows. an exact match.
• How often the keywords appear The following factors are commonly
throughout your metadata (Google only). accepted as keyword ranking signals
throughout the ASO industry: The more app store icons shown in the table, the higher weight Google or Apple seem to assign to it.
52 53
Other possible ranking factors: “Free”Ranking Keywords on the App Store
• A few years ago, the short description • The idea that Google might be able We have found that, on the App Store, your app will be indexed for
was considered to have a greater impact to recognize text on the assets added the following keywords without them needing to be specified in
on rankings than the long description; to store listings and then index apps metadata:
however, evolutions in the Google Play for this text has been disproven in
algorithm have led ASO experts to now the past. Nonetheless, this concept
believe the latter holds more weight if remains among the hypotheses of how
keywords are repeated several times. screenshots could be leveraged for
keyword rankings.
• While we don’t (yet) have evidence of • A test was run to determine if a

reviews being indexed on the App Store, screenshot’s file name could also
there have been instances of “keyword impact keyword rankings. However,
stuffed” black-hat reviews appearing changing a screenshot’s file name from
on the App Store and preceding an “IMG0001.png” to “new-keywords-
increase in keyword rankings. to-rank-for.png” was not detected by
Google and the test failed to cause an
improvement in keyword rank.
54 55
Keyword Ranking Strength

Earlier, we discussed a theoretical situation in
which the app stores start with a clean slate and no
ranking history. Lacking historical data to improve
the search results, the stores would have to rank
apps purely off their metadata. However, providing
a good user experience is a major priority for both Here are the major factors, identified by the ASO
Apple and Google. As such, to provide users with community, that influence Apple and Google’s
high-quality search results, the app stores use keyword ranking algorithms, along with a note
historical performance data to organize the search indicating which stores utilize each signal:
results.
Primary Ranking Signals for Apple & Google
App Downloads Ratings and Reviews Conversion Rate for a Keyword Retention Rate for a Keyword
The number of app downloads is the strongest ranking Other significant factors for the ranking algorithms One of the leading indicators of whether your app will Over time, Google’s keyword ranking algorithm has
signal on both stores—particularly, the number of are the star rating and velocity of reviews & ratings. rank well for a certain keyword is how well the app has gradually moved away from depending so heavily
downloads sourced from the keyword in question. When these factors are high, they indicate that users historically converted searches for that keyword into on downloads and download velocity to calculate an
Moreover, download velocity is a major attribute of are fond enough of an app to take the time to rate it installs as a percentage of total impressions. Apple app’s keyword ranking strength. This came to a head
overall app downloads. or write a review; the effort required to do so makes and Google want to showcase apps that have a higher in late 2016/early 2017 when, through a blog post and
this factor even more impactful. Both Google and likelihood of being downloaded so users are more algorithm update, Google’s Android team announced
Downloads are especially important on the App Store. Apple have officially commented that star ratings, likely to be satisfied with the store experience, and are that user retention rate was a much more important
If the developer of a high-volume music app decided to user reviews, and the number of ratings are factors thus more likely to return to search for and download signal for keyword rankings.
add the keyword “audiobooks” to their title, they would their algorithms consider when ranking apps. A other apps.
be likely to gain a decent ranking for that search term, recently conducted study by Phiture has led us to While download velocity can still cause initial swings
just by virtue of having a lot of overall app downloads. believe that ratings on the App Store do not show in keyword rankings, an app’s ability to retain users
Because the stores tend to rank high-volume apps for direct correlations with keyword rankings. Indirectly App Performance (Google Play) that download it after searching for a specific keyword
high-volume keywords, smaller developers should though, through higher conversion rates as a result of Announcements from Google indicate that the Play is the most important long-term signal for keyword
begin by focusing on long-tail—or otherwise, lower more and higher ratings, this might increase rankings Store algorithm also factors for app performance rankings on Google Play. In fact, if your app has a
volume, lower competition—keywords. for the keyword over time. (e.g., crashes/stability or consumption of phone low retention rate, driving more downloads can be
battery). As such, Google considers bad app a detrimental signal and can cause your app to rank
performance as a potential negative signal and may progressively lower for a keyword. This is because a
rank poorly performing apps lower than others. high number of downloads paired with a low retention
rate provides enough data to suggest your app is not
worthy of being shown to future store visitors using
that keyword, as they are unlikely to use the app for a
long time (compared to other downloaded apps).
56 57
Additional, unconfirmed algorithm factors

put forward by the industry:
User engagement with app indexing Video assets

An app’s average revenue per user (ARPU)
iOS apps can be indexed on Apple’s spotlight mobile High-quality preview videos are able to provide Beware
search user experience, and Android apps (as well as users with a better understanding of an app than In a similar vein of thinking to Google Ads and Apple Downloads from one country will
iOS apps) can be indexed on google.com. This data screenshots and are recommended as a best practice Search Ads (i.e., ads from apps with higher bids are not affect keyword (or top chart)
offers an off-page signal to determine an app’s quality by Apple and Google. As a result, the mere presence of shown more than ads from apps with lower bids), rankings in another country.
and popularity and is therefore within the realm of a video could sensibly be used as a favorable signal for Apple and Google earn revenue from paid downloads That is, even if an app has one
possibility for in-store rankings, especially for SEO keyword rankings. and in-app purchases, and could thus reasonably favor million installs from the keyword
keywords that arise within the store. Additionally, apps that earn a higher revenue per user in keyword “chat” in the United Kingdom, the
as Apple and Google want to ensure that apps are rankings. This sentiment is shared by many across the app will not automatically earn
adopting the latest technologies, it may be a positive Localization industry. a higher rank for “chat” in the
signal simply to set app indexing up. United States or Canada. However,
From a user experience standpoint, it would make Average app session duration or number of launches the keyword field of some app
sense to rank localized apps before non-localized apps localizations can affect an app’s
for a localized keyword search (although this behavior As a more in-depth user engagement factor, the total relevance for keyword rankings in
has not been confirmed). time spent on an app or the number of launches could other countries (see Chapter 4 on
sensibly factor into keyword rankings. localization for more detail).
58 59
The Keyword Optimization Cycle
For those apps and games that do

stand to benefit from KWO, we’ll now
go through how to set up a solid KWO
strategy based on the framework “The
Keyword Optimization Cycle.”
The KWO cycle highlights the four The four stages have been defined for
different stages essential to keyword both app stores, although some steps
optimization. The “repeat” symbol are only relevant for one of the two (e.g.,
shown in the middle demonstrates the keyword field is only relevant to the
that the KWO process is iterative App Store).
and continuously tweaking an app’s
metadata is essential to its success.
Based on “The Keyword Optimization Cycle” framework developed by Phiture.
K E Y TA K E AWAY S The four steps of the KWO Cycle

include:
Learn how to establish a solid
keyword optimization strategy, 1. Research all keywords and place 3. Target keywords by adding them to
the most relevant search terms in a your app’s metadata.
following the framework backlog.
“The Keyword Optimization Cycle.” 4. Measure keyword performance,
2. Prioritize the backlog based on calculating organic uplifting.
volume, relevancy, etc.
60 61
Step 1: Keyword Research
Before you can start attracting people to your App Store You can use Excel or your favorite ASO tool to create
and Google Play listings by targeting high‑volume, your keyword backlog. When using Excel, this backlog
relevant, and low competition search terms, you will can be just one column, but you can also expand your
need to create a large list of keywords. These should research with another column mentioning the source
be terms that people could reasonably expect to use to from which the keyword originated. That source
find your app among search results. might be, for example, “brainstorming session,”
“Google Keyword Planner tool,” or “competitor.”
The initial step in this process is to create a fresh
keyword backlog with generic search terms. You Furthermore, adding competitors’ app names to your
shouldn’t necessarily include your app name or your metadata is forbidden on the App Store and Google
competitors’ app name in this keyword list, as you will Play. Therefore, you should exclude these names from
naturally add your app name to the metadata and the your research unless the competitor’s brand name is a
app will typically rank first for its name (if that name generic search term such as “calm” or “booking.”
is unique).
Next, we’ll cover the various ways you can find new
search terms for your keyword backlog:
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
• Brainstorming • Google Keyword Planner tool
Employ a variety of techniques
• Competitor keywords • Shuffle keywords
to create a backlog of potential
keywords you could include in your • App Store autofill • Reviews
app’s metadata.
• Apple Search Ads terms
62 63
Brainstorming Competitor Keywords
Before diving into tools, try creating your initial Of course, you want to make sure that you’re ahead of
keyword list based on common sense. How would you (or at least not behind) the competition when it comes
search for your own app? to ASO. Start by analyzing your competitors’ app
titles and subtitles, long and short descriptions, and
Here are a couple of pointers to get started: screenshot captions to better understand the range of
keywords that might also be relevant for your app. Another method of analyzing your competitors’ Discovering the keywords your competitors rank for
• Think about your app’s main features and benefits. keywords is by using an ASO tool to “spy” on the can uncover new ideas for what you could also include
On Google Play, you can see exactly what your keywords they may be using. Most ASO tools show a in your keyword backlog.
• Check your website for keywords. competitors have added to their metadata; on the huge list of keywords for which an app ranks.
App Store, this is a bit trickier. App Store Connect
• Ask your colleagues to name some keywords they hides the 100-character keyword field; for this reason,
would use to search for your app. understanding all the keywords other apps have
implemented in their metadata is a guessing game.
Once your backlog includes a base of seed keywords,
you can then move on to more scalable keyword Pro Tip
discovery methods. An easy way to test whether an iOS app ranks for a
keyword is by searching for the app’s brand name (or
Pro Tip another single word you are certain they rank for) plus
We have found that team brainstorms work well the word you want to test. For example, searching for
when everyone must independently come up with as “Spotify streaming” will help you decrypt whether the
many keywords as they can in five minutes, with these Spotify app has the word “streaming” in its metadata.
search terms physically written down on sticky notes.
Then, collect and group the suggestions by theme.
Even though you will find the most important search
terms come up more often, grouping the keywords
will also help you establish distinct topics and ways in
which people can discover your app.
“Pizza delivery” or “Chinese food” are keywords that Postmates, UberEats’ competitor,
is ranking for but that UberEats is not. Source: AppTweak (Keyword Research tool).
64 65
App Store Autofill Apple Search Ads Search Terms
One of the best ways to find relevant and While you can use your iOS or Android device to You can find a lot of keywords on the Search To identify relevant keywords, utilize the
high-volume search terms is looking at find auto-suggestions on the App Store or Google Ads console, regardless of whether you ad group keyword finder. When you create
the autofill keyword suggestions on the Play, you can also check out “play.google.com” from use Apple Search Ads as part of your user a campaign on Search Ads and try to add
App Store and/or Google Play. your computer or access the App Store from your acquisition strategy. When you run a search keywords to the ad group, Apple provides a list
computer. However, be aware that keyword trends can match advertising campaign, Apple provides of keywords that are related to the targeted app.
sometimes differ between the stores on mobile vs. the a detailed report of all the keywords for which Apple also provides other relevant information,
computer. it showed your ad. All these suggestions form such as the popularity of respective keywords in
a good foundation for your keyword backlog, the target country and maximum impressions
especially if your core focus is the App Store. per day. This information is aligned with the
Search Popularity (an indicator from Apple as
to how many people search via that keyword,
on a scale of 5 to 100).
Google Play website keyword search.
Some ASO tools also offer autofill data:
AppTweak’s free Keyword Suggestion tool. Apple Search Ads’ keyword finder.
66 67
Google Keyword Planner Tool
The Google Keyword Planner tool provides web Once in the keyword tool, you can search for keywords
keyword ideas and traffic estimates and is actually based on:
intended to help you build a Google Ads campaign.
While the traffic estimates are web-based and • A description of your product/service:
therefore not super relevant for ASO prioritization, If you enter “food delivery app,” you will get a list with
the tool can nonetheless provide some generally relevant keywords, many of which will be relevant to
helpful keyword ideas for your seed list. your app and should be added to your keyword backlog.
As the Google Keyword Planner tool is part of Google • A specific product category:
Ads, you will first need to sign up for Google Ads. The Google Keyword Planner tool can also create
keyword ideas based on product categories.
Pro Tip
For those who don’t have access to a Google Ads
account, “Google Trends” is available without needing
to log in to Google Ads or even have a Google account.
Shuffle Keywords
Apple Search Ads suggests specific phrases and Search Ads automatically matches your app to Make sure to expand your keyword backlog with For example, someone searching for the keyword
broader search terms. search terms that the algorithm sees relevant. long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are search “lose weight” will see a variety of apps ranking in the
terms that include three or more words and usually search results, ranging from workout apps and calorie
Apple will return more relevant More keyword inspiration can be found in the search better define the user intent. As a result, long-tail counters to dieting apps. This store visitor might have
keywords if you type in a specific search terms report of each ad group, especially in search keywords often have lower search volumes but higher to scroll down some while to find an app that truly
term. The list not only covers phrases match ad groups. In search match ad groups, Apple conversion rates than single keywords. meets their needs. However, when searching for “lose
that include the search term but automatically matches your app to search terms that weight walking” or “lose weight tracker,” they might
also broader keywords. For example, the algorithm sees relevant. This is a signal from find that the first 1-3 apps fit their needs and could be
based on the keyword “fashion,” Apple Apple as to the keywords that can potentially drive Pro Tip downloaded.
suggests keywords like “fashion game” downloads to your app and should be added to your AppTweak (2021) found that, of the top 300 most
and “styling games.” keyword backlog. popular generic keywords on the App Store, 41%
consisted of one word, 49% consisted of two words,
and 10% consisted of 3 words or more.
68 69
Long-tail keywords are typically less competitive which also

makes it easier to rank higher. Especially for newer or smaller apps
operating in a competitive space, targeting long-tail keywords with
lower volumes could give you more visibility than targeting highly
competitive single keywords.
Reviews
Scan through your reviews to see how existing users Some ASO tools (like AppTweak, AppFollow, or
describe your app or competitors’ apps. For example, AppBot), as well as the Google Play Console, provide
if you own a travel app like Skyscanner or KAYAK, reports on the density of certain popular words in
you might see reviewers frequently using the phrase reviews. Some of these tools try to provide a semantic
“multi-city trips” in their reviews. This might very analysis of these words to provide even stronger
well be a search term that should be added to your insights as to what users might expect or require from
keyword backlog if it’s relevant to your app. your app.
Long-tail keywords have lower difficulty scores, indicating that less powerful apps dominate the top search results for these terms.
Source: AppTweak.
70 71
Step 2: Keyword Prioritization

Search Volume Data
K E Y TA K E AWAY S Pro Tip
Whether you should include a search term in your One useful tactic to assess keyword volume with
Evaluate the search terms you found ASO keyword strategy depends first and foremost on Google Keyword Planner or other SEO tools—and
through keyword research and whether people actually search for that term on the to make their data more relevant for app traffic—is
app stores. On the web, Google provides approximate adding “+ app” to web keywords. People don’t search
generate a prioritized keyword list search volumes to help advertisers spend more on much for “plumbers” on the app stores, but they do on
based on metrics such as volume, search ads; however, the App Store and Google Play the web. Using web search volume data could mislead
have been a “black box” for a long time. you into thinking there are a lot of users searching
competition, and relevance. for “plumbers” on the app stores; by adding the word
For this reason, in the early days of ASO, experts “+ app,” you will receive more directionally accurate
used data from the Google Keyword Planner tool data.
to estimate keyword volume. While this may seem
sensible at first, search behavior on small screens Fortunately for ASO experts, Apple offers valuable
with onscreen keyboards will, by nature, differ from insights into App Store search behaviors through its
desktop searches. Search Popularity metric.
To overcome this, you could filter web data for the As previously mentioned, the Search Popularity
mobile web rather than the computer-based web. metric is a score between 5 and 100 and indicates how
Nonetheless, people still search entirely differently often a keyword is searched for on the App Store. On
on the mobile web compared to on the app stores. the other hand, Google remains a black box and does
For instance, on the web, someone might search for a not provide any information around Play Store search
“smoked salmon pasta recipe” and indeed, the Google volumes.
Keyword Planner tool will pull up thousands of
monthly web searches. However, hardly anyone would To get around this, many would revert to Apple’s Search
search like this on the app stores. An app store-type Popularity score to inform their keyword strategy
Starred Terms search would look more like “recipe” or something a on Google Play; however, keep in mind that Android
bit more specific, such as “pasta recipe app.” users do, from time to time, search slightly differently
It is not difficult to create a search term backlog of First, we recommend “starring” the keywords in your compared to iOS users. Reasons for this might include
hundreds of keywords. But which keywords make backlog that you deem have the highest potential. differences in platform features, differing purchasing
good candidates to add to your metadata? Which This shorter list of “starred” keywords is the list that power, lower-end Android devices with limited space
keywords are the most relevant to your app and have you should monitor regularly. or connectivity, or the fact that Google Play offers
the most potential to drive traffic? In the following more thorough search functionalities that help users
section, we will explain how you can prioritize your find specific apps quicker.
keyword backlog.
72 73
Apple’s Search Popularity Score

Caveats
The Search Popularity score is a very

good indicator of how often a keyword
is searched for in the App Store, but
there are a few caveats:
1. Search Popularity returns relative 3. The Search Popularity metric only 4. Apple’s algorithm cleans keywords However, an interesting case of this
numbers. Whereas Google Ads offers returns a real search score for keywords and groups terms including unusual pertains to the keywords “disney” and
insights into absolute average monthly with a Search Popularity of 6 and characters with the “clean” version “disney+.” Apple currently returns
searches for a specific term, Apple above: Likely to discourage advertisers of that term. This would mean, for the same Search Popularity for both
Search Ads offers an indexed popularity from bidding on low-volume keywords example, that all searches for the terms; however, again, this figure is the
score from 5 to 100. to increase ad inventory fill rates, keywords “game,” “game?” and “game+” sum of traffic for both words. As such,
Apple does not show the difference would be grouped together and Apple we cannot be sure of how much traffic
2. The Search Popularity score is between keywords that literally receive would return a Search Popularity comes from the keyword “disney”
exponential rather than linear. This 0 searches per month and keywords score for the entire group (the “game” compared to “disney+.”
means that a keyword with a Search with low—but still some—volume. group). For the “game” group, we can
Popularity score of 90 will generate Therefore, it is incredibly hard to know assume that the keywords “game?” and 5. AppTweak has found that 50% of
much more than 3 times the number if a long-tail keyword should just be “game+” have search traffic scores near all keywords on the App Store have
of impressions than a keyword with a ignored or whether there is something 0; despite this, Apple returns a Search Search Popularity scores lower than
Search Popularity score of 30. to be gained from targeting that Popularity of 66 which is likely to just 25. AppTweak also found that nearly
keyword. be the Search Popularity for the single all keywords with a Search Popularity
keyword “game.” above 80 pertain to brands.
6. These numbers are only available in

markets where Apple has made Apple
Search Ads available. For now, Apple
Search Ads are not available in major
markets like Brazil or Turkey.
74 75
Keyword Relevance
At first sight, it may seem great to rank for a This practice is not always as straightforward as you
high‑volume keyword like “movies.” However, for a might think. For example, you might think that the
Phiture conducted two studies in which they found real estate app, no meaningful impact will come from keyword “flights” would be a relevant keyword for
that Search Popularity (SP) scores are exponential. ranking for this term, as it is highly irrelevant to the apps like Booking.com. After all, people searching
app’s features and functionalities. Furthermore, for flights are probably also interested in reserving
By looking at the Share of Voice and Impressions that adding an irrelevant keyword to your app’s metadata accommodation, no? However, when we look at the
advertisers on keywords with a certain SP score were would drive a poor conversion rate and is likely to drag search results for the keyword “flights,” we see that
getting, Phiture was able to plot a curve showing the your keyword rankings down. Therefore, you need to the apps ranking for the keyword are all flight-booking
exponential relationship between the SP score and make sure you target relevant search terms in your apps, and thus much more relevant than Booking.com.
the number of daily searches: metadata.
Relevance is ultimately determined by whether

your app addresses search intents, as measured by
downloads. Ideally, you should put a relevant number
(i.e., from 0 to 5) on every search term found to bring
in any meaningful amount of search volume. This can
be both objective (based on the downloads per search
term) and subjective (personal judgement of the user
intent behind the keyword). This method is exactly
what we do to filter out the best search terms for our
keyword strategies.
Live Search results for the

keyword “flights” on the US
Google Play Store. The image
Exponential relationship between the SP score and the number of daily searches. shows that all apps raanking
More info on https://phiture.com/asostack/search-popularity-score-impressions-calculator-d39bc5f44911/ in the top 10 positions for the
keyword “flights” primarily
offer flight-booking services.
76 77
Case Study:
Determining Keyword Relevance
Let’s demonstrate how you can determine keyword As you will see, the more long-tail and specific the
relevance using the app “Zillow Real Estate — Homes keyword, the easier it is to grade for relevance. It is
for Sale & for Rent.” Grading the relevance of a set of harder to understand search intent for short-tail
keywords could look something like this... search terms like “home” and “house”: in the case of
“house,” we are unable to discern whether users may
be looking for a house simulation game, an interior
• “Houses for sale”: Extremely relevant and high design app, or an app to find houses for sale.
volume (5/5)
Once you have graded your search terms, you can start
• “Real estate”: Extremely relevant (5/5) playing with what we call the “search term score”:
a keyword’s search volume multiplied by its relevance.
• “Home”: Low relevance (1/5)
• “House”: Irrelevant (0/5) Example of calculating a search term score:
• “Property management”: Irrelevant (0/5) Search term: “Home”
• Relevance: 2
As you can see, we can now sort our search terms
according to those that drive the most meaningful • Search volume: 50
search traffic.
• Search term score: (2 x 50) = 100
Search term: “Real Estate”
• Relevance: 3
• Search volume: 40
• Search term score: (3 x 40) = 120
78 79
Retrospective Relevance How to Automatically Calculate a

Difficulty Score
Ultimately, you are not the one deciding whether If your ranking increases (and especially if you
a search term is relevant or not: The app store hit the top 10), you can consider the term to be a Most ASO tools have defined metrics to help you A chance score looks at your own app strength and
algorithms will do that for you based on search high‑relevance keyword. A stable ranking indicates understand the competitiveness or difficulty of a compares it with the top-ranking apps to determine
volume, conversion, and retention. medium relevance, and a decline suggests the search keyword. This metric may come under the banner whether your app has a chance of ranking for the
term is irrelevant. of different names like “difficulty” or “competition” keyword. Different tool providers adopt different
One method of keyword optimization is to try adding scores. approaches to calculate this number.
a keyword to your metadata and then seeing whether
your app ranks higher or lower over the following ASO tools can also estimate how hard it might be
weeks. for your app to compete on a specific keyword with
metrics like a “chance” score.
Keyword Competition
The more apps that compete for the same keyword on The first question (“how many apps target the search
the store, the harder it will be to reach a high rank for term?”) is relatively easy to answer for the App Store:
that search term. If an app is targeting a keyword in its metadata, the
app will be indexed for that keyword. Most ASO tools
To determine how fierce the competition is for a show you the absolute number of apps that rank for a
certain keyword and whether you want to compete for keyword, which can be a good indicator of competition.
that term, consider these 3 questions:
On the other hand, Google Play only returns the top
• How many apps target the search term? 250 apps in the search results. On ASO tools, the
most common search terms will therefore just return
• How relevant are the top 10 apps for the search results of “250,” which is less useful when trying to
term? determine how competitive a keyword is.
• How strong is the competition among the Next, you need to research the quality of the top 10
top 10 apps? ranking apps for a keyword to determine the level of
competition for that keyword. If the top apps drive
a lot of downloads, it will be harder to knock them Difficulty and chance scores for Booking.com on the US App Store. Source: AppTweak.
off their throne, as the algorithms consider overall
downloads when deciding which apps to rank where.
You can either choose to assess the competition for a
certain keyword by manually calculating a difficulty
score, or you can consult ASO tools to help with this
exercise.
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How to Manually Calculate a

Difficulty Score
If you prefer not to rely on ASO tools, you can try to 2. Determine the volatility of each top 10 ranking
manually estimate the ranking difficulty of a keyword. position for a keyword. This involves determining
There are two main factors to consider when sizing how many ranking positions each of the top 10 apps
up the competition for a keyword. moves for a keyword over a span of 1-12 weeks. If the
top 10 apps move less frequently, this can indicate
1. The top chart rankings of the top 10 apps that that competitors will be hard to usurp. If the top-
rank for a keyword. Average the top chart rankings ranking spots are highly volatile, this can mean there
of the top 10 apps to get an overall competitor top is more chance to bump competitors down. However,
chart strength reading for each keyword. Be sure to this may also indicate high competition, given that
compare countries and categories separately. How far many apps regularly shift into different positions for Audit of Duolingo’s title and subtitle keywords.
Source: Toaster by Phiture.
away from the average rank of those keywords is your that keyword.
app’s top chart rank?
The keyword table shows that Duolingo should

probably not replace the keywords “learn,” “spanish,”
“french,” or “german,” as these keywords have good
volumes and the app ranks very high for the terms.
Current Keyword Ranks However, the keyword “lessons” and the long-
Pro Tip tail combinations receive little volume and could
Next, to decide which keywords to use for your ASO Generally, while painful to acknowledge, keywords potentially be replaced by higher-volume keywords.
strategy, you should audit your current keyword for which your app ranks below the 10th position (i.e.,
rankings to make sure you don’t replace keywords 11 or worse) are not likely to drive any meaningful
in your metadata that currently generate a lot of amount of traffic to your app.
downloads for your app.
With the above in mind, make sure to flag the
high‑volume keywords for which you rank 10th or
higher. This will help you remain vigilant and not make
changes that affect these high-volume, high-rank
keywords when making changes to your metadata.
82 83
Value Estimations of Search NOTE:
Terms in Your Backlog The higher the volume score (ranging from
5 to 100), the more the people searching A lot of the metadata you can target are heavily
Now that you have distinctly assessed the volume, with this keyword. The higher the restricted by character length.
relevance score, and competition score of each relevance score (ranging from 0 to 5), the
keyword, there is one last step you may want to more relevant the keyword. The higher the As such, you want to make sure you target as many
consider to prioritize individual keywords. competition score (ranging from 0 to 100, keyword combinations with as few characters as
depending on the ASO tool(s) of choice), possible. A character optimization formula like the
This involves calculating a “search term value” score: the higher the competition. following might help you with this process:
Search Term Value = Word Value = SUM (word appearances in total

Volume Score x Relevance Score x keyword phrases) / Keyword Length
(Maximum Competition / Competition Score)
For example, take the following calculations of search

term value:
From this exercise, we see that the keyword “movie” As we see here, although “editing” has a higher
scores worse than “movie maker” despite “movie combined value as it appears in “movie editing,” the
maker” having a lower search volume. This is because seven precious characters it costs are worth less
“movie” scores lower for relevance and higher for in character optimization terms than the keyword
competition. “maker.”
84 85
Search Ads Conversion Data on

the App Store
Apple Search Ads provides great data you need to However, with a bit of Search Ad budget and data from
consider when prioritizing your keywords for ASO. a mobile measurement partner (MMP) or Apple’s iAd
Take, for example, a fitness app. You may see that the Framework for Apple Search Attribution, you may
term “fitness app” drives a higher search volume than see that “weight loss tracker” actually drives users
“weight loss tracker.” with a higher loan-to-value (LTV) than “fitness app.”
Therefore, you may want to prioritize this search term
in your ASO strategy rather than the higher volume—
and likely more competitive—keyword, ”fitness app.”
An over-simplified example of the metrics your MMP might return

(prioritizing keywords based on their value to your marketing strategy).
Without an MMP, you can still consider the metrics Based on this data, you can shortlist 10 to 20 starred
that Apple provides. The metrics tap-through-rate keywords that drive meaningful traffic to your app
(TTR) and conversion rate (CR) on a search term besides your app name and competitors’ app names.
level can be a good indicator of a specific keyword’s These keywords will be crucial for your app’s visibility
relevance. on the app stores.
86 87
Step 3: Targeting Keywords in Metadata
Title
Both Google Play and the App Store search algorithms As the space available in app titles is quite
treat the app title as the most heavily weighted limited, some developers forgo the app name
metadata element. As such, including a keyword altogether in favor of maximizing the available
in your app title will give you the highest chance of character space for keywords. Generally, this is
meaningfully ranking for that keyword. not a great idea for apps with strong brands, as
you could lose recognition and perhaps even the
App titles on both the App Store and Google Play can number one ranking spot for branded searches
be up to 30 characters long. Store guidelines indicate if trademark protections don’t prevent other
that app titles should be unique, distinctive, and apps from using the brand name in their titles/
explain what the app is about. The app name should subtitles.
not be misleading, and references to app performance,
such as “best,” “#1,” or “leading,” should be avoided. Other ways to save space include only targeting
root words (e.g., “run” vs “running”), omitting
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
In the previous chapter, we touched on the idea of commas, and other less crucial grammatical
“starring” search terms with high volumes and very technicalities (such as using a colon (:) rather
Discover useful tips and tricks to effectively target high relevance to your app. One well-placed starred than the traditional dash (–) to separate an app
keywords in metadata, including the title, 100-character keyword (or combination of keywords) can help you name and tagline, or an ampersand (&) in place
keyword field (App Store), short description, full significantly increase your visibility. Try to use exact of the word “and”).
keyword placements, as these can help with search
description, developer name, in-app purchases, and term conversion and help your app rank better in the
package names. search results.
88 89
In addition to being a boon for visibility, adding The character limit can often be very restrictive and
keywords to your app title is also by and large a result in app titles with fewer descriptive words due
positive method of conversion rate optimization, as to longer brand names, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader
it can quickly and effectively convey your app’s value as seen here. At times, even the somewhat longer
proposition. That said, while a keyword-containing titles with fewer generic keywords can help users
title can help you better communicate your app’s value identify what the app is about and serve the purpose
proposition, a keyword-stuffed title may decrease of keyword optimization.
your conversion rate and therefore also decrease your
keyword rankings. A good example of placing a few
relevant keywords in the title can be seen here, where
keywords help communicate what the Waze app has Waze’s App Store product page incorporates Adobe Acrobat Reader’s App Store listing
to offer: well‑placed keywords in the title. incorporates a longer title, with the brand name
only leaving room for two additional keywords.
Google Play Policy Guidelines

Even a strong brand with a lot of awareness like
STARZ should understand that not all app store In April 2021, Google announced significant policy Additional changes included:
visitors know the brand, let alone understand the app’s changes for app metadata and new guidelines for
value proposition. Changing the title or subtitle to creatives. These updates concerned “guidance to •The prohibition of keywords that imply an app’s store
something like “STARZ - Movies & TV Shows” could improve your app quality and discovery on Google performance (such as “top,” “best,” or “#1”) in the title,
not only help to increase visibility but also conversion. Play.” One of the most significant changes made icon, and developer name.
to the Play Store metadata policies concerned the
shortening of the app name from 50 to 30 characters. •Restricting any calls-to-action to incentivize installs
like “download now,” “install now,” “play now,” or “try
now” in the title or icon.
Starz’ App Store product page does not • Banning app developers from promoting deals
incorporate any keywords in the title. through keywords such as “free.”
• No more emojis/emoticons, repeated punctuation,

or all caps.
• Avoiding time-sensitive taglines or captions that

can quickly become outdated.
90 91
Subtitle (App Store)
Alongside the title, Apple allows app developers to 2 Tips to Optimize App Subtitles
add a subtitle. This subtitle can be up to 30 characters
long and appears both in the search results and on the • Don’t repeat keywords in your subtitle that are Best Practices for the iOS Keyword Field
App Store page underneath the title. already in your title, as they will not carry more weight
from the repetition. • Separate keywords by commas instead of spaces. • Only add singular keywords if possible: Apple
Following the rule “the more visible the metadata, recommends only including singular keywords in
the more it weighs,” the subtitle seems to weigh more • Avoid using terms that are too generic (e.g., “most • Do not duplicate keywords in the keyword field. the keyword field; however, earlier in this chapter,
than the iOS keyword field but less than the title. popular game,” “social networking”). Repeating keywords will not improve their ranking we highlighted that Apple does not always correctly
Consult your starred keyword list and consider adding and is a waste of space. match plural and singular keywords, especially in
keywords with high volume and relevance scores that foreign languages.
describe your app’s main features or benefits. • Do not repeat keywords that are in your title or your
subtitle. You won’t give extra weight to keywords by • Avoid using “free” words: Stop words (e.g., the/a/by
adding them both to your keyword field and your title/ etc.), words that can be derived from your category
subtitle. (e.g., “Health & Fitness”), or other free words defined
Keyword Field (App Store) earlier in this chapter don’t have to be added to App
• Order does not matter. A keyword at the end of Store metadata to be eligible to rank for those terms.
On App Store Connect, you can provide a list of Before adding keywords to the keyword field, it is your keyword field is just as important as one at the
keywords (a keyword field) for each localization important to understand how Apple uses these beginning. • Less is less: Not using all 100 characters in attempts
you select. This keyword field is hidden from the keywords to index apps: Apple combines keywords to give more weight to keywords that have been
app product page and helps the App Store algorithm added to the keyword field, title, and subtitle to rank • Separate phrases or long-tail keywords into included is a bad idea. You won’t go up in rankings for
further understand what your app is about and which apps for long-tail combinations. When selecting individual words: For example, add “photo,filter” certain keywords just because you remove others.
keywords it should rank your app for. The keyword keywords from your backlog for the 100-character instead of “photo filter” as Apple automatically
field can only be up to 100 characters long, hence keyword field, choose the keywords at the top of your makes combinations of all the words included in Now return to your keyword backlog. You can move
it is important to carefully follow best practices to priority list while also keeping in mind the keywords app metadata. Furthermore, you’ll have just as past any keywords you have already added to your app
maximize the available space. with the most potential to make a lot of long-tail much chance to rank for “photo filter” by adding title/subtitle and start adding the next highest priority
combinations. “photo,filter” instead of “photo filter.” words to your keyword field.
92 93
Short & Full/Long Description (Google Play)

Pro Tip
In this subchapter, we refer only to the two types of Keep the following tips in mind when optimizing your The long description can hold up to 4,000 characters
descriptions available on Google Play. While long long description: and is indexed by Google Play. This might seem great at
descriptions also exist on the App Store, they aren’t first but filling up the entire 4,000 characters will not
indexed by the App Store algorithm. That said, it is • Structure your content in easy-to-read paragraphs necessarily give you an edge in the rankings. In fact,
still important to apply some keyword optimization with clear subtitles. This makes it easier for store keyword density is more important to the Play Store
logic to your App Store description, as it is indexed on visitors to scan your content and find the information algorithm than the number of times the keyword has
the web. that is most relevant to them. been repeated. For instance, repeating the keyword
“music” 100 times in a 4,000-character description
Short descriptions on the Play Store are limited to • Make the first lines count. Few users will scroll all offers less weight than repeating “music” 5 times in a
80 characters, giving marketers more flexibility to the way down to read the entire long description. 300-character description.
communicate an app’s value proposition compared to Make sure to grab their attention and convey your
the App Store. Keywords used in the short description main message within the first 3 lines. There are quite some free tools out there that can help
are indexed by the algorithm but, over time, we have you calculate the density of your top priority keywords
seen they have a smaller impact on rankings than • Similarly, to maximize the keyword impact of the in the full description.
keywords in the title or high-density keywords in the full description, try to include your most valuable
long description. To try and maximize the impact of keywords in the first few lines. Google allocates more
the short description on keyword rankings, you can weight to keywords used in the first few lines than
try to repeat (wherever possible) your most valuable keywords repeated later in the copy.
title keywords. In contrast to Apple, Google does
consider keyword density. • Include mentions, awards, and impactful reviews.
However, be respective of the store’s guidelines and
Despite the generous character limit (4,000 avoid including any unattributed or anonymous
characters), long descriptions are not very visible reviews.
on Google Play app pages. Nevertheless, the long
description does represent an opportunity to promote
your app and highlight its key differentiators.
AppTweak’s free Keyword Density Counter tool.

94 95
Other Metadata
For example, for a language learning The app also ranks #2 for “learn
app like Babbel, the available keyword russian,” the title of one of their IAPs.
Developer Name
space in the app title, subtitle, and While it is possible that Babbel is
The developer name (Google Play) keyword field is not enough to target all targeting this keyword in the keyword
or seller name (App Store) have been available languages the app supports. field, this specific IAP likely helps the
found to be indexed on both platforms In its subtitle, Babbel does target the app rank higher in the search results.
to target keywords, especially on keywords “learn spanish” and “learn
Google Play. french” for which the app ranks #2.
You can update your Google Play

Booking.com’s app listing in Google Play search results.
developer name at any time in your
account settings. This process is
more complicated on the App Store as
developer names are tied to a D-U-N-S
number, so be sure to choose the right
name at developer enrollment.
Babbel’s rankings in the US App

Store for keywords targeted in its
In-App Purchase Names app subtitle and IAPs.
(App Store) Source: Toaster by Phiture.
In-app purchases (IAPs) also appear In-App Event Names

in the App Store search results and are (App Store)
indexed for the keywords used in the
IAP title. Like in-app purchases, the event name Avoid using generic terms such as
and short description of in-app events “game event” or “major update,” as
IAPs usually appear together with the are indexed. This provides another well as claims such as “best” or “#1.”
supporting app in the search results. opportunity for developers to increase Apple also advises against using the
This indicates that IAPs do provide their apps’ visibility by targeting core title to explain the type of event (e.g.,
additional keyword space to increase keywords or adding new ones. Event “film premiere” or “challenge”) as the
your app’s visibility. names can be up to 30 characters long. event badge will display this kind of
Choose a unique and descriptive name information.
for your event.
The event’s short description can
be up to 50 characters long: Use this
placeholder to briefly explain your
Example of in-app purchases ranking in App Store search results. event.
96 97
Package Name (Google Play) Visual Word Recognition
First off, bundle IDs on the App Store are not A search for “zara” yielded Super Mario Run as Visual word recognition refers to users’ ability to
something you can rank for. However, you can rank result #11 on Google Play, whereas Nintendo hadn’t recognize visual words in your app listing elements,
for the unique package name that you chose for your mentioned “zara” anywhere in their metadata. It was such as the title or screenshot captions. In other words,
app on Google Play. then found that Nintendo had used “zara” in their if a user searches for “learn spanish,” they are more
package name: likely to convert after seeing visual cues highlighting
Daniel Peris from Pickaso wrote a blog post on a that the app offers what they are looking for.
discovery he made regarding Super Mario Run.
If your app can’t convert impressions from a particular
keyword search into real users, your app’s ranking
score for that keyword will decline.
While your app’s aggregated conversion rate can

“Zara” in the package name for Super Mario Run (Google Play US). represent the general health of your conversion rate
across search terms, it does not always accurately
represent the story at an individual keyword level,
thus possibly obscuring an opportunity for better
performance.
Pro Tip
The impact of keywords added to the bundle ID is While you can change the “manifest package name”
less outspoken than it used to be a few years ago. on AndroidManifest.xml, Google Play will treat your
Today, Mario Run still ranks for the keyword “zara” app as a new listing and you will lose its entire history Google Play search results for the search term
but its rankings have decreased to position #150. (reviews, downloads, etc). We therefore recommend “yoga.” All apps include the word “yoga” in their
Nevertheless, many apps and games use this tactic to that you think carefully about the keywords title and 5 out of the top 6 apps have a descriptive
repeat the most relevant keywords in the bundle ID, you want to target ahead of launching your app. icon showcasing a yoga pose.
app title, and description, with favorable impacts on A solid naming convention would be
rankings. com.brand.title.keyword1.keyword2.
98 99
With the introduction of iOS 14, Apple announced

widgets. Widgets allow iPhone users to customize
their home screens to quickly access information
such as their calendar, weather, activity, etc. As a
result, a lot of new apps were launched to help users
personalize their home screens; search volume for the
keyword “widget” soared.
Rankings for the top weather apps on the keyword “widget” on the US App Store. The Weather Channel ranked the highest The Weather Channel was the only weather app to add the keyword “widget” to its visible metadata (subtitle) and screenshots.
for the keyword. Source: AppTweak.
10 0 101
Pro Tip
Similar to optimizing your app’s keyword selection, • Include the search term in your metadata. Try to
Two challenges to visual word recognition The most effective current approach is to sort your when prioritizing search terms, be sure to focus on include the search term in your visible metadata
optimization include the lack of keyword-level keywords by importance (remember our “starred” the most important terms based on your KPIs. For elements (title, subtitle (iOS), screenshots, or video).
organic attribution data, as well as apps being keywords?) and manually review the search results example, you can use ASA data to determine which
required to present the same listing for each keyword, for each keyword to assess your app’s relative appeal keywords yield the most subscriptions and focus on • Speak to the user’s intent behind the search term.
without customization. Therefore, optimizations compared to the competition. raising your visual word recognition for that keyword This is a more latent approach and requires more
must be done using the data available on-hand (such and other high sub-converting keywords. creativity, such as speaking to the idea of losing
as keyword rankings and Search Popularity) and weight or using imagery that relates to dieting for the
without negatively impacting conversion rates from You can optimize your app listing for search terms for keyword “diet.”
other searches or keyword-agnostic impressions, any of your metadata elements (e.g., screenshots, icon,
such as those from ads or top charts. description, etc.), but this process will typically use • Out-position the competition for that search
the following tactics: term. This approach is similar to general click
rate optimization (CRO) but with a more specific
competitor set. Figure out what messaging or visual
design would make your app more appealing to users
searching for a keyword, such as using a different
screenshot style if your competitors all use the same
screenshot style. But again–be careful to not over-
optimize for one particular search term at the expense
of losing conversions from other sources.
• Make sure your important keywords are not

truncated in your title or subtitle.
102 103
More Keyword Optimization Target Competitors That Haven’t Developed

Tips & Tricks an App for iOS or Android
Before moving on to how to measure the impact of Targeting competitors could have been a good
your targeted keywords, we still want to call out a idea; however, as the search intent would really be
couple of tips and tricks on how you can target even to download your competitor’s branded app, you
more keywords and drive more searches to your app. are unlikely to be able to convert these searches
into downloads even if you come in second in the
results. Apple and Google also frown upon targeting
trademarked or brand names in your metadata.
Category Names on the App Store
However, things are entirely different for competitors
Selecting your primary category should be done with or other apps with a brand name that have yet to
careful consideration and needs to be the right fit for develop an Android or iOS app. You may find that
your app. The secondary category, however, is not targeting these names can help drive substantial
something that impacts your store visibility from a search traffic.
Browse perspective and can be chosen with keyword
visibility in mind.
We checked all the category keywords for volume in

the US and listed them in descending order: Google Play Potentially Indexes Listing
Experiments
In the ASO Stack Slack, Lukas Ballé reported that

keywords in A/B tests are also indexed. Other
members of the community pointed out that while
Google detects brand infringements in titles and
short/full descriptions, this doesn’t seem to be the
case for A/B test variants. What makes this even
more of a breeding ground for black-hat ASO is that
A/B tests can be run on a 0.1% audience. That means
that virtually no one needs to see the keyword-heavy
description.
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Apple Search Ads Paid Bump Image Text Recognition
Because Apple’s algorithm considers the number • For keywords for which the app already ranks It has been rumored that Google Play (in particular)
of downloads—and download velocity—as ranking well: We have seen organic rankings for some apps can recognize the captions used on screenshots and
factors, many wonder whether using Apple Search slightly increase for keywords for which the app accounts for these when deciding which keywords
Ads to bid on certain keywords will also increase the already ranks in the top 10. Phiture has conducted to rank an app for. There is no waterproof evidence
organic rankings of these keywords. However, the tests around boosting high-volume top 10 keywords supporting this claim, but as explained in the section
answer to this question is not that straightforward. to a higher rank and has found only marginal evidence about visual word recognition, highlighting your app’s
In general, we have seen there may indeed be small of being able to influence high-volume, high-ranking main features in screenshots is a great technique to
bumps in organic keyword rankings when app keywords via Apple Search Ads. optimize your app’s conversion rate and also possibly
downloads significantly increase due to heavy ad facilitate keyword visibility.
spends in the following scenarios: • For very general keywords: Rankings for
keywords like “best games,” “new games,” or “popular
games” are not influenced by the standard keyword
algorithm. Instead, rankings for these keywords are
very closely related to category rankings. And this
means that the more downloads an app has (possibly
due to heavy ad spends), the higher the app will rank
for these keywords.
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Step 4: Measuring Keyword Performance

Tracking
K E Y TA K E AWAY S Tracking involves using an ASO tool to monitor

the rankings of your keywords throughout your
Analyze the impact of your keyword visibility optimizations. ASO tools track hundreds of
optimization work and track your thousands—even millions—of keywords across the
different app stores. Because many tools also offer
ASO progress with fundamental historical data for these search terms, it’s a good
metrics and KPIs. exercise to begin tracking your keywords prior to
changing your metadata so you know which keywords
to focus on. Tracking keywords also helps you to
determine the impact of the changes you made not
only for high-level app store analytics data, but in the
more granular specifics of keyword rankings.
After designing and implementing your ASO strategy, Each of these plays a unique role to ensure that you are
it’s time to see if all your hard work has paid off by on the right track; when you aren’t, they raise warning
analyzing the impact. While the most direct goal of flags and point your attention to the right places for
an ASO strategy is increasing the number of organic troubleshooting.
installs your app gains, there are a myriad of metrics
that will be useful in tracking your ASO progress.
Keyword tracking. Source: Toaster by Phiture.
108 109
Keyword Monitoring KPI: Keyword Ranking

Pro Tip
Once you have selected your tracking tool, you can When measuring the success of visibility When measuring performance from visibility While your App Store keyword ranks will update
monitor the rankings of your targeted keywords. When optimizations, it is useful to consider the difference optimizations, directly report on keyword rankings instantly after you release a new app version, it is
new metadata gets approved and goes live on the App between metrics and KPIs. Metrics are data before and after your visibility changes; more important to note that your keyword rankings will
Store, the latest keyword rankings will update the points that highlight activity or the lack thereof specifically, look for keywords that attain a top 10 continue to fluctuate over time and are unlikely to
same day. Any keywords that are no longer included in (i.e., App Store Impressions); however, they may not rank. As previously mentioned, ranking outside of remain a long time at the position that they first
the metadata are likely to lose rankings immediately. be the most important indicators of success. KPIs the top 10 results will not generally drive a significant hit. Monitor how your keyword rankings move for
On Google Play, the algorithm can take a little longer are the data points that are most important to your amount of visibility. one week after an app update and then adjust your
to index your keywords. goals/objectives and should be used to measure keyword selection accordingly after giving your new
success (i.e., Installs). Unlike on the App Store, updating your app’s keyword keyword rankings sufficient time to adjust.
metadata on Google Play may not always cause an
immediate or significant change in keyword rankings. Other than looking at individual keywords, you
Sometimes, Google may even continue ranking can also consider your aggregate keyword rankings
keywords after the phrase has been removed from the provided by some ASO tools such as AppTweak,
app listing. This is because Google’s algorithm is more Mobile Action, or AppFollow.
advanced than Apple’s and considers signals such
as the skip-gram analysis and others mentioned in
previous chapters.
Example of a
keyword immediately
increasing in rankings
after the release
of a new metadata
update.
Source: AppTweak.
11 0 111
Visibility Monitoring
Only monitoring keyword rankings is not enough to An example of this is AppTweak’s Visibility Score Metric (Layer 2): Product Page Views
measure the impact of your changes. Moving from which helps developers understand whether their (App Store) or Store Listing Visitors
ranking at #30 to #3 for a keyword with a volume of app’s visibility in the search results improved after (Google Play)
5 will not yield a lot of extra visibility or downloads. a metadata update (i.e., did the app gain enough
Neither will moving from position #120 to #34 for rankings for high-volume keywords?). These are the secondary visibility metrics after
a high-volume keyword. Different ASO tools have impressions and another important intermediary (or
developed their own home-grown metrics to help the only intermediary in Google’s case) to measure
app developers better understand the impact of their between a user’s first interaction with an app and
efforts on their apps’ visibility. Metrics provided by the having that user download the app.
app stores themselves can also provide more insights.
• Product Page Views are defined by Apple as:
“The number of times your App Store Product Page
was viewed on a device running macOS 10.14.1, iOS 8
or tvOS 9, or later.”
Optimizing for visibility is important but it’s not
• Store Listing Visitors are defined by Google as: enough to stop once you reach your end visibility
“The number of users that visited your store listing goal—this visibility must also be followed by a
who didn’t already have your app installed on any of conversion. It’s easier to see whether this is the case
their devices.” on the App Store than on Google Play; for example, say
that you replace a relevant but low-volume keyword
Measuring the changes made to a Google Play app’s such as “plumber” with a high-volume keyword
impressions can be more nuanced because Google such as “movies,” despite your plumbing app having
only reports on Store Listing Visitors (i.e., “product nothing to do with movies. You might get an initial
AppTweak’s Visibility Score shows the evolution of an app’s visibility after app updates.
page views” in App Store terms), rather than search peak in “app impressions” via App Store search, but
impressions. This means you do not get the full view while this will look great at first, you’ll find that very
Metric (Layer 1): Impressions (App Store) Apple defines impressions as: “The number of times of how many people actually saw your app in search few of the people that saw your app in searches related
your app was viewed in the Featured, Categories, results, but rather the number of people who tapped to “movies” download it or even click through to your
Impressions are a great initial metric to measure the Top Charts, and Search sections of the App Store. on your listing. app page.
impact of your metadata changes. More specifically, Includes Product Page Views.” You can break down
impressions can indicate whether your ASO changes Impressions by the “Source Type” and filter only for
caused your app to rank for significantly more or those that came from Search. Google, on the other
fewer keywords, and whether these ranking positions hand, does not report on impressions. Pro Tip:
were significantly better or worse. Consider impression velocity (impressions/time
Be aware that each product page view on the App Store period), product page view (PPV) velocity (PPV/
counts as a new impression, meaning that someone time period), and download velocity (downloads/
who clicks through to your product page from a search time period) to measure the impact of visibility
result will count twice towards your total impressions. optimization in a more forecast-friendly manner.
You can monitor “Unique App Store Impressions” to
112 avoid the numbers from being skewed. 113
Organic Uplift
You can measure organic uplift from inorganic
As previously discussed, the ultimate goal of ASO is downloads in a few ways:
not keyword rankings; these are only used as a quick
indicator of success on the path to organic uplift. • Manually: Subtract the known inorganic downloads
After all, what good is visibility if not to drive from all downloads; then, subtract a benchmarked
conversions? number of organic downloads. For example, imagine
your app drove 2,000 downloads, of which 500
In the subsequent section, we will discuss installs were inorganic, on a Thursday in March. You could
and a few other KPIs you may also want to learn more compare these figures to your Thursday benchmark
about. of 1,000 downloads from the month prior (February)
to find that you now have an organic uplift of 500
downloads—one new organic download for every
inorganic download.
• Automatically: Implement one of the several ASO

tools that offer estimations for organic uplift.
KPI: Installs
“Installs” are the classic KPI used to measure the However, there are many factors outside of your
impact of an ASO strategy; they are a middle-of- metadata updates that can impact your downloads
funnel KPI that fall between a store visitor seeing (e.g., advertising campaigns, app featurings, PR,
your app page and having your rankings improve after influencer campaigns, etc.). Both stores do provide
acquiring more installs. However, not all downloads marketers with insights as to where installs come
or installs will translate into active users. from by categorizing installs by traffic source (Search,
Browse or Explore, and Referrers). However, on both
• Apple defines First Time Downloads as: “The stores, the dimension “Search” includes paid installs
total number of first time downloads of your app.” from users who performed a search on the store,
including Search Ads. This makes it harder to solely
• Google defines User Acquisitions as: “The number attribute increases in installs to ASO updates.
of users who installed your app and did not have it
installed on any other devices at the time.”
Estimating the increase in organic installs generated by each keyword following an

increase in keyword ranking. Source: AppTweak, Keyword Impact feature.
114 115
KPI: Keyword Retention
While installs are the most classic key performance

indicator for ASO, active users have become a de facto
KPI in the industry, as the store ranking algorithms
have become more attuned to engaged users rather
than installs that may turn out to be inactive. Retained
installs are an effective KPI to measure in the Google
Play console as a keyword-level metric to measure the
impact of an ASO strategy.
KPI: New App Store Connect Metrics Other KPIs useful to measure the While your ASO strategy may impact these KPIs in a
impact of visibility work: more indirect manner, these indicators matter more
Since the launch of iOS 15, Apple has provided than ever not only to boost an app’s business model,
developers with more granular metrics that include • In-App Purchases and Revenue but also because the store ranking algorithms account
pre-orders, redownloads and total downloads. You can for user engagement (meaning that your strategy will
analyze whether your app attracts new or recurrent • Ratings & Reviews fail if these metrics decline).
users through keyword optimization: For example, if
redownloads increase after you implement keywords • Retention Rate
related to a new feature, it is very likely that this new
feature could win back users who had previously left.
You could then increase your efforts to promote this
new feature, such as targeting related keywords in the
title and subtitle, highlighting the feature in the first
screenshots and app preview video, and so on.
116 117
Going Into the Next Cycle

The practice of putting all these strategies and tactics
into play is ongoing and iterative.
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Your initial keyword selection will be informed by
Understand the long-term, the research tactics we covered in earlier chapters;
iterative nature of ASO, and learn however, the analysis methods we just discussed
will power tailored optimization based on real
other keyword strategies and marketplace reactions.
considerations.
The iterative nature of ASO is the key to its success
for several reasons:
• Competitor changes: As other apps also change
• Searcher trends: New keywords pop up every day; their keyword selections and rise and fall in
this naturally requires you to tweak your keyword popularity, competitors leave and enter the rankings
selection to keep it relevant. Examples of this include and your own keyword performances will change.
new vocabulary (e.g., “meme”) or seasonal trends This requires adjustments, such as giving up on
and events (e.g., “pumpkin spice latte” in Autumn or keywords that become too competitive or moving in
“Olympics” every four years). on opportunities left by apps that struggle to maintain
downloads or high ratings.
• Related keywords (App Store) and autofill
changes: As keyword patterns and click patterns • Algorithm updates: Occasionally, the ranking
change, keywords move in and out of the “related algorithms on which keyword optimizations are based
keywords” field and autofill selections. These changes shift, causing changes in relevance, ranking strength,
can impact the priority of different keywords in your and even general store eligibility.
keyword list.
The best way to optimize through the change

agents highlighted above is letting the data guide
you. By knowing your metrics and KPIs and using
regular reports to check on your app’s performance
against these data points, you can identify issues
Based on “The Keyword Optimization Cycle” framework, developed by Phiture.
or opportunities and adjust your keyword mix
accordingly.
118 119
Trend-Based Approach to Analytics &

Optimization How to Detect an Algorithm Update
When it comes to analyzing and optimizing your Tips for optimizing around trends include: Ranking algorithm updates happen periodically, and Algorithm updates are not isolated events and usually
keyword rankings, it is important to not only consider when they do, they can cause massive disruptions in impact many apps simultaneously. If you see a big
snapshot data points (i.e., rankings on a single day • Analyze keyword trends over time and calculate a rankings for huge swaths of apps. The main purposes fluctuation in keyword rankings for a large group of
or today’s visibility score) but also apply a trend- trailing week, month, and 3-month average. These of algorithm updates are to: keywords, first investigate whether competitors or
based approach. In keyword optimization and ASO longer data points can help you determine trends that apps with a similar authority in your category also
in general, keywords and apps can experience regular are easy to miss when using snapshot data and identify • Create a better app discovery experience for users. observed similar fluctuations on the same day. Using
fluctuations in ranking on a very wide scale, from which keywords perform consistently well or poorly. an ASO tool can provide you with quick insights as to
fleeting changes to year-long trends. If you base a key • Rebalance the order of legitimate apps. whether keyword bumps are specific to your app or
decision on one of the more ephemeral fluctuations, • Analyze data points using an industry benchmark are more global.
you run the risk of informing your decision using bad or use a prior time period when industry data is not • Prevent spamming and other efforts to play the
data and decreasing your app performance because of available (by comparing this day/week/month/year ranking algorithms (both in the top charts and To 100% confirm an algorithm update, ASO
this. to the previous day/week/month/year). keyword results). practitioners can use ASO tools that detect algorithm
changes. It is normal for daily keyword rankings to
• Be aware of changes in keywords’ Search Popularity. change slightly, but when there are many unusual
ASO tools now show changes in Search Popularity movements, the algorithm detector will automatically
over time and can help you ensure that your top highlight these anomalies. Algorithm updates do not
keywords have not lost popularity due to changing always happen across countries; these tools will help
trends, autofill adjustments, or other reasons. For you understand in which countries your app might
example, searches for the keyword “tennis” may peak have been impacted by an algorithm update.
around big events, such as Wimbledon, but decline
between large events.
Remember that successful ASO requires you to devote

time to conversion rate optimization (discussed in
detail in Chapter 3) to yield the best fruit from KWO.
AppTweak’s free Algorithm Change Detector highlights an algorithm update on the Google Play Store on August 16, 2020.
12 0 121
Examples of Other Frequent

Keyword Strategies
App Bundle Keyword Optimization
Publishers can create app bundles to make it easier

for customers to buy up to 10 of their apps and games The order of the apps offered in a bundle determines
in one single purchase. App bundles rank in the both the icon and screenshots showcased. By default,
search results and provide another way for publishers the App Store bundle icon is a combination of the first
to optimize their apps’ visibility. four apps (however, the bundle is sometimes given a
custom icon). The bundle’s screenshots will include
When creating app bundles, publishers need to the first screenshot from each of the apps.
provide a bundle name. Apple indicates that the
bundle name plays a critical role in how users With your bundle, you are also able to add a custom
discover the bundle on the store, highlighting that the description that should provide users with the details
bundle name provides an additional opportunity for of the bundled offer and the special value buyers will
developers to target more keywords or re-iterate their receive. Bundles also have their own rating & reviews,
most important keywords. Apple further takes into yet a bundle’s star rating only shows on the bundle’s
consideration the keywords from each individual app product page. Apple also shows the price the apps
to decide for which keywords the bundle is eligible to would be if purchased individually, meaning that
rank. users can easily determine whether a bundle is a good
deal or not.
Lastly, bundles are also a way to expose users to a

developer’s total portfolio, making them a great tactic
for cross-selling not just the bundled apps but any app
in your portfolio.
Bundle of paid Adobe apps on the App Store.
12 2 123
Roadblocking Strategies
Another keyword strategy for developers who have Roadblocking is particularly frequent among
published multiple apps is called “roadblocking.” developers trying to “protect” a popular brand name
This strategy consists of having several apps target by re-using part of the app name for a new product,
the same set of keywords in attempts to “occupy” the or even by creating more apps under the same brand
top search results. The goal of this strategy is to push “umbrella” to prevent competitors from gaining too
competitors down for these keywords and block—or much visibility.
at least limit—access to the top search result positions
(hence, “roadblocking”). Roadblocking is not exclusive to branded terms and
can also be used for generic keywords; however, in
this case, succeeding in blocking competitors from
the search results is more difficult given the generally
higher level of competition.
Live Search Results for the keyword “lose weight”

on the App Store. The apps ranking in positions #3,
#4, #6, and #7 are all from the same developer that
has targeted generic keywords like “lose weight”
or “workout at home.”
124 12 5
Targeting Core/Satellite Keywords Favoring Conversion Over Keyword Traffic Using Keywords to Build a Brand
Another strategy that can be employed by developers For apps in hyper-competitive categories (e.g., hyper- A smart use of keywords on the product page can
with multiple apps in the same space is using smaller An example of this strategy was provided by Anja casual games) or apps that predominantly drive support brand-building efforts for publishers who
apps (“satellites”) to test specific keywords and Obermüller from Runtastic (now Adidas Training) installs from external traffic sources (e.g., paid UA, aim to increase awareness of their company or app’s
evaluate their success before adding them to their during the first ASO Conference in 2019. More websites), prioritizing conversion rate optimization brand.
main app’s metadata (the “core”). This strategy, recently, some examples of similar strategies include over keyword optimization in textual metadata may
which can also be leveraged for creative optimization, the Spotify Stations app which may help Spotify cover be more impactful to increase the total number of Understanding the current share of branded vs.
is especially interesting for apps that already have more keywords related to radio and music, or multiple downloads. generic impressions is important to estimate the
strong brand recognition and that are hesitant to betting apps such as DraftKings covering terms potential for brand optimization. If a large number
change their metadata. At the same time, this strategy related to both sports betting and casinos via multiple If an app gets a large share of its search impressions of downloads come from brand awareness, lean into
offers an opportunity to expand a developer’s reach apps. or store listing visitors from a few generic keywords, this. If more downloads come from generic keywords
by targeting specific long-tail keywords through the consider moving the brand name towards the and the brand share is low (<30%), more focus should
satellite apps. end of textual metadata and placing high-volume, be put on generic keyword optimization and building
high‑intent generic keywords at the beginning (e.g., brand awareness via Apple Search Ads and/or Google
“Music to Stay Focused by Brain.fm”). This may help App Campaigns (GAC), and outside the app stores
with conversion rate and trigger the aforementioned (e.g., social media, offline campaigns).
visual keyword recognition flywheel, increasing your
ranking for a select keyword.
Remember that even if an app’s metadata is optimized

with conversion in mind, it is likely that this metadata
will still include some important keywords that depict
the app’s key value propositions, for which the app will
be indexed and have a good chance of ranking high.
Finally, if your strategy focuses on conversion rate

optimization, readability should be prioritized over
keyword stuffing. Good titles look concise and organic
(e.g., “Adobe Scan: Mobile PDF Scanner”).
Live Search Results (App Store) for the keywords “Draft Kings” and “Spotify.”
Satellite apps present an opportunity to target a wider set of keywords or test different keyword/
creative strategies before adding them to the core app’s metadata.
126 127
App Naming
Remember the Developer Name Brand Attack
To succeed on the app stores, an app’s title needs For new apps with no brand awareness, this practice
to balance considerations regarding both branding is especially important. Creating app names that If the publishing company’s name differs from the app If a competitor’s name is (or contains) a generic
and keyword optimization. From our experience, incorporate keywords related to the app’s functionality name—and if both are important to rank for—there is keyword such as “Booking” or “Weather,” targeting
most apps from big brands adopt similar approaches (e.g., “editor,” “reader,” “tracker,” etc.) is an easy way to no need to duplicate the publisher’s brand name in the the keywords in your own metadata is a low-risk
when naming their apps—balancing branding and help the app rank high for its most valuable keywords. app metadata. strategy to capture a share of users searching for
keyword optimization. Some apps even place the generic keywords before these competitors. Additionally, Apple Search Ads
the actual app name; for instance, we can find the The developer name is indexed on both the App Store should be considered for brand defensive and attack
As character space is limited for app titles, publishers following app names on Google Play: and Google Play. This means that even if a brand name strategies on the App Store.
are finding creative ways to incorporate generic (e.g., “Microsoft” or “Adobe”) has not been included in
keywords into their app names to ensure they are • Meditation for Sleep and Calm | Down Dog the app’s title, the app will still rank for these branded
ranking high for the keywords that are of most value • Dating, Meet Curvy Singles. Match & Date @ keywords.
to their apps. Some examples include: Wooplus
That said, the developer name is not visible in search
• Spotify: Discover new music When picking a brand name, consider shorter results on the App Store; as such, not including it in
generic words that would leave enough title space for the app title may negatively impact conversion rates
• MasterClass: Learn New Skills keyword optimization (e.g., “Mimo: Learn Coding/ if users aren’t able to immediately recognize an app as
Programming”). Furthermore, make sure that the part of a brand’s portfolio.
• Booking.com: Hotels & Travel app title has no punctuation, grammatical, or spelling
errors. The title should include relevant keywords Removing the brand name from the title makes space
while remaining legible, so avoid keyword stuffing. for keyword optimization; however, the brand should
then be leveraged in the app icon to keep conversion
rates stable.
128 12 9
Increasing Getting featured by one of the major app stores is like
Visibility
hitting the jackpot. If Apple and/or Google promote
your app, your visibility—and (usually) downloads—
can skyrocket. With 1.5 billion devices connected to
Through the App Store and Google Play, you could be looking at
download numbers in the millions.
Getting There are several ways to get featured, from landing a

spot in the “New apps we love” section to being shown
Featured as an “editors’ choice” banner. Either way, the visibility

gained from being featured is invaluable.
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Google Play Feature Types
Understand the • Editors’ Choice: Apps/games selected by Google
various strategies Play store editors.
that can help increase • Hero Banner: An app/game showcased alone

your app’s chances of with its feature graphic.
getting featured. • New/Updated Apps/Games We Love:
A set of new/updated apps/games.
• Collections: A set of apps that follow a

common theme.
Examples of Google Play feature types.

13 0 131
App Store Feature Types

• Editorial Stories: A set of several apps/games that
follow a common theme.
• App/Game of the Day: An editorial story featuring

an app/game with a few paragraphs of text.
• Collections/The Daily List: A roundup of apps/

games curated by Apple.
Both stores provide distinctive sections for apps and On this page, you’ll find apps, games, themes, or
games in efforts to serve their users with the right developers showcased in greater detail than on the
kind of content. The App Store also has a “Today” other featured tabs. In fact, the average size of a
page next to the Apps & Games section. placement on this tab is about three times larger than
those on the “Games” or “Apps” tabs; this expanded UI
The “Today” tab deserves a bit of extra attention, as it allows developers to tell a full and engaging story with
can drive a lot of extra attention to your app/game. As space for multiple visual assets. Stories on the Today
the default tab on the App Store, it represents prime tab range from “App of the Day” and “Game of the
real estate for visibility; even users who only intend Day” to exclusive premiers, new releases, or a fresh
to search for a particular keyword or specific app will look, and are curated by a team of Apple editors.
still be exposed to the daily featurings.
Example of the Today, Games and App editorial sections of the App Store.
13 2 13 3
Getting featured as App of the Day or Game of the

Day is the ultimate goal for many developers. Having
analyzed all the apps featured as App and Game of
the Day on the App Store (2020-2021), we found the
following insights:
• Apps in the Education, Health & Fitness, and

Entertainment categories are featured as App of the
Day the most often and for longer periods.
• Apps in the Developer Tools, Navigation, and

Utilities categories are featured as App of the Day the
least and for shorter periods.
• 11 apps were featured as App of the Day for 4 days or

more.
Count of unique apps per category

featured as App of the Day on the App
Store, August 31, 2020 - August 31, 2021.
Source: AppTweak.
13 4 13 5
• Games in the Action and Adventure

categories are featured as Game of
the Day the most often and for longer
periods.
• Games in the Music, Word, and Trivia

categories are featured the least and for
shorter periods.
• 25% of all featured games were

featured as Game of the Day for 2 days
or more.
Count of unique games per category featured as

Game of the Day on the App Store, August 31,
2020 - August 31, 2021. Keep in mind that Games
can be listed in two categories on the App Store.
When a game is featured as Game of the Day, it is
counted as part of both categories.
Source: AppTweak.
13 6 13 7
Outstanding Apps or Games Strong Brand Positioning

As the stores want to provide the best user experience To paraphrase a seminal book on branding,
possible, they will only recommend the best apps and Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, your company/
games. As such, getting your app featured really starts product needs to stick to a unique and very coherent
with building a great product. statement about what it is and what it offers to people.
Apple editors will consider an app’s appeal, overall Successful brands automatically trigger visual and
quality, and user experience; apps that are innovative thematic connotations that position them as a “go-to”
and solve a unique problem have a greater chance for specific markets or needs. This clear positioning
of getting featured. For games, Apple editors also is critical to separate your product from the fold and
consider the gameplay, graphics, performance, and is ultimately what will help it to stick in the minds of
narrative/story. Furthermore, Apple likes apps and Apple’s editors.
games that regularly submit new updates and are
quick to adopt new iOS features. For example, apps
that support dark mode or widgets might have a higher
chance of getting featured.
Storytelling
Google Play representatives will only consider games
Considerations to Get Featured that comply with all policy practices and that meet The App Store Today tab feels more like a news site
core quality guidelines. Google Play values apps than an e-commerce platform, and that’s how you
and games that provide a smooth and intuitive user should treat it. On Google Play, you also need to be
experience, with healthy Android vitals. Apps and able to package and pitch your content to editors in an
The Human Factor The Algorithmic Factor games should be supported on all different Android attractive, relevant, and engaging way; this could look
devices and address issues like battery consumption like offering behind-the-scenes coverage or “how to
Both stores invest heavily to optimize user experience. Many featurings on Google Play are pre-generated and data costs. play” guidelines.
They want to make it easier for users to find what they by algorithms that try to determine common factors
are looking for and discover new apps and games. between apps to then match them with users’ As both stores only consider high-quality apps and Basically, trying to get featured requires you to go back
Both stores have editorial teams that create stories interests. While many signals considered by these games, they will also consider an app’s ratings and to the roots of PR. You may even want your (in-house
and collections that feature great developers from algorithms will be outside of your immediate control, reviews. AppTweak (2021) found that apps and games or agency) PR professionals help you understand the
all around the world. For this reason, we recommend optimizing certain metadata elements, such as your featured in the Today tab on the App Store have a most compelling parts of your product. Remember—
that you actively pursue platform representatives to app’s category and Google tags (and possibly specific median rating of 4.5 or higher. So, for your app to get the store editors are just as busy as anyone else; the
increase your chances of being featured, whether you keywords), can help you get featured in certain featured, you also need to prioritize a solid rating and more work you can do for them, the easier you make it
are launching a new product or updating an existing collections on Google Play. review strategy. for them to feature your app.
one.
13 8 13 9
Nurturing Relationships Submission Tips

Nowadays, it is vital to have a good relationship Before you submit your story to Apple or reach out • Optimize your store listing page, including the title,
with your store account representatives. The simple to Google Play, it is very important to be prepared so subtitle, short description, icon, and screenshots.
advice here is to treat representatives as your most you can maximize this opportunity. It is critical to You only have a second to impress store visitors and
valuable business partners and always be respectful know that even if your app has been featured before convert them into downloads. Keep things simple but
and helpful: Offer them the opportunity to test your (once or multiple times), you can still proactively inspiring.
product in advance, collect feedback (listen, don’t contact your representatives to seek further featuring
defend), suggest exclusive content, and ask for their opportunities. Here are a few tips when submitting • Make sure to include landscape screenshots on your
recommendations on the best use of new Apple or your app to be featured: Google Play listing. Google will use these screenshots
Google technology. Take what they say to heart, even to showcase games in different placements throughout
if it’s critical, and try to implement their suggestions. the store.
After all, they are experts—their advice is valuable.
• Localize your app and game for your target markets.
Apple and Google will only consider properly localized
apps and games for featurings.
• Tell Apple/Google a great story about your app,

highlighting the solution that your app brings to the
table alongside its features, key performance metrics,
and user engagement/retention.
• If you receive a featuring invite from Apple, before

you submit your app, prepare awesome visuals for
editorials as Apple often showcases the UI and in-app
content within these editorials. Consider creating an
asset library of your UI and visual assets to minimize
your efforts for the future.
14 0 141
How to Pitch Your

Product to the Stores
Pitching your product to the App Store and Google
Play can play a big part in getting featured. So, let’s
talk about how to construct and fine‑tune your
presentation for optimal results.
The Anatomy of Your Presentation The Anatomy of Your Pitch

Pro Tip
Use longer retention periods (three months to a year
Prepare a maximum of 3-4 slides and be sure to Your pitch should cover several important topics to or longer) if it’s possible for your business.
illustrate the problem your app solves, how your demonstrate your product’s value:
product solves this problem, and the audience that • Marketing plans could include influencer marketing
will benefit from it. • KPIs on your app’s success and how these KPIs are or other social media campaigns and global media
relevant to your business. For example, where Uber outreach. Be sure to highlight any opportunities you
Remember—design matters! Create a template that might use “number of rides” as a KPI, YouTube might see for featurings either with the App Store or
can be efficiently updated as new updates come use “watch time.” Google Play.
in. Make sure to use an Android phone bezel when
presenting to Google, and an iPhone bezel when • A usage report on engagement and retention.
presenting to Apple. Of course, you should always
use app screenshots that feature the correct platform
(App Store/Google Play).
14 2 14 3
Impact of Being Featured
The first page that App Store visitors see upon opening Many featured apps or games can be downloaded
the store is the Today tab; on Google Play, store directly from the Today tab on the App Store or from The graphs below outline the impact of an example
visitors are first taken to the Games or Apps “For you” both stores’ respective Games/Apps tabs without app’s featurings on downloads and category rankings.
section. Considering this, it is clear that featurings are redirecting to the app page; as a result, featurings help The app’s featuring history is highlighted as follows:
a very strong discoverability tool—even more so than shorten and facilitate users’ journey to your product.
category rankings. Thanks to this, you can generally expect your Browse • September 1st: App was featured in the list “Apps • October 9th: App was featured as “App of the Day”
impressions or Explore Store Listing Visitors to for Kids” in the Today Tab. in the Today Tab.
In principle, being among the apps or games featured increase after being featured. Ideally, this increase in
on the app stores can increase your app’s visibility and impressions would also cause your downloads to spike • September 6th: App was featured as “App of the • October 17th: App was featured in the list “Apps
help your brand awareness efforts. Getting featured and could then drive a (temporary) increase in your Day” in the Today Tab. for Kids” in the Today Tab.
gives your app value on the stores and in the eyes category rankings. This heightened visibility may also
of users by testifying to your app’s trustworthiness lead to an influx in reviews and ratings which, due • October 2nd: App was featured in the list “Apps • October 18th: App was featured in the list “Apps
and quality. On Google Play, getting an “Editor’s to their weight in the store algorithms, could further for Kids” in the Today Tab. for Kids” in the Today Tab.
Choice” badge on your store listing can be a powerful increase your app’s visibility. Regarding boosts in
conversion incentive and beneficial to your app keyword visibility after being featured, we have not • October 8th: App was featured in the list “Apps for
growth. Featurings are also a great way to re-engage yet observed a significant effect (with the exception of Kids” in the Today Tab.
customers. keywords like “best” or “top”).
Estimated impact on downloads for featurings in several Estimated impact on category ranking for featurings in several
placements on the Today Tab. Source: AppTweak. placements on the Today Tab. Source: AppTweak.
14 4 14 5
Headspace Case Study:

Learnings & Impact
Factors That May Influence
the Impact of Being Featured To understand the true impact of being featured, let’s
look at Headspace, an app that has been featured on
the App Store multiple times.
The real impact of being featured strongly depends 1. No negative effect on Browse conversion rate 3. Daily list was not so impactful
on the type of editorial collection: Apps and games
featured as App/Game of the Day can expect greater When Apple featured Headspace in its editorials, the You might expect the impact of being featured in
results compared to those featured as part of a list. For app experienced a significant surge in traffic. However, “The Daily List” to be similar to the impact of featuring
example, if featured apps are shown one by one with this did not decrease the “Browse conversion rate” as in an app collection. However, despite ranking in the
some editorial text splitting the users’ attention, some feared. In fact, Headspace’s “Browse conversion first position, Headspace only saw a 70% increase in
the copy and UI will play important roles in conversion. rate” increased by 125% during the featuring. app units via Browse, which isn’t a significant uplift.
However, when the featured apps are shown as part of
a list, the icon, title, subtitle, and order/placement are 2. High impact of “relevance” on app unit growth 4. The higher your app is featured in an app
important conversion drivers. collection, the better
Headspace found that when the editorial featuring
Left: Featured apps displayed individually in a story. spoke more directly to the app’s key value propositions, Even though apps featured in a collection are
Right: Featured apps displayed within a list. the app units grew at a faster rate. For example, when competing for visitors’ attention, it is still an effective
Headspace appeared in editorials about stress relief means of driving traffic and downloads. In fact, it seems
or relaxation like “A more relaxing way to run,” its to work just as well as general editorialfeaturings.
app units multiplied by 2 to 3.5 times. However, when Despite this, Headspace’s results were heavily tied to
Headspace appeared in more general editorials like its placement in the collection. When Headspace held
Other factors that influence the effectiveness of a Apple editors are particularly interested in “Bike better with Apple watch,” its app units only the 2nd place spot in a collection, its expected app
featuring include the content and text length of an showcasing promising new apps or games on the increased by 15-50%. unit increase was between 180-220%. However, when
editorial, or the number of other apps that appear in Today tab; the Play Store’s Indie corner highlights the Headspace ranked in the 4th position, the expected
the editorial. These factors will influence whether best games from indie developers. Therefore, being app unit increase dropped to 35% and down to just
store visitors scroll down and see an app: generally, featured can also help drive visibility and downloads 8% when the app ranked 5th. Today, the challenge of
the lower the position, the lower the visibility. to apps from smaller studios or during their launch ranking high in a collection is even more significant,
Featurings are also rendered more effective when the phase. Many featurings also highlight important as cover images are no longer used to illustrate the
app is relevant to the editorial’s context. For example, updates and limited-time events, thus helping your collection’s content—instead, the first two apps are
the meditation app Headspace can expect to gain retention efforts and allowing you to re-engage some shown immediately.
more after being featured in a “rest and relaxation” of your less active users.
collection compared to less relevant topics. Source: Phiture’s Headspace case study.
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Measuring the Impact of

Being Featured
Featurings can have a significant impact on app traffic

and downloads. You can try to manually estimate the
impact of featurings on impressions and downloads
using the following method:
1. Define a baseline period of 14 days before the day of

the featuring.
2. Calculate the average daily app downloads via

Browse for the baseline period.
3. Define an influence period (i.e., the timeframe of the

featuring). This can range from 1 day to multiple days.
4. Calculate the average daily app downloads via

Browse for the influence period.
To prevent fluctuations in your app’s category
5. Subtract the average daily downloads for the rankings and downloads after being featured, develop
baseline period from the average daily downloads a long-term, sustainable ASO strategy around this.
for the influence period. The outcome is the amount You should keep in mind that featurings may provide
of additional app downloads you can attribute to the a strong boost in visibility and downloads, but this
featuring. will be most significant during/immediately after
the period of the featuring. This means that as soon
ASO tools can also help you more easily measure the as the featuring ends, your visibility and downloads
impact of your app’s featurings over time and compare may naturally drop. Therefore, ASO is the main way to
it with your competitors. build a long-term growth strategy.
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Increasing
Browse
Besides increasing your visibility through keyword Apple and Google calculate their top chart rankings Note that velocity means that downloads or revenue
optimization or being featured on the store, you can based on the velocity of either downloads (top free/ acquired more recently impact the app’s ranking more
also try to increase your visibility through other paid) or revenue (top grossing is only applicable to heavily.
Visibility Browse methods like being placed on the top charts

and/or similar apps. We will now discuss how you can
Google). Google Play includes additional factors in
their top chart rankings, including user engagement Top charts are volatile. New apps and games are
Outside of
potentially influence these placements through burst and game-specific signals such as star rating. launched at a rapid speed and can shake the top charts
campaigns or category switching. We will then discuss up considerably. Of the top 100 most popular apps on
other discovery methods, such as related or similar Top Free Chart: Measures the velocity of downloads. the App Store (2020-2021), we found that only 40% of
Featurings apps.
Top Paid Chart: Measures the velocity of downloads
for paid apps.
apps ranked in the top 100 for one whole year. The top
charts on Google Play are even more volatile; less than
25% of apps ranked in the top 100 for an entire year.
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Learn how to drive

optimum traffic from
top chart visibility and Top Chart Rankings
other discoverability
Both the App Store and Google Play display app
means. top charts, wherein the top-performing apps are
ranked along several dimensions, including category,
country, and monetization. Yet, the way in which each
store displays rankings and group categories differs
significantly.
Average number of days spent in the top 100 of the “All” Category on the US App Store
and Google Play, August 31, 2020 – August 31, 2021. Source: AppTweak.
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Choosing a Category for

Your App or Game
The goal of many app marketers is to rank higher in Nevertheless, your app category tells the store about Keep the following tips in mind when choosing your • Look at similar apps: Research how similar apps
the top charts. However—at least on the App Store— the nature of your app and provides the algorithm with app category: are categorized. Do you want to be listed in the same
ranking high in your app or game’s category will more information regarding when and where to index category as these apps or not? If you would like your
not provide that much extra visibility, and ranking your app in search and Browse results. Therefore, it is • Your app’s purpose: Your primary category should app to be shown alongside competitors’ apps in
optimization might not be the best way to increase recommended to select your category carefully. best describe the app’s main function or subject suggestion collections, it is recommended to choose
Browse visibility on the App Store. matter. the same category as your competitors.
You can choose two categories (primary and
To find the top charts on the App Store, a user must secondary) on the App Store; on Google Play, you can • User intent: Understanding your audience will help • Competitiveness and volatility of each category:
scroll all the way to the bottom of the Apps or Games only list your app in one category. On both stores, you identify the category in which they will likely look How many daily downloads do the top ranked apps
tab, choose their category of interest, and then scroll games can select a subcategory (or two on the App for your app. Will they consider your product as more receive? Could you match that number one day? How
all the way to the bottom again to see the ranking. On Store) associated with the specific type of gameplay. of a “social networking” app or rather a “photography” stable are the apps at the top? Are new apps or games
Google Play, top charts are a bit more visible via the app? able to break through and outrank those at the top?
navigation at the top of the screen.
• Category keyword(s): Is the category keyword a
priority in your keyword list? If so, you should consider
listing your app or game in that category to maximize
ranking opportunities.
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Developers can select up to 5 tags on the store console; Google also seems to automatically assign relevant
Google recommends choosing tags that are “most tags to certain apps and games. Interestingly enough,
obviously relevant to the app” and that “describe the we found that some of these tags don’t even appear in
content and functionality of the app.” In the same way, the list of tags that developers can choose from on the
some developers have suggested it may be preferable Google Console.
for apps to use only two or three tag slots rather than
all five, as tags represent specific signals for Google’s After analyzing the top 100 most popular games on the
algorithms. As such, they serve to deepen Google’s Play Store, we found that the most displayed tags were:
understanding of an app’s functionalities and themes “Single Player,” “Casual,” “Offline,” and “Stylized.”
rather than broaden its scope or visibility.
Google Tags
Besides choosing a category for their app or game,

developers can also choose to add tags on Google
Play; these tags serve to improve app discoverability.
In short, Google uses tags to cluster apps by topic or
functionality. Google then uses this information to
showcase more relevant apps in sections like “similar
apps” or certain collections on the home page. Google
has also indicated that tags can impact the peer groups
with which developers compare their apps.
Google tags also show in search results—next to the

app’s developer name and alongside the number of
downloads and ratings. Therefore, ASO practitioners
should also consider how Google tags can impact
conversion. In this example, we see the way in which
tags help the game Block Words Search stand out,
easily highlighting that users can play the game offline.
Google Play Search Results for the keyword Most used Google Play tags in the Games (All) category in the US, August 31, 2021.
“word games.” Most games use the tag “word,” Source: AppTweak.
but Block Words Search has also added the tags
“word,” “casual,” and “offline.”
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Category Switching
To generate more visibility from Browse/Explore
traffic, you might want to attempt a category switch at
some point. The question then becomes whether your
app would make sense in a different category and if
it can generate the downloads needed to rank higher
than it does currently.
As such, the category switch should fulfil two criteria:

ASO tools can help you understand how many daily
• Relevance: It’s important to ensure your app is in downloads an app needs to rank in the top 10 of a
a category that represents its features and benefits. category.
Note that category changes apply to all locations, so a
• Downloads: Do you have the downloads needed switch to achieve higher ranks in one locale will also
Burst Campaigns to rank in the new category’s top 10? need to make sense in other important locales.
Burst campaigns are a means of user acquisition that As the name would suggest, “burst” campaigns are
take advantage of a quick surge in cheap downloads to only designed to improve an app’s top chart ranking
rise in top chart rankings, with the goal of using this for a very short period of time; as a result, download
increased visibility to drive quality organic downloads. retention is less important. For this reason, burst
campaigns typically play on incentivized downloads
The burst campaign essentially manipulates the top (i.e., users who earn credits for another app in exchange
chart algorithms which heavily weigh downloads and for downloading your app). These downloads cost
download velocity. Because of this, Apple and Google very little and are, therefore, easily accessible for
frown on these campaigns and they are considered advertisers.
a black—or at least gray—hat tactic.
However, Google explicitly forbids incentivized
installs, saying: “Developers must not attempt to
manipulate the placement of any apps in Google Play.
This includes, but is not limited to, inflating product
ratings, reviews, or install counts by illegitimate
means, such as fraudulent or incentivized installs,
reviews & ratings.”
Estimation of how many downloads a game needs to rank in the top

10, 50, or 100 in the United States, United Kingdom and France.
Source: AppTweak.
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Similar Apps
At the bottom of most app listings, you On the App Store, the “You Might Also
will find a section called “You Might Like” apps are rather hidden (situated
Also Like” (App Store) or “Similar at the bottom of the App Store listing)
Apps” (Google Play). These are a series making their impact on visibility rather
of apps suggested by the app stores; low. On Google Play, the “Similar Apps”
they are often closely related apps that collections appear at the bottom of the
might appeal to users browsing through app page and sometimes directly in the
a particular app listing. search results. However, it is very difficult
to influence your appearance in these
While there is not much information collections and to know for which keyword
available as to how Apple and Google searches a collection featuring your app
curate their “similar apps” collections, will appear.
they probably account for keywords,
user data, and tags (Google Play). For
the App Store, we have seen that Apple
often uses “similar apps” collections to
provide lesser-known apps with more
visibility.
Example of Apple’s “You Might Also Like” suggestions at the bottom

of Headspace’s app listing. Right: Example of Google’s “Similar Apps”
suggestions for Disney+.
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CHAPTER 03
Increasing
Conversion
CHAPTER 03 INCREASING CONVERSION
Increasing Conversion
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Understand the available methods

to convert visibility into actual
downloads.
Keywords and features are arguably the more attractive verticals

of the ASO Stack, yet these activities are ultimately meaningless if
they fail to convert.
Without a stable or improving conversion rate, top-line impression

gains earned through increased visibility will not necessarily yield
long-term opportunities for success, given that Apple and Google’s
algorithms both consider conversion rate in keyword rankings.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)—increasing conversions—is

any activity that “converts” impressions or store listing visitors into
downloads.
16 4 16 5
To begin, let’s familiarize ourselves with the product Description

assets you will have to manage on the App Store and
Google Play to implement CRO tactics.
Title, Developer Name & Subtitle (Subtitle—App Store Only)
Google Play icon/title/developer name (left), App Store icon/title/subtitle (right).
Short Description (Google Play Only)
Google Play short description below “About this app,” linking to the long
description.
Google Play description (left), App Store description (right).
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Screenshots Feature Graphic Custom Background

(Google Play Only) (App Store Only)
Google Play screenshots (left), App Store screenshots (right). Google Play feature graphic as the video thumbnail. App Store custom background.
16 8 169
App Video What’s New In-App Purchase

(App Store Only)
Google Play video (left), App Store video (right). App Store What’s New (top). Google Play What’s New (bottom). List of available in-app purchases.
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Main Considerations
for Conversion Rate
Optimization
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Understand store conversion rates,

objective benchmarks against which you
can compare your own app’s performance
and set the right targets to aim for. Understanding Which KPI to Use
The first element to consider is that conversion rate measurements

are not identical between the App Store and Google Play:
App Store
On the App Store, users can download apps directly
from App Store search results and other navigation
screens without necessarily having to access the app’s
product page. As a result, you should consider three
different conversion rates to measure your app product
page’s performance on the App Store.
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Google Play
On the other hand, the Google Play Console does not
include a breakdown of impressions vs. pageviews, but
instead provides a single “Store Listing Conversion
Click-Through Rate
Rate” defined as: “The percentage of store listing
Page Views (unique) / Impressions (unique) visitors who installed your app. Does not include
visits or installs from users who already have your
If your goal is to maximize the traffic going to your app installed on another device” and calculated as the
product page, this ratio will help you measure the ratio between Store Listing Acquisitions and Store
share of store users that tap on your app after seeing Listing Visitors.
it appear anywhere on the store. Keep in mind that
this ratio does not measure the actual number of These measurement differences lead to large gaps
downloads, but only the behaviors between one App between an app’s conversion rate on the App Store
Store screen and another. Conversion Rate (Install Rate) and the same app’s conversion rate on Google Play.
First-Time Downloads / Impressions (unique) In other words, conversion rates on the App Store
measure the percentage of users that download the
This ratio is the one most commonly referred to when app having seen it anywhere on the App Store. On
App Page Conversion Rate speaking of “conversion rate” on the App Store, as it Google Play, conversion rates show how efficient the
First-Time Downloads / Page Views (unique) measures any downloads coming from new users app’s assets are in convincing users to download the
compared to the number of times your app was seen app, as the user has already shown interest in the app
This second ratio represents the number of new app in the store (in the case a user would see the app in by clicking on the icon or app name. Given the fact
downloads that should have originated from your search results and then open the product page, only that users have already shown interest in the app
product page. Keep in mind that selecting “first- one impression will be counted for that user as long before we calculate the conversion rate, conversion
time downloads” rather than “installs” in App Store as you select “impressions (unique devices)” instead rates for Google Play often looking much higher than
Connect will help you exclude re-installs from users of “impressions” in App Store Connect). You may also for the App Store.
who had already downloaded your app. Furthermore, see this ratio referred to as the “install rate.”
consider using this ratio to measure the conversion
of referral and paid advertising campaigns that lead
directly to your app’s product page. However, be
careful when using it for Search, Browse, or blended Search Conversion Rate
traffic: Since App Store users are able to download First-Time Downloads / Impressions (unique)
apps straight from search results without having to filtered by Source Type = Search
ever open the app’s product page (this is also true for
most other Browse sections of the App Store), this In our view, this is the most important conversion rate
ratio can be greater than 100% if the majority of your to optimize for, as it’s the one influenced the least by
installs originate directly from the search results, for other factors, such as a change in paid UA strategy or a
instance. sudden impression spike due to a featuring.
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Conversion Benchmarks Per Category

Google Play’s conversion rate benchmarks.
Before setting your goals based on conversion rate While Apple does not provide conversion rate For example, AppTweak leverages a large amount of
benchmarks, you should understand that there benchmarks for iOS apps, Google provides this data App Store Connect data to provide aggregated and
is no uniquely “good” conversion rate; a “good” directly in the Google Play Console, filtered specifically anonymized conversion rates per category on the App
conversion rate varies depending on many factors, for the other apps registered in a certain category and Store. On the following pages, you will find the average
including your app’s category, the country in which country. conversion rates, install rates, and click-through rates
you want to optimize conversion, and even your app’s per app category.
monetization model. Concerning App Store conversion rate benchmarks,
App Store Optimization tools such as AppTweak
and AppFollow can help understand appropriate
benchmarks per app category.
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178 17 9
Average App Page Conversion Rate (App Store, US) Average App Page Click-Through Rate by Category (App Store, US)
AppTweak provides average conversion rates per category (App Store, August 31, 2020 – August, 31, 2021, all apps).
Average App Page Install Rate by Category (App Store, US)
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The data from AppTweak

illuminates a few interesting points:
Several categories, such as Food & Drink or Travel, Looking specifically at the differences between
have higher than average impression-to-download impression-to-pageview rates (click-through rates)
rates (install rates); at the same time, these categories and pageview-to-download rates (conversion rates),
are far below average concerning pageview-to- we also see that apps in certain categories such as
download rates (conversion rates), indicating a higher Magazines & Newspapers or Games - Music have
percentage of downloads from search and Browse a hard time leading users to their product page but
results. convert those who do very efficiently. On the other
hand, apps in categories such as Games - Casino or
While no category has an install rate greater than its Food & Drink do a good job of encouraging users to
click-through rate, the large differences between the find out more about their products but struggle to
former and latter show how app users in certain convert this interest into downloads. This means
categories tend to act more decisively from that depending on your app’s category, you will have
a search impression, whereas users in other to consider which metadata elements are most
categories tend to dig deeper into the product important to focus your CRO efforts on.
page to learn more before making a decision.
For categories with above-average install rates and These observations then raise the question of whether
below-average click-through rates (like Productivity users who arrive on the product page from search
or Social Networking), this means that product page results do so just to confirm their first interest,
elements appearing in the search results (icon, title, or whether these users are looking for specific
subtitle, price, ratings, first 3 screenshots, or app information to help make the decision to download the
preview) are even more important, as users tend to app or not.
download these apps without visiting the full product
page.
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Optimizing Efforts: Which Store • In their “ASO Benchmark and Trends

2020” report, SplitMetrics found
Listing Elements to Optimize that optimizing the App Store icon
First? can lead to an average CVR uplift of
22.8%, while optimizing screenshots
When selecting the app assets to optimize for can generate an average uplift of
conversion, the “big three” visual elements generally 21.7%, and video optimization
have the most impact (although the results of recent drives an average uplift of 16.6%.
studies may conflict with this). On Google Play, screenshots typically
have a greater impact than icons—on
average, optimizing screenshots leads
to 24.3% CVR uplift compared to
20.2% for the app icon. Furthermore,
optimizing videos on Google Play has a
slightly higher impact than on the App
Store, with an average CVR uplift of
17.4%.
• According to Storemaven’s “Complete

App Store Optimization (ASO) Guide
(2021),” the app video has the biggest
potential impact, with optimization
driving 40% uplift on the App Store
and 24% on Google Play, whereas This final conclusion remains in line with most industry
screenshot work delivers CVR uplifts best practices; however, given that A/B tests do not measure
of 28% and 13% respectively, and icons overall gains in traffic, the question arises around the true
18% and 11% respectively. impact of textual optimization on downloads. With past
studies (such as Storemaven’s) finding that only 2% of users
• Both A/B testing services share the on the App Store and 5% users on Google Play read an app’s
rule of thumb that optimizing the app full description, we have observed an increasing polarization
title and other text metadata tends to of ASO strategies focusing their CRO efforts on creative
impact conversion optimization less optimization, whereas metadata optimization aims to increase
(optimizing the app name drives an traffic. Nevertheless, the variance of studies and results
average CVR uplift of 8% according to underlines an important principle in CRO—no element should
Storemaven, and 14.4% (App Store) be disregarded or ignored. While prioritization is important, a
or 14.5% (Google Play) according to proper CRO strategy should ultimately touch all aspects of an app
SplitMetrics). listing.
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Phiture’s CRO Loop

framework
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
CRO can feel like a mystical process—what is the secret

ingredient to transform page views into downloads?
Discover how the CRO Loop framework will help
structure your CRO activities to bring some method to
the “magic”—two parts science, one part art.
Let’s break it down into six steps:
STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
Conduct Research Hypothesize Prioritize
STEP 5 STEP 6
STEP 4
Create Assets Test Assets Measure & Report
We’re going to unpack each step in the subsequent chapter; whether

you’re an ASO newbie or expert, you’ll find helpful information to
start or revamp your CRO work.
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Step 1
Conducting Research Looking Inward

Looking inward is to focus on your app and the
people who are going to be using it. It’s crucial to
really understand your app’s offering, how it’s going
to provide value to your users, and how that value
proposition should be communicated.
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Value Proposition
Familiarize yourself with the many sources of
knowledge that will help you be well-equipped To start any considerations in this area, you should Always consider your ideal group of customers that
for effective conversion optimization work. be aware of two principles that are fundamental to would land on your store listing. Communicate the
develop or analyze your value proposition: benefits users receive by using the app and how these
benefits will help them solve their problems or make
1. Your app’s features are not the same as your value their lives easier. If you are in a highly competitive
proposition. vertical, you can also think of the things that make
your app unique and better than / different from its
2. Your value proposition is the foundation of any close competitors (especially if your brand awareness
further optimizations; if you haven’t done so yet, is lower).
you should really invest the time to craft a good
value proposition for your business, as this will
benefit many aspects of your work—not just ASO. To conclude, a good value proposition...
It’s always good to evaluate whether it would be better • Takes less than five seconds to read and
for your messaging to focus on your app’s features or understand.
Proper research involves studying your competitors, Looking Inward its value proposition. A feature is a “functionality” • Aligns with your target audience’s preferences.
learning about your target market, and analyzing Scrutinize your app, it’s users, and its that your app provides, such as a calorie counter or • Communicates the benefits your app offers.
your app’s characteristics, all to determine the store presence. document scanner. A value proposition, however, is • Stands out from competition by showcasing a
most important information/value propositions to the benefit that your app offers to its users, like unique value.
communicate on your app listing. Looking Outward facilitating diet tracking or keeping documents
Leverage ASO best practices and organized. While communicating a feature might
Research can take multiple forms. To better market/competitor research. require fewer words, you might make a more
understand the available methods, we generally compelling case for your app if you decide to highlight
divide them into three categories: Looking Skyward its value proposition. In the case of the latter,
Understand external factors, like the remember to make it as clear and easy to understand
COVID-19 pandemic, in your plans. as possible; short and succinct works best.
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• Which features do your users care about? You can check how
much time they spend on a particular feature or which features
are used most frequently. Focus on concisely communicating
about these key factors in the user’s decision-making process.
• Which features do your users not care about? Increase the

effectiveness of your app listing by skipping these features, or
placing them below more important features.
• What needs/wants do your users have? Communicate how

your app addresses these uncertainties, desires, or other
consideration points.
• How would your users speak about these features? What

vocabulary do they use? What education level do they have?
Speak to them in the terms that will resonate the best.
Screenshots with well-designed value propositions (Shazam, Headspace, Spotify).
Feature Usage Review Research
Your research data should include which of your app’s Remember that user preferences may differ from Reviews and their value are quite often underestimated, despite
features are used more than others, and you should country to country, so you should always try to closely them being a great opportunity to understand your value proposition
optimize your store assets accordingly. Highlighting examine the data to get the most reliable results. and your users’ needs, and get first-hand feedback on what works
your most popular feature in your first or second While analyzing your customers’ feature preferences, and what needs to be improved. Be sure to take a moment to read
screenshot will impact conversion more than tucking these questions might help you find the most valuable (not skim) a good handful of the top user reviews. Take notes on
the feature away in the long description. Your store insights: them, identify any other frequently mentioned comments, and think
assets are also a good way to test new features; let’s about how to integrate these into your messaging. There are also
say you start to showcase a brand-new feature in your plenty of ASO tools that aggregate reviews by custom topics, identify
assets and then see your conversion rate increase. existing trends, and break down these topics into groups divided
This is a great indication you are onto something good by sentiment (such work can also be conducted in the Google Play
(assuming you’re running a “clean test”—more on this Developer Console). If you have thousands of reviews but no time
later). to manually go through all of them, these tools might become quite
handy to save time in your analysis.
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However, you can usually conduct review research

manually by creating a breakdown of the most
common reviews grouped by sentiment or main topic. Popular Content
Create an Excel sheet that will allow you to store,
group, and highlight the most valuable opinions. By “content,” we don’t Let’s say you have a music streaming app that is
This will help you fully leverage these one-of-a-kind only mean music, pictures, available in multiple countries. You should regularly
insights taken straight from your consumers’ minds. or video. look at analytical data to understand what most people
listen to in each of your locales. Perhaps heavy metal
is consumed far more than pop in one locale; it would
be smart to reflect this content preference in your
store listing. By “content,” we don’t only mean the
music, pictures, or video that you host on your app—
you may be able to promote other popular content
related to your app’s features, such as the search
functionality. For example, a flight scanning app may
showcase a holiday background in its screenshots:
If this background is of the African savanna despite
most users actually searching for flights to Thailand,
you may be missing a trick.
User Testing Brand Alignment
For ASO purposes, a common method of user testing Do your screenshots in the app store reflect what
involves asking users to search using a term for which you’re putting into your ads? A store listing that looks
the app in question ranks in the top 5 search results and feels like an extension of the ads that lead there is
(be careful not to communicate for which app you going to build trust. Conversely, iIf there’s a complete
are researching in order to eliminate as much bias misalignment between the two, you will see that your
as possible). Then, ask the participants for their conversion rate will decrease. This is called marketing
thoughts on the first 5 results: What do they think alignment, and as an ASO practitioner you will need to
are the apps functions? What do they like or dislike check in regularly with your performance marketing
about the listings? What stands out in certain apps team to create this alignment in the user journey.
compared to others? The most valuable results will Brand alignment talks about how well your store
come from user testing conducted in person, but a listing encompasses your company’s values, beliefs,
cheaper and simpler option is to do this online with mission, vision and the brand itself. It is not only about
one of the many available user research / survey tools. the designs you create, but also about making sure your
User reviews for Netflix.
app, its store listing, and your customer interactions
uphold the brand’s promise by communicating one
consistent and ongoing story.
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The PET-ASO model consists of three main layers; each one

aggregates different principles to utilize when designing your
creatives or copy:
The PET-ASO Model
Persuasion Emotion Trust
The PET-ASO model is Phiture’s variation of the thoughtful design is not enough. To encourage store
“Persuasion - Emotion - Trust Design” model by listing visitors to install your app, you need to influence
Human Factors International, a well-known and their motivation and trigger the desired “install”
freely available resource that provides a glossary of action through appropriate persuasion techniques.
persuasion principles that can help drive conversion,
Persuasion
whether for e-commerce purchases, new store listing Hence, Phiture designed the PET-ASO model to help
letter signups, or app installs. creative teams working on store listing optimization Persuasion—the first layer of the model—is based on well-known and established
come up with ideas and concepts for experiments that principles described for the first time by Robert Cialdini in his book “Influence:
While user-centered designs traditionally focus aim to influence visitors’ motivation, and leverage The Psychology of Persuasion” (1984). Since then, this book has been widely
on usability, in many cases—and especially on the proven and tested persuasion techniques without considered as a staple for marketers interested in persuasion techniques, and later
app stores—creating a clear, well-organized, and guesswork. on, something everyone interested in conversion optimization should know and
read.
This layer consists of 6 principles:
Authority Social Proof

Use a figure of authority to drive trust. Raise trust by showing positive
Credible testimonies are more likely feedback from actual users, typically
to persuade visitors to install your app. in the form of customer reviews and
Authority is not only about using an testimonials, the number of users, or
image of someone famous—it can also the number of app experts.
be a trusted, industry-recognizable
organization or a featuring badge. Reward
Offer rewards for downloading the app
Framing (extrinsic motivation). Be careful: This
By placing the app in a specific context technique is limited by the fact that
that is positively perceived by visitors, (a), people won’t be persuaded if they
we can control the impression the app see a better reward elsewhere and (b),
gives out, as perception is influenced by it can destroy people’s more enduring
the information we receive. intrinsic motivation.
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Limited Duration/Scarcity
By indicating that subscriptions are
limited in duration, these subscriptions
will be desired more, and increase
conversion. Be careful not to create fake
scarcity (e.g., saying there are limited
premium accounts available when this
is not true), as your users will pick up on
this. Emotion
Trigger Emotions are thought to be one of the main factors that influence our decisions,
Users will feel more motivated when deriving from the so-called “Old Brain,” which is said to be more important in the
guided with small steps demostrating decision-making process than rational thinking. The “emotion” layer consists of
what progress looks like. the following principles:
Be careful not to overuse the above Users will feel more Aesthetic Behavioral Processing
principles when working on and motivated if small steps First impressions are very important Objects or products are better when
leveraging persuasion, as your store help to guide them. in encouraging the visitor to install the they support human tasks and
listing may start to look untrustworthy app. A polished and thoughtful design behaviors as intended (e.g., “book in
or even lose its credibility. will make a good first impression and just 3 clicks,” “meditate for just a few
motivate users to give it a try. minutes a day”).
Delight Goal Setting

Add friendly, humorous, or personable Guide users to set clear goals and
text and images; people will react well address their ability to achieve these
to unexpected and playful elements. goals, while providing compelling
indicators and regular encouragement.
Knowledge of Results
It is easier to motivate users when they Optimal Challenge
have feasible, specific goals. Provide users with small, achievable
challenges that they can solve with
Simplicity the app to appease the natural human
By emphasizing the simplicity of desire to accomplish assigned tasks.
actions as well as providing easy-to-
understand messages, we can prompt Fresh Start
more visitors to install the app. We By highlighting opportunities for
have seen that simple designs can new beginnings on store assets, you
really stand out in an environment in can motivate visitors to initiate goal-
which busy graphics and clutter are oriented aspirational behaviors and
commonplace. install the app.
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Here is the most important tip on using this model and It’s a good idea to stick to Phiture’s CRO Loop and
leveraging it in your daily ASO work: The model is not always test the hypotheses and concepts you create
about blindly copying all components and trying to fit beforehand (e.g., through Google Play experiments or
each one in your app’s creatives or text; this would be Apple’s product page optimization). You should also
less effective in increasing conversion. measure the performance of your hypotheses after
they have been implemented (i.e., through a sequential
Trust Instead, you should analyze your app’s sector, check on analysis), no matter how strongly your confidence is
competitors’ store listings and see which techniques that they will increase your conversion rate.
Trust is an extremely important factor that can ruin your conversion rates and they leverage, identify your app’s strengths and
effectively hold store listing visitors back from downloading the app, if neglected. weaknesses, understand its value proposition and
unique selling points, and eventually decide which
Depending on the sector and category your app belongs to, make sure to cover model components to focus on and design experiments
the most significant FUDs (fears, uncertainties, and doubts) that visitors may around.
have while visiting your store listing and considering downloading the app. If you
manage to build trust and confidence, users will perceive your app as more reliable
and safer, which is extremely important in a world that is full of data leaks and
shady digital products.
Below, we list the principles that make up this third layer of the model:
Design Quality Certifications

If your store listing assets show Highlighting an award/certification
attention to design quality, people are can help increase trust for your app and
more likely to install the app. drive conversion.
Quality Content Current Content

Relevant, curated, and personalized Promote trust by ensuring there is
content from a reputable source will plenty of good, up-to-date content on
establish deeper trust than generic or the app. Out-of-date content gives
click-baity content would. the impression of an app that is rarely
updated and not downloaded very often.
Testimonials
Apps can obtain, select, and publish Affiliation
testimonials on their app store listings Being affiliated with a large, trustworthy
in order to inspire confidence through organization gives the app more
an external (and thus, more objective) credibility.
source. Screenshots leveraging (in order of appearance): Authority/social proof (Flighty), certifications (Jour), affiliates (Spark Mail), social proof
(Nordnet).
198 19 9
Looking Outward
Looking outward involves shifting the gaze from the ASO Best Practices
app in question to the broader environment around Below, we list some of the most commonly leveraged
it—in other words, best practices in the category and Best practices evolve over time as new trends, styles examples of best practices that usually—but not
the app stores in general as well as the competition and approaches fade in and out of acceptance. It’s always—work quite well for a variety of apps:
(both direct and indirect). important to constantly evaluate what you consider a
best practice against the category, competitors, target
market, and user personas. Keep in mind that there is Legibility
no one-size-fits-all solution; however, there are some This is mostly applicable to screenshot captions.
general guidelines that we’d always consider as a first If you add graphics or text to your screenshots, it’s
port of call for most apps. important to remember that they’ll be viewed on
a small screen. Even our largest smartphones and
tablets are several times smaller than the desktop
monitors we usually design on. The font size is only
one part of the equation: Font choice, contrast, and
letter spacing all play a role too.
Icon
A good icon must tick several boxes, but a good place
to start is to include your app’s name in it. If you have
a massive brand, an icon without the name may be
recognizable to most store visitors, but for the vast
majority of apps, adding the name to the icon is a
reliable way to build trust and increase conversion.
Text Formatting
Using basic HTML to bold text or change colors in
your long description will also help your app stand out
from the crowd.
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Market Intelligence
It’s important to remember that

different locales have different
aesthetic trends, visual metaphors, There are many kinds of seasonality
religious attitudes, demographic you should be aware of, from holidays
breakdowns, and understanding of to weekly trends. You should not only
symbols, like emojis. If your app is a consider seasonality to plan your
social media platform, for example, experiment roadmap but also on a
don’t show profiles with traditionally conceptual level, as this understanding
British names on your Brazilian store may help you generate new ideas for
listing. Similarly, certain characters upcoming experiments in a specific
and mascots that work well in one theme. For example, fitness apps usually
locale may not work in another. It’s experience huge spikes in downloads
critical that as ASO practitioners, we in January following the resolutions
stay abreast of these trends and make made for the New Year; because of this,
sure that what we show and say on many fitness app developers update
the app stores won’t come across as their store listings to capitalize on
random, misplaced, or offensive. this seasonal interest, usually with a
positive impact on conversion.
Yet another aspect you should consider
when analyzing the market is getting
an overall understanding of seasonality Certain visual styles and tones of voice are
trends. This will help you plan your specific to different markets. For instance,
experiment roadmap accordingly mascots are widely used in Japan but
and ensure your app is ready with its are not that effective in other markets.
optimized store listing assets for the Furthermore, different countries and age
high seasons. groups can have different understandings
of the same emojis.
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Competitor Intelligence Looking for Best-in-Class Competitors With

Whom to Compare Your CRO Efforts
Regularly check up on the store presence of your
most direct competitors. Keep asking yourself: What Alongside determining which CVR metric to
are my competitors saying? How—and why—do benchmark and which asset to optimize first, you
they communicate this? Take screenshots of their should also start identifying competitors and/or
app listing each time they make changes or enlist best-in-class apps to monitor for inspiration when
the help of an ASO tool such as AppTweak to track optimizing your app’s creatives.
their updates over time. Keeping tab of competitor
movements on the App Store and Google Play can Beyond monitoring your direct competitors and
provide valuable insights for your own app. studying the creative changes they make, looking
in and outside your category for best-in-class
creatives can be a very useful but complex challenge.
Throughout 2020, AppTweak studied the number of
updates done to metadata and creatives per category
and per locale on Google Play. Their results showed
that:
• The largest number of total changes across all

categories was observed by apps in English-US,
followed by English-UK, Arabic, Germany, and
Portuguese-Brazil. French-France, Russian,
Japanese, English-Australia, and Spanish-Spain
also followed to complete the top 10.
• In the US, games were more active than apps

when changing all types of store elements—
except for the short description. Games were also
more active when changing app videos, icons, and
screenshots compared to apps.
• On average, games made around 4 more changes

per year to icons and videos than apps, and over
2.5 more changes to screenshots per year.
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Metadata Frequency Update (iOS)
• When looking at the most active app categories • Looking at the most active game categories for
for metadata updates, AppTweak found that: metadata updates:
◊ Entertainment and music apps made the most ◊ Casino games led all game subcategories for the
changes to their descriptions. number of changes to store listings (with the
except of the full description—casino games
◊ Personalization, photography, and weather came second here, after word games).
apps were the most active in updating feature
graphics. ◊ After casino games, board games, card games,
and word games were the most active categories
◊ The most icon changes occurred in the Shopping in creative and metadata updates. AppTweak also studied metadata update frequencies also studied how many changes (over 1,500) apps and
and Dating categories. for almost 400 apps on the App Store between August games, grouped by downloads, made on the US App
31, 2020, and August 31, 2021. AppTweak found Store in 2020.
◊ The most screenshot changes occurred in the that over three quarters of all apps updated their
Photography category, followed by the Shopping screenshots at least once. Their results indicated that apps with fewer
and Video Player categories. downloads tended to update their textual metadata—
The app icon and description were the most regularly title and subtitle in particular—more frequently.
◊ The most short description updates were updated elements (besides the app version), with Interestingly, apps with more downloads were the
observed in the Photography category, followed 42% and 26% of apps (respectively) updating these most active in updating screenshots and particularly
by Personalization and Social. elements at least 3 times in the year. Almost 100% of videos. As a result, when looking for trendsetters to
apps updated their version at least 3 times throughout monitor for new conversion rate optimization best
◊ The Personalization and Finance categories the year. practices, consider looking beyond apps ranking
observed the most video changes in 2020, in the overall top charts; take the time to find more
followed by Books & Reference, Communication, To further understand how to identify potential innovative players by investigating the rankings of
Shopping, Sports, and Video Players. conversion rate optimization leaders, AppTweak specific categories.
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Looking Skyward
Blogs & Resources The Outside World
Keeping your finger on the pulse of things outside
of your app—ASO as a whole, digital marketing in If you like to stay on top of everything that happens What is happening in current affairs that could
general, and even current global affairs—can be very in the ASO world, you probably already have a list influence how people perceive your app’s store
beneficial to provide you with ideas for experiments of your favorite ASO communities, blogs, experts, presence? In politics? Commerce? Technology? The
and improvements, as well as presenting opportunities and resources. Below, we list some of our top picks; environment? Public health? Being able to respond
to quickly react to changes in the world around you however, there exists a whole range of resources that quickly to the circumstances that affect your business
and adapt your store listing accordingly. freely share insights from leading ASO experts. will help you gain a competitive edge inside the stores.
• AppTweak’s ASO Blog

• ASO Slack Blog
• ASO Stack-Slack Group
• Business of Apps
• Growth Gems Newsletter
• TechCrunch
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Step 2
Hypothesizing
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Many people start with CRO by “throwing things at

the wall to see what sticks.” While this can sometimes
work, learn why the best CRO is guided by hypotheses
or logical thought processes that provide context and
justification.
A hypothesis in ASO should be a statement or theory about the results you think an
experiment will generate, and why you think it will generate these results. It works
by pinpointing the changes the target market desires to make on the store listing
and predicting the outcome of this variation, ensuring your experiments are not
aimless or random.
A good hypothesis always satisfies these three requirements:
As such, your hypothesis could look something like this:

1. It mentions a specific action: The action is exactly what you’re changing;
for example, “including building materials in the app’s screenshots.” We believe that (1) adding a tasty pizza to the You should approach your experiments
screenshots will (2) increase the conversion as iteratively and selectively as
2. It mentions a specific result: The result is what you expect the action to possible. If each experiment changes
do (and since we’re talking CRO, the result is likely to be “drive downloads” rate because (3) research shows that pizzas five variables, it will be very difficult
or “increase conversion”). are the most popular delivery item within to pin down what is responsible for
any changes in your conversion rate.
3. It mentions a specific reason: The reason should lead back to your
our food delivery app. Pick a single element to test for each
research; for example, “because this app is designed for construction experiment, and let the results inform
workers.” your next steps.
210 2 11
Step 3
Prioritizing
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Hypothesis prioritization in ASO generally follows one

rule: The more powerful the experiment, the higher the
priority. In this section, you’ll discover a model that can
help prioritize your conversion hypotheses.
Once you have invested time and energy into researching for experiments and
transforming these ideas into hypotheses, you will have gathered a bank of
potentially successful hypotheses. The RICE scoring model can be very useful for
this. RICE is an acronym for the four factors we use to evaluate each project idea:
Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort.
Reach Confidence
How many people will be affected by How confident are you that this
the change? experiment will be successful?
Impact Effort
If successful, how much would this How much time, budget, and working
experiment move the needle? hours will this experiment require? Also
consider the number of stakeholders
you will need to involve.
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Step 4
Creating Store
Assets
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Deep dive into the practicalities of conversion

optimization for each asset on the App Store
and Google Play.
While basic CRO focuses on improving one asset at a time, some of the most
powerful CRO increases can come from improving the way your elements convey
a message as a whole. For example, your branding should resonate through all
elements in a cohesive manner, and your most important or key differentiators
should be mentioned in both your screenshots and your description.
After you have crafted your messaging and decided Unique After prioritizing your CRO In the following sections, we dive deeper
the imagery to employ, it’s time to let your creativity hypotheses, consider what elements into optimization for each store asset
shine. When creating variations of your app’s creative Changes too subtle for the average of your app listing are best suited to (adopting a structure based on each
elements, ensure each of them is: person to notice will be useless to test. test each hypothesis and whether you asset’s expected impact on conversion,
can connect one hypothesis across from most to least). Additionally, we
Informed by your research and multiple elements for better cohesion. begin by discussing any knowledge that
hypotheses Each element will naturally work very applies to assets both on the App Store
differently, and as such, presents an and Google Play (if applicable), before
You’ve spent the time identifying opportunity to experiment with your providing specific information about
assumptions about methods to increase hypothesis from different angles to assets on the App Store and Google Play
your conversion rate and direct your increase the power of your store listing distinctly.
creative process; don’t abandon now! as a whole.
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Use your brand

Leverage your brand’s most
From left to right: Babbel,
recognizable symbols, elements, and
TripAdvisor, and Norton app
colors. Including the wordmark can icons (App Store, December
also establish trust by helping store 2021).
App Icon visitors recognize the app or connect it
to your brand.
In general, one of the most important aspects of CRO is

considering competitor apps in your research, rather Include identifiers
than solely designing creatives in isolation. Yet, this
is even more important with regard to app icons, as Utilize graphic elements or illustrations From left to right: Smule, Apple
icons are often the only visual element shown to store that visually explain your app’s value Maps, and Inframe app icons
(App Store, December 2021).
visitors to communicate an app’s presence (e.g., in the proposition in a simple and intuitive
top charts on either store or in Google Play generic way.
keyword search results).
Analyzing how your icon is positioned against other Know the category,
app icons is the best tactic to determine how to make but break the mould
your icon even more appealing and win over visitors From left to right: Grammarly,
with more success than the competition. Understand the relevant visual Clubhouse, and Transit app
language in the category but avoid icons (App Store, December
There are many different styles of icon design. mimicking other app icons too closely; 2021).
Consider these three best practices when optimizing try to stand out from your competition
the design of your app icon: in a meaningful way.
216 2 17
Google Play App Icon
The app icon is the most visible—and only—creative

element in Google Play keyword search results, making
app icons on Google Play much more important for
CRO than on the App Store. For this reason and due
to stylistic differences between the stores, app icons
on the Google Play Store have traditionally often been
more visually complex than App Store icons, to help
show off relevant imagery that describes the app’s
main purpose and helps differentiate an app from its
competition.
However, in attempts to clean up the Google Play Store,

Google Play app icons became the subject of stricter
App Store App Icon rules and regulations concerning creatives in 2021.
From September that year, Google prohibited the use
While this element remains important for apps that of emojis, misleading or irrelevant symbols (e.g., calls-
earn a large volume of App Store Browse impressions, to-action encouraging users to download the app),
the App Store icon is less important for search and keywords that imply an app’s store performance
impressions than the Google Play icon. (e.g., “top”, “best”, or “#1”) in app icons. These changes
brought creative policies on the App Store and Google
On the App Store, your app icon will also appear in Play closer, making it more difficult for apps on the
each of your promoted IAPs, increasing the visibility Play Store to stand out from the competition in search
Over (now GoDaddy) App Store app icon. Over (now GoDaddy) Google Play app icon
and importance of legibility. results compared to before.
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C A SE STUDY While the App Store apps below are mostly dominated
Icon Design by large brands, their icons still allow users to
recognize well-known brands (e.g., Snapchat or
Duolingo).
Sports apps on Google Play (December 2021).
Sports score apps on Google Play use much more red or blue, and most apps use colored background
letter brandings in their icons than distinct sport- fills to contrast against a white font. These app icons
related imagery; however, some apps do make use of are fairly distinct, yet they seem to miss out on the
common sports figures: a trophy, a variety of balls, opportunity to showcase the apps’ main use cases
and sporty silhouettes. Colors lean more towards (scores/numbers).
Top apps on the App Store (December 2021).
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App Title
While 99% of the time, the app title is primarily used Identify the most used and valued keywords in
for keyword optimization, you can run experiments to your market by referring to your user research, user
determine whether a keyword-optimized title can also reviews, or performance marketing campaign data.
effectively convey the app’s main value proposition
and boost conversion rates. Unfortunately, you cannot
A/B test titles on the App Store or on Google Play, and
must instead use a third-party A/B testing tool (we Pro Tip
provide several A/B testing tool options in Chapter 7: You can also run ad tests to inform your title
Performance Reporting Dashboards & ASO Tools). experiments. For example, if a Facebook ad running
with the headline “SmartNews - Local Breaking
News” outperformed “SmartNews - Breaking US &
World News”—and if the former was also appropriate
for keyword optimization (KWO)—the first should be
Pro Tip used as the app title.
You can simulate an A/B test for your title by releasing
a new title on a localized app page that shares SmartNews is a strong brand in the US,
the same language as your core audience, but is a but a lot of people may not be familiar In general, when optimizing your app’s title, ensure
second- or third-tier market. Measure the changes with the app’s functionality. Adding the most useful keywords to describe your app are
in performance via a sequential analysis and use the “Local Breaking News” to its title not positioned earlier in the title, and are thus least at
results to directionally forecast how the same change only helps with keyword searches but risk of truncation (in other words, call on visual word
would affect performance in your core market. also with conversion. recognition).
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Google Play App Title

An app title on Google Play is more vital to conversion
than on the App Store to explain to users what the
app is all about, given the absence of screenshots and
subtitles in Google Play keyword search results.
Up until September 2021, app titles on Google

Play were permitted a maximum of 50 characters,
App Store App Title representing more space than app titles on the App
Store (not including subtitle space). This extra space
App titles on the App Store are written in a larger provided developers with more flexibility and ample
font than subtitles and are therefore more likely to be opportunity to target high-volume keywords on the
read first by users. Furthermore, the app title is not as Play Store. However, the aforementioned policy
prone to truncation in App Store Browse results as the changes on Google Play saw app titles shortened
subtitle. from 50 to 30 characters (now the same as on the App
Store).
Furthermore, Google banned keywords encouraging

Pro Tip users to take action (e.g., “update now”) from the app
The number of characters displayed before an organic title, alongside the prohibition of emojis, emoticons,
App Store title truncates in search results has been and repeated special characters. These metadata
observed to be between 23 and 25 characters. As a changes also saw text incentivizing installs/promoting
result, make sure your core keywords and app name deals banned from Google Play app titles, alongside
The top charts for paid apps depicting the
are placed within the first 23 characters. truncation of app titles and subtitles (App A generic Google Play keyword search. keywords that imply an app’s store performance, and
Store, US).
repeated punctuation or all caps.
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Subtitle (App Store Only)

For the subtitle (and title), where possible, try to
Offering an additional 30 characters and appearing optimize your letters based on width, such as using
anywhere the app title appears, subtitles on the App “is” vs. “ms.” Here, we see that this method enables the
Store are useful both for KWO and CRO. Again, like Visage app to earn a fully untruncated 27 characters in
the title, the most important factors for subtitle an App Store search result with the subtitle “essential
CRO involve finding the right keywords and avoiding beauty shot maker,” the GasBuddy app earns a fully
truncation. However, subtitles tend to not truncate untruncated 24 characters in an App Store Browse
for longer in App Store search results than titles, result with “for the perfect pit stop,” and Footballguys
yet truncate sooner than titles in App Store Browse Fantasy Football earns a lesser 18 characters in top
results. charts with “dominate YOUR Fant.”
Beware
The number of characters
before an organic App
Store subtitle truncates
is shortest in top charts,
average length in a
Browse featuring, and
Pinterest uses its subtitle to clearly communicate GasBuddy displays a 24-character subtitle. Footballguys displays an 18-character subtitle.
longest in search results.
Visage displays a 27-character subtitle.
what store visitors can expect from using the app.
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Short Description (Google Play

Only)
This 80-character text field does not appear in Google
Play search results but appears before the user
expands the app listing to view the full description.
Google Play short descriptions are vital to encourage
users to either download your app or learn more by
continuing on to the full description.

While short descriptions are important for both
keyword rankings and increasing conversion, ASO
most often considers the main purpose of the short
description as boosting conversion rates. That said,
including a few very important keywords in the short
description can be a good way to improve your app’s
ranking and increase conversion rates by explaining
what your app is in terms that users search for.
Together with screenshots, short descriptions are

well-equipped to convey your app’s key messaging, as
descriptions are centrally located above the fold and
right underneath the install button. Google Play short description and
screenshots sitting above the fold on the app
page.
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Caption styles
Investigate how your store performance
changes when captions are overlaid
directly on the top/bottom of the image
vs. on the background (traditional
style), when the caption font size or
style is changed, or when captions
resemble call-outs located in different
areas of the screenshot.
Flow
Change the order of your screenshots.
Content
Change the in-app content of your
screenshots, such as focusing on
features or experiences that are more
popular with users.
Screenshots
When creating screenshots, a best practice is to not
Background styles
assume that users will scroll through each individual Try a solid color, real-world imagery, a
image. Be sure to order your screenshots by putting gradient, or abstract background.
those that explain your most important features
and benefits first. This way, if users don’t scroll any
further, you will have still cast your app in the best Custom design styles
light possible. Explore connected-style designs,
superimposed icons, call-out graphics,
or multiple devices in one screenshot
image.
Pro Tip
Don’t forget that the content on your screenshots (i.e.,
images of your in-app content) should also be a part of Display styles
the CRO Loop. Test different screenshots or content Test a screenshot without captions, a
on the screenshot to see which photos produce the screenshot with overlaid captions, a
best results. screenshot of a partial or fully visible
phone, or a screenshot embedded in
Some tips to get the most out of your screenshot CRO real-world imagery such as a person’s
include running tests for the following elements: hand.
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App Store Screenshots

Until the advent of the auto-played preview video, Portrait screenshots now show in three tiles on App
screenshots were often considered the most Store search results (only the first two screenshots
important all-around App Store asset, due to the fact show in search results in the presence of a preview
that they appear in search results. video, and screenshots show after the preview video
on the product page), and are second in terms of
According to SensorTower, nearly 60% of global App impact on conversion rate compared to the app
Store downloads come from searches, pretty close preview video. If you provide landscape screenshots
to the figure found by Apple. As the majority of users or an app preview video, only one tile of screenshots
discover your app through search, it is important to will show in search results.
understand how screenshots are displayed in search
results.
Percentage of apps and games with screenshots in portrait mode. Source: AppTweak (2021).
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C A SE STUDY
Screenshot Design
Visual Pop-Off
The pop-off style may prove useful

if you want to zoom in 2-3 times to
highlight parts of an app’s UI that may
be harder to distinguish at a normal
size. The pop-off style can also be used
to draw attention to parts of the screen
that users may otherwise miss; an issue
intensified by the addition of a third
screenshot and smaller overall real
estate in App Store search results.
Tinder’s screenshots on the App Store (December 2021).
Connected Style
It is likely that use of the connected-
Preliminary tips to optimize • Connect the first three screenshots with design style screenshot rapidly increased with
your screenshots include: or phase elements, like a color gradient or the sun the addition of a third screenshot, given
rising in three parts. the stronger and broader canvas to
convey progression compared to just
• Use very short captions and large, legible font two screenshots.
styles to ensure your captions are readable in the
small search result size. Afterpay combines the connected
screenshot style with text to tell more
• Use visuals that are easy to discern in the smaller of a story than a caption alone. On
screenshot size (i.e., less complex). smaller screens, the connected style
can be used to boost text size and retain
• Save space by adding images alone, rather than the use of text as a major component of
formatting them onto a phone interface. Afterpay’s screenshots on the App Store (December 2021). the messaging strategy.
234 235
Google Play search for

Snapchat—screenshots show for
brand names in search results.
When creating screenshots for Google Play, it is important to consider

Google Play Screenshots two important facts:
The fact that screenshots (up to eight)

are the last visual element seen on a
1 2
Google Play store listing (behind the Unlike their App Store counterparts, As a result, Google Play screenshots do
icon and feature graphic/promo video) Google Play screenshots are not very not need to capture a user’s attention;
means that screenshots on Google Play visible. To see an app’s screenshots on instead, the main focus should be on
are less impactful in CRO than on the Google Play, the user must first go from educating the user about the app and
App Store. Nonetheless, screenshots the search or Browse results where the communicating why they should care
are still the most direct method by icon is the first visual element to get about it. In this regard, custom design
which an app user can preview the to the store listing. The exception to is less important for screenshots on
app experience (other than the promo this is when users search using a brand Google Play, and may even backfire.
video), meaning they are still critical to Average number of screenshots for apps and games on Google Play. name—in this case, the screenshots
CRO. Source: AppTweak (2021). also appear in search results.
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C A SE STUDY
Google Play Screenshot

Connected Style
Designs
As previously mentioned, connecting
screenshots is a common approach in
ASO to be able to control messaging
Custom Backgrounds
with a larger surface area for text and
Custom background screenshot styles design creativity. The downside of
are one of the safer design styles; this style is that it may alert users’
they allow the app to show creativity sense of being “advertised to” more
while also introducing minimal risk of than “standard” designs by reducing
obscuring the screenshots themselves. the number of images of unique app
features, ultimately reducing users’
confidence to objectively decide
eBay’s screenshots on Google Play (December 2021). whether the app solves their needs.
PicsArt’s screenshots on Google Play (December 2021).
Alternating Design
Story Style
If your purpose is to capture attention,
alternating the design or style of each Zillow takes an innovative approach
screenshot does a good job; however, it by using landscape images to tap into
also makes screenshots appear busier a larger surface area per screenshot;
and less cohesive which can strike the thus, the app executes a story-style
wrong chord with an app’s branding. screenshot design with longer captions
Additionally, given that Google Play that don’t also require legibility to be
screenshots are used less to capture sacrificed. Zillow also incorporates
attention, this style of design can a gradient background color to add a
introduce more risks than benefits in more polished touch.
conversion optimization. DICE’s screenshots on Google Play (December 2021). Zillow’s screenshots on Google Play (December 2021).
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Video
App Store
App Preview Video
Compared to screenshots, preview videos offer a

lot more depth to your story as to why users should
consider adding your app to their home screen. If you
have more than one preview video, only the first will
show up alongside the first two screenshots (or only
one landscape video with no screenshots).
Over-Designed Style
As the name implies, this screenshot
style is hardly just a set of images. In
each set, there are minimal screenshots
of a device interface, with screenshots
incorporating more elaborate designs.
While certainly eye-catching, this
screenshot style is also extremely busy
and more likely to turn users off than
showcase the app in a clear and concise Kids Astronomy by Star Walk’s screenshots on Google Play (December
manner. 2021).
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Some best practices for preview videos include:
> In the age of short-form video popularity via TikTok,

Snapchat, and Instagram, it is important to not assume
that users will watch your entire preview video. Make
sure that the most important messages and features
are mentioned as early as possible, that the pace of
the video is not too slow, and that your video uses
animations and cutscenes to hold users’ attention for
as long as possible.
> Add captions to ensure users watching the video

without sound can still read the messages, and use
larger text sizes to ensure captions are legible even in
the smaller search results view.
> Videos are especially common and popular for certain

store categories including Games, Health & Fitness,
and Photo & Video; however, it is not safe to assume that
a preview video will outperform static screenshots for
all apps. Do your research to determine whether or not
to use a video. Use product page optimization (iOS 15)
to assess the conversion rate of using a video vs. not
using one, measure the percentage of apps in your top
keyword/category results to see whether these apps
validate whether users prefer videos to screenshots
only, and assess whether these preferences vary
across countries.
> If your app has one or a couple of highly relevant and

searched for keywords, consider using those keywords
in the captions for visual word recognition. Percentage of apps with an app preview video on the App Store. Source: AppTweak (2021).
242 243
Google Play Promo Video
Videos on Google Play are loaded

into the app’s store listing page via a
YouTube link and can be optimized in a
similar way to on the App Store.
In addition to the previous tips for

iOS promo videos, ASO marketers on
Google Play have the special ability to
leverage YouTube analytics to hone in
on and optimize for drop-off points in
Percentage of games with an app preview video on the App Store. Source: AppTweak (2021). video watch rates.
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Full Description
Most app descriptions include some sort of combination of the
following sections. Try creating each of these sections and testing
different variations/locations in your full description:
Description opening hook General description of the app
Feature Graphic (Google Play

Only)
The feature graphic (a 1024x500 banner) is the app’s

poster frame in the presence of a promo video. Feature
graphics have traditionally been a favorite for CRO on
Google Play, being placed at the top, in a prominent
position on the store listing. In the past, they were an
open canvas with which app developers or marketers The feature graphic is the poster frame of the Opening hook of Spotify’s App Store Flo’s full description on Google Play (2021).
could do what they liked. app’s promo video on the store listing page. description (December 2021).
246 247
Highlight app features App use cases Highlight the target Description of how the app Company administrative
audience works information (privacy,
subscriptions, etc.)
Twitch’s App Store description (2021). Rain Rain’s App Store description (2021). ANTON’s App Store description (2021). Badoo’s App Store description (2021). PictureThis’ App Store description (2021).
248 249
App Store Description

The first several lines of your description will be displayed under
your promo text (if set), and before the “more” button.
The first five lines are the most important part of descriptions on
the App Store, but the entire description is also important to a key
subset of potential users. These people are engaged enough to want
to learn more about your app beyond the screenshots or the first five
lines, and some will read the description in its entirety. These people
Also consider some of the following A/B- may be:
test-ready ideas for your app’s description
to improve your conversion rate: 1
High-quality users: People who invest As keywords in this metadata element
• Test changes in font formatting/section headings/ this much time into deciding what app are not indexed, the main goal of
white spacing/content density. to download are likely to have a higher description optimization on the App
overall value than the non-branded- Store is to strike the right balance
• Add, remove, or change the order of major sections. keyword searcher who hits “download” between effectively conveying your
three seconds into their search. messaging and doing so in the most
• Include social media/support links. concise manner possible. This
difference represents an advantage that
• Use an active voice when describing features and 2 an App Store description possesses
try adding use cases that resonate with your target Not quite ready to download your app over a Google Play description, as the
market’s intent. For example, instead of the phrase if they want to know more beyond what App Store description can be written
“grocery list items,” use the sentence “add items to has been provided in the screenshots. freely, without the pressure of inserting
your grocery list, like milk, eggs, and bread.” Therefore, your description may be keywords to influence rankings.
vital in convincing these users to
download.
250 2 51
Promotional Text (App

Store Only)
When present, the 170-character
promo text is displayed above the
first several lines of the App Store
description and can be edited without
submitting new app versions. While
screenshots usually earn the most
focus in CRO, don’t forget that all users
who visit your app’s product page will
also see your promo text. What’s New
Use promo text to offer information Similar to the number and type of
that gets users even more excited about languages an app supports, an app
your app, such as upcoming features, with a steady update history can be a
special pricing, or other time-sensitive major signal of quality, not just by the
messages. cadence of the updates but also by the
Google Play Full Description care put into wording each “what’s
new” update. On the App Store, each
While the Google Play full description is the same the Boomerang app reported a 16% conversion uplift “what’s new” is also logged in the app’s
number of characters as on the App Store (4,000), after formatting its Google Play description. While we version history, providing users with
the full description on Google Play is far more haven’t often seen these high conversion uplifts after a look into what the app developers
important for keyword visibility because it is indexed. optimizing the description, we have seen conversion spent time addressing in each version.
A significant advantage of descriptions on the Play increases after making clever use of rich formatting. A version history filled with bug
Store for CRO centers around text formatting. fixes tells the story of an app that is
You can also use rich formatting to emphasize the probably less valuable and problem-
Developers can use rich formatting (HTML) to make structure of your description by accentuating chapter prone than an app with a rich history of
their Google Play full description stand out from the headings, for instance. feature additions and other significant
crowd in searches and on the app page. For example, improvements.
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App Store What’s New

On the App Store, the “What’s New” section occupies a location
that is likely to be read by inquisitive users. It can indicate the
development team’s activity to show users how often the team
cares enough about the app to make improvements (along with the
Try some of these tactics to get • Explain the new functionality that was added and why people version history, which is a catalog of prior entries in the “What’s
the most out of your “what’s should care. New” section). On the App Store, “What’s New” can also be updated
new” text: without requiring an app update. This section is displayed in the
• If possible, explain what issues were fixed in “bug fixes.” If you “Updates” section of the App Store, and can easily be read by users
fixed a bug that many users were pained by, communicate that a who have downloaded your app.
major issue was addressed.
• Comfort new and existing users alike by affirming your

commitment to them (communicate a specific update frequency
if you have one).
• Offer appreciation to the people that use your app.
• Add funny or witty comments—they might even go viral! For an

example, conduct a Twitter search for “Medium iOS update” to
see how the Medium app manages its “what’s new” text and has
its messages shared online.
• Be clear and concise. Use as few words as possible to focus users’ Duolingo’s What’s New (2021).
attention on what matters.
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Developer Name
For companies with existing brand awareness, the
developer name can be a way to increase conversion
rates by leveraging brand equity. Additionally, a well-
chosen developer name can entice people to tap
through and view the developer’s other apps. While
the developer name is very difficult to change once set
on the App Store, it is very easy to change on Google
Play.
Google Play What’s New Beware

For smaller developers who use their personal
The “What’s New” section on Google Play is not accounts to distribute an app on the App Store, this
indexed for keywords and only appears on listings personal account may be less trusted by the store
for users who have already downloaded the app. As a than a strong brand.
result, this element is one of the least important for
CRO on Google Play. One tip to leverage your developer name for CRO is to
consider the pros and cons of adding a legal business
The “What’s New” section on Google entity type to the developer name. For example, a
Play appears just above the short GmbH is internationally less familiar than an LLC/
description for users who have already Inc.
downloaded the app.
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Google Play Developer Page

Developer pages on Google Play are not only more
engaging than on the App Store but also entirely
within the developer’s control.
Developers can upload the following elements to their

developer page:
App Store Developer Page • A header image
• A developer icon
Developer pages on the App Store do not offer • Promotional text
much control in terms of optimization; however, • An app to feature on the page
the most recently updated apps appear at the top of
the developer’s complete list of apps. Furthermore, On Google Play, optimizing the developer page is
developer pages that include an arrangement of very much in the app developer’s best interest. It can
the developer’s app icons can appear in branded Rovio’s developer page with a custom
lead to free cross-promotional downloads as well as
Rovio’s developer page with a custom
searches—above the first organic result but below background for app types and showcasing of background and showcasing of Rovio’s
increased credibility among users, which can help
Search Ads results. Rovio’s latest release. featured app. acquire other users’ initial downloads.
258 259
diet
Custom Page Background

(App Store Only)
Visual Word Recognition A Google Play keyword search for “diet.” Each app plays on some
form of connection with the keyword “diet,” either in the icon
Apple gives select top developers a bit more creative imagery, developer name, or the app title.
freedom to design their App Store pages. These lucky Taking a step back from assets, let’s return to the
ones are asked by Apple to provide “product page concept of visual word recognition, a very important
art assets” which allow developers to add a feature concept for CRO.
graphic and a background color to the app page.
Your app’s visibility is made up by many individual
impressions across the app stores as a whole, from
Product Page Art Asset Needed featuring spots to the top charts, to keyword search
results and product page views. Yet, for most apps,
Apple requests that these selected developers: the majority of organic visibility and downloads come
Please provide evergreen artwork with generic elements from a handful of high-volume, high-rank keywords.
for your app’s product page. Include a title treatment/
logo within the file that is scalable both up and down as a Optimizing your app’s conversion rate for your top
Photoshop ‘Smart Object.’ Please note that the primary opportunity keywords is low-hanging fruit and often
background color in your featuring art template will an easy way to unlock more downloads with minimal
match the product page color. effort.
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C A SE STUDY
The first step in optimizing your app for top keywords

Visual Word Recognition
is actually identifying your top keywords, as outlined With Keepsafe
in Chapter 2: Increasing Visibility. Optimizing for
these top keywords doesn’t have to be a standalone The photo locker app Keepsafe offers increases its chances of capturing
strategy that replaces your branding or other a case study highlighting the role of searcher attention and immediately
messaging. The goal is to use keywords that people visual assets in visual word recognition assures store visitors that Keepsafe is a
are searching for and looking to see whether your app optimization. relevant app for their needs.
provides a relevant answer/solution, in the same way
that dynamic ads in AdWords work to improve click- Here, we see that the top keywords Compare this approach with that of
through rate (CTR). for Keepsafe include “photo locker,” “burying the lead”— forcing users to sift
“private photos,” and “album vault.” through other, less relevant descriptive
Your job in ASO is to present the user with a silver We also see that these keywords are keywords that don’t relate as directly to
platter response highlighting that your app is the included across the app’s screenshot the user’s keyword search (i.e., negative
best solution to their need; using the same language captions as well as in a prominent content weight from the “Research”
through which the user found your app is a great way position in the text description. By step of the CRO Loop).
to do just that. taking this simple action, Keepsafe
262 263
Different pricing models

have different levels of
friction in conversion.
Revenue Model
Beyond the frame of store assets, we also see that
the revenue model employed by your app can have a
significant influence on your conversion rate. Pro Tip
Paid apps can test lowering their prices as part of time-
In addition to considering the pros and cons of each limited discounts; this is an easy and temporary way to
main revenue model from a business standpoint, also increase both downloads and your app’s ranking while
consider the pros and cons from a conversion rate and leaving the app’s expected price point unaffected.
conversion eligibility standpoint.
264 265
Promoting In-App Purchases
You can choose to promote up to 20 IAPs on your

In-App Purchases (App Store Only) product page at a time, with additional IAPs approved
and ready to promote. This gives you the flexibility
Let’s return to the discussion of assets with in-app to adapt the IAPs on your product page at any time
purchases. based on your business needs—for example, if you’re
planning to launch a limited-time price promotion or
In-app purchases (IAPs) are very important in offer exclusive content.
both KWO and CRO, given that up to 20 IAPs
can be promoted on an app’s product page and in Try using the most popular keywords that relate to
search results, alongside the app’s icon, name, and the IAP in its description to increase visual word
description. recognition. You can also try using bite-sized data
points that help users understand why their experience
On Google Play, in-app purchases do not show on app using your app will be better after unlocking your IAP.
pages and thus have little impact on CRO. Best practices when optimizing your IAPs For example, try implementing social proof (e.g., real
for CRO include: figures indicating how often people buy that IAP), a
• The IAP name can be up to 30 characters. comparison of what the IAP provides compared to
Create an IAP icon that is appealing, understandable normal app use (e.g., “100x more gems than in a typical
• The IAP description can be up to 45 as a visual description, and able to convince users to day”), or indicate that the IAP has been featured on
characters. continue reading about the IAP or the app itself, just the App Store (if applicable).
like the regular app icon.
• The IAP icon should be a 1024x1024 PNG
or JPEG file. Use the right name—it should be descriptive and
appealing enough to convince users to buy or read
more, just like the app title. Pro Tip
Your app’s icon will always inhabit the bottom left-
Add a description which must explain the value Screenshot of Picsart’s in-app purchase result hand corner of your IAP icon, so ensure it’s okay to
proposition and use case of the in-app purchase, just in search results. obscure any imagery in the bottom left-hand corner
like the app description but with 99% fewer words. of your IAP icon.
266 267
Bumble’s IAPs are all named the same while some of Tinder’s IAPs have more descriptive names.
C A SE STUDY
Naming In-App Purchases
Here, we see a text-based example

of a more and less descriptive set of
IAPs for two competing apps: Tinder
and Bumble. While Bumble doesn’t
differentiate between its IAP names,
Tinder allows users to understand
more about what each purchase is, just
by looking at the name. That said, not
all of Tinder’s IAP names are clear and
descriptive, also requiring users to be
familiar with terms such as “super like”
or “boost.”
268 269
Step 5
Testing:
Running A/B Tests In this section, we will cover a few different
& Experiments
ways to run your A/B tests. First, consider
these tips:
When creating a test, be sure to use a homogeneous
context/cohort to ensure that differences in
performance are a result of the test variations, rather
than differences between the users viewing the test
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
variants. For example, run experiments in only one OS
or country, as users of each OS or from each country
After creating elements loaded with the right are likely to have unique reactions.
messaging and imagery, it’s time to set up a
test to see how your hypothesis and assets Try not to test too many changes at once—this can
confuse you in matching a change to its corresponding
performed against your expectations. performance outcome (e.g., was it the color, visual,
text, or symbols that produced the outcome?).
Be careful not to end tests early or without enough

data. Often, test results may begin by favoring one
variant, only to shift to another variant and ultimately
declare the latter as the winner. If you cannot afford
This step in the conversion optimization process should be approached with caution and care; to drive enough traffic to run a statistically significant
if you don’t set a test up properly, your results may be contaminated, offer low confidence levels, test, be cautious when applying the results.
yield inconclusive or false-positive results, and/or generally mislead you when identifying the
best conversion decisions to make. Are you running any paid campaigns that might affect
your results? The changes in your paid campaigns
could attract different user segments. As user
Running an A/B test 1. Organize your assets into test variations. preferences change, the results will also skew towards
involves three steps: this new group of users.
2. Drive people to your test and split them into similarly structured
samples. Is it Christmas already? Valentine’s Day? Seasonality
can drastically change the results of your tests based
3. Determine when your test has produced statistically significant on the service you provide. Make sure you plan your
results, or when you are otherwise confident in the results. After tests for a time you are confident there won’t be any
this step, you can move onto the final step of the CRO Loop: unusual uplifts or drops to get the most accurate
Analyzing the results. result possible.
270 271
Pros of bold A/B testing: Cons of bold A/B testing:

Easier to uncover big gains by trying For Google Play experiments, bold
novel approaches that may work better A/B testing can negatively impact
than the current iteration. regular performance if the test variants
perform worse. Test with a lower
Keeps your app listing fresh by percentage of traffic when trying bold
experimenting with the latest trends changes to mitigate potentially negative
(e.g., animated device designs) to fend test results.
off the stagnation that can arise from
keeping an app listing the same for Often requires significant extra
months or years. resources (e.g., design) to execute, with
unknown payoffs.
Facilitates brainstorming, research,
and discovery that can benefit If the changes are very bold and very
other areas of development/design/ different (i.e., many material changes),
Average number of A/B tests conducted by the top 100 apps on Google Play (January 1, 2021 -
marketing beyond the app listing. it can be difficult to diagnose what
August 31, 2021).
aspect of the change caused the
Changes are easier to spot for users and performance variation.
therefore more likely to lead to large
performance variations outside of the Bold testing requires more effort to
Testing Bold Things margin of error, meaning bold A/B tests queue up new variations for future A/B
Vs. Incremental Changes tend to deliver conclusive and reliable testing.
results faster.
One of the best ways to make significant conversion
rate gains via A/B testing is to test big, bold changes
with each variation (e.g., trying a completely different The pros and cons of incremental changes are essentially the inverse of those for
app icon) over incremental changes (e.g., changing bold A/B testing, as testing incremental changes allows for an easier interpretation
the size of the app icon or adding a small element to of results and more scaling opportunities (for instance, validating one simple
the bottom right-hand corner). However, making a hypothesis in a specific country often leads to testing the same hypothesis in other
habit of testing bold changes does not come without countries); however, it also tends to uncover smaller gains and the results land
its concerns. easier within the test margin of error.
272 273
Testing Combinations of Changes
In some cases, you may want to try and makes sense when taken as a
testing a group of changes at once, such whole, rather than combining several
as a complete revamp of your entire individually good ideas that may not
Running Tests via Google Play
store listing. match well. experiments
While it is a best practice to test one If possible, you should continue testing The Google Play experiments engine is one of the best disclosure of sampling methods, meaning random
thing at a time, testing a combination to see whether you can uncover the and most common A/B testing tools for ASO. Not only sampling of traffic might create an imbalance between
of changes has its benefits, such as effects of individual changes and do Google Play experiments use actual store traffic the traffic sources in each sample and lead to false-
having a higher chance of producing a increase your overall confidence. Try (making the test non-biased compared to tests a user positive results.
statistically significant test outcome reverting each of the changes to see has been led to after engaging with an ad), but they are
or creating an improvement where the whether the results lead to similar or also free to use, provide insights about D1 retained Therefore, a solution to flag potential false positive
sum of the parts is greater than the worse results to uncover insights for installers, calculate a statistically significant winner, and true positive results when using Google Play
parts individually, as in the case studies further tests. and make applying variants extremely easy to do. experiments is to create “A/B/B tests,” as suggested
on cohesive messaging. by Simon Thillay during the 2020 ASO Conference.
If your test is a success, celebrate it! However, some of the major disadvantages are that Repeating the new variant for two different samples of
In this case, it is important for But do not consider a negative result Google Play A/B test results do not necessarily the same test will lead to mostly similar results across
analysis purposes to track exactly as a complete failure; it can still help reflect results on the App Store—in addition to user both B samples for true positive results, whereas
what you change and ensure you have you better understand what customers differences between each platform, the stores’ search diverging results between both B samples would
a hypothesis or reason as to why each (don’t) respond well to. As long as your UX and app listings are also significantly different— suggest gains or losses in conversion are more likely
change should improve performance. tests are founded in research and set use only a 90% confidence interval as a bar for the fruit of sampling differences than a consequence
This exercise will also help you ensure up to help you continue iterating your statistical significance (whereas industry standards of how users react to the new variant.
that each change is well-founded optimizations, you are making good set the bar at 95%), and do allow for the selection or
2 74 progress. 275
Running Tests on the App Store

Pro Tip Experimentation is not that straightforward on the Running Tests via Product Page Optimization
Don’t forget to consider the impact App Store. ASO practitioners have long relied on (after iOS 15)
of weekly and yearly seasonality or third-party fake landing pages or before-and-after
attempt to speed through testing— tests (also known as sequential analyses) to get some After years of anticipation, Apple released its own
make sure to let your A/B tests run for at understanding of user preferences. Creative Sets in testing tool for app publishers to A/B test different
least a week, especially if you’re testing Apple Search Ads were probably the most popular assets and make confident decisions based on the
more than one variant. For example, in option before Apple rolled out its native A/B testing results. Product page optimization is a helpful tool
the case of Google Play experiments, tool on the App Store, the long-awaited product page for ASO practitioners to understand the impact of
performance can often start one way optimization with iOS 15. different page elements on conversion rates on the
and flip over time as uninstall/active App Store.
user data is collected. Furthermore,
if you run more variants, the traffic The feature was released on October 27th, 2021, and
the variant receives will come from gives ASO specialists the chance to test all visual assets
different sources of your total traffic (icons, screenshots, and preview videos). Testing up to
(e.g., keywords) which changes over 4 variations is allowed—1 current variation and 3 new
time, meaning that performance can variations—and developers are able to split audiences
swing from day to day rather than based on the number of variations being tested, pretty
demonstrate the variant’s true impact similar to on Google Play.
on performance.
2 76 277
Other Ways to Run A/B Tests

In addition to running an actual A/B 1
test, there are a few other methods to Before being replaced by custom product pages in
experiment on a store listing: January 2022, using Creative Sets in Apple Search
Ads allowed developers to “A/B test” creatives by
changing the order of screenshots and videos in the
gallery that appears in the ad placement of iOS search
results. With few users scrolling to the end of an app’s
creative gallery on the store product page, Creative
Sets were a nice hack to test which screenshots or
videos (three portraits or one landscape) to display
first; however, this method was limited to screenshots
and videos only. Furthermore, sampling was limited to
paid search traffic and test results could be biased by
the inherent propensity of users exposed to a Creative
Set to download the app based on their initial search
Running Tests via Third-Party A/B query. For instance, the performance of a Creative
Testing Tools Set in converting people that searched for your app’s
brand name could not be compared to the conversion
Third-party A/B testing tools offer more control over SplitMetrics rate of generic keywords, as people searching for your
A/B testing parameters, provide more data on user Good breadth of product (e.g., provides app tend to be inherently more likely to download
behavior, and can be used for App Store listings and Search Ads A/B tests). it than people finding it through a generic keyword
even search result pages. search.
Nonetheless, third-party tools can be expensive and Storemaven 2

require developers to drive traffic from third-party Premium product suited for larger apps with By running ads, such as Facebook Ads or Google
sources to the experiment, which may skew test larger creative departments. Universal App Campaign. While the results will
results by harboring different install intents than live not be nearly as reliable as a true A/B test, ads can
App Store traffic. Third-party A/B testing tools will be allow you to test different messaging, text, and visual
covered later in this e-book, but the main A/B testing creatives, and are useful to provide research and
tools include: direction for future A/B test variations.
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3
By running a country-by-country experiment (i.e.,
by pushing new screenshots live in Australia but not
in the US) and comparing the conversion rates after.
4
Experimentation can also be done by simply pushing a
change live with a new app version and measuring the
impact on performance before and after. While this is
a riskier approach and takes more time to potentially
reverse on the App Store than on Google Play (by Pro Tip
way of the approval process), live testing is the most When testing changes to your default
surefire method to ensure test results yield a positive app store page, be careful when
outcome. When measuring performance changes analyzing test results whereby a
pre- and post-update, it’s important to take several share of the audience may come from
precautions to ensure the most accurate analysis: various countries and not only from
the intended locale that also serves
• Use the same period to compare performance as a default. For instance, developers
(e.g., the same number of days before and after testing changes on their English-US
the change, such as the Monday-Sunday before page might experience traffic from
and the immediate Monday-Sunday following the Europe or Asia skewing test results if
change) to try and ensure performance differences the English-US page is set as the default
are not due to trends in seasonality. global language for their app. Changing
the default country or using custom
• Do not make any other changes to your app store listings on Google Play are the
listing or keywords that could cause noise when two main available options to avoid this
analyzing the impact of your experiment. issue.
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Step 6
Reporting
& Analyzing
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Learn how to accurately report on and analyze Reporting may then produce the data yet entirely logical, conclusions that
the results of your CRO work, considering showing that, in this example A/B test, a could be drawn based on the analysis of
blue background has a 22% conversion the prior report.
fundamental store metrics and KPIs. rate, while your control white
background has a 20% conversion rate. However, be aware that while reporting
(data) is inherently objective, analysis
The analysis would take this data one (insights) is subjective—it depends on
step further to focus on the actionable the conclusions drawn by the person
outcome of the data produced in the interpreting the analysis.
report. Below are a few entirely different,
Conclusions
After your test is complete comes possibly the most For example, while your hunch may be that “changing 01. 02. 03.
important, yet oftentimes tedious, part of managing the icon’s background color to blue will succeed in The test improved The test did not produce 10% is not a great enough
a CRO strategy: Reporting and analysis. Reporting driving more traffic” and may lead to a full store listing conversion rate by 10% a statistically significant increase
produces data—the raw input—and analysis spins update without you running a test, a data-driven difference in conversion
that data into insights. These days, data is the best decision could involve running an A/B test with 25% Recommendation rate due to not being based Recommendation
way to make decisions compared to the hunch-driven of your total store traffic to confirm whether this is Apply the test on enough traffic Try another test
decision-making of the older, “Mad Men”-esque era of the case, before making a decision that affects 100% of
marketing. This is because data is objective and less your store traffic. Recommendation
prone to bias or other factors that can skew analyses Continue testing to reach
and resulting decisions. a statistically significant
sample size
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After applying the results of an A/B test to

your live store listing, be sure to measure
While not implementing the results of this test may the results of the report. Tips for measuring
not cause harm (given the information, it will likely results include:
not result in a performance change), it does represent
an opportunity cost of trying something else. Report on the conversion rate before and after making
the change to your listing, and determine whether the
At the same time, implementing the results of a test expected test results held true once applied. However,
with a poor analysis may indeed be harmful; for be aware that performance report data may lag by
instance, if the analysis failed to consider the full several days, and changes may also take some time to
picture (e.g., applying an icon change that started very be fully executed.
positively due to a high install rate, but ended up very
negative due both to a poor retention rate and having Report on changes in your app’s performance against
initially sampled a set of high-converting users). trends in conversion rate benchmarks to make sure
your test has outperformed the benchmark, rather
Thankfully, A/B testing tools take most of the heavy Beware than just improving results in an upmarket.
lifting out of measuring test results. When running Changes to your marketing efforts can
a test on a third-party tool, look out for a variant’s introduce noise when analyzing the Don’t only report on changes in your app’s installs but
chance to outperform the control or the result in efficacy of your CRO activities. Try to also in your chosen downstream KPI. While KWO is
Google Play listing experiments or the App Store’s minimize other activities that can also more likely to change your KPI’s performance than
product page optimization. Keep in mind that while impact your CRO. If this is not possible, CRO, it is possible that acquiring more or fewer
other metrics, such as scroll depth, time-to-tap mark the periods where noise is to be downloads from a particular subset of your listing
installs, or total time on page may be interesting, the expected and draw performance data visitors can also cause your KPI levels to change. Keep
ultimate goal for an A/B test should be to earn more from other periods to reduce the impact your KPI at the top of your mind when analyzing any
installs as a percentage of total eligible visits. of noise in your analysis. marketing optimizations.
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If you report on your A/B test 01.

and see no change or a declining Neutral results Wait for more data to see whether a positive or negative performance
is revealed before making a decision.
performance, you may consider one
of a few options:
02.
Results that begin significantly Wait to see whether the performance continues improving to a
negative, but gradually improve positive point before disrupting the change you implemented. If
performance worsens, take defensive actions.
03.
For results that show a sustained, Revert to the prior control
declining performance, take one of While being the safest and perhaps most appealing option, reverting
the following actions: to the control is not always guaranteed to immediately revert
performance to its prior levels, as your app’s visibility is based on
historical data so the most recent poor performances will also affect
the performance of the control variant.
Run another test

Run another test based on the latest insights and push significant
budget to this test to quickly garner enough data to make a confident
decision. The risk here is that it is not guaranteed the new test will
produce better results, and these will take some time to produce,
during which time your performance will remain low. Choose this
option if you learned something significant in the latest attempt.
Apply the next-best variant

The risk here is that the likelihood this variant will outperform is
lower than the currently underperforming variant, so only take this
route if the next-best variant also tested well.
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For the local marketplace app 5miles, our research

involved several different threads of insights:
C A SE STUDY On 5miles’ Google Play listing, we first

realized that the traditional caption style of
CRO with 5miles one or two sentences on top of screenshots
underperformed screenshots without any
caption at all; however, we also saw that one
competitor had made use of a caption style
that blended captions into the screenshots
themselves.
We saw strong trends in products that

were listed very frequently on the 5miles
marketplace. We hypothesized that the
products shown in the screenshots would
have a strong impact on performance if linked
to such frequently posted products on the
5miles marketplace.
Pro Tip We drew a conclusion based on competitor

Consider the fact that negative test After applying the results of an A/B research that people in buy/sell mode wanted
results can be a good sign: With test, be sure to measure performance to captions focused on features that help them
significantly poor performances, you ensure that the performance yield has to buy or sell faster/easier, rather than more
uncover something that has a significant improved. When uncertain about the generic branding or social proof.
impact on your overall performance. By reliability of a successful test, running One of 5miles’ new screenshot test variants.
process of elimination, you can work a B/A test can also help increase With this information, we set up a series of progressive
your way up to a change that produces confidence in the outcome (testing the A/B tests on Google Play experiments to test several
a positive impact! Lower significance prior winner/control against the newly new caption styles, caption text, and photos focusing
intervals can cause lower confidence applied winner). on different popular products sold on 5miles. The
in test results, so seek high significance result was a brand-new screenshot style that was not
intervals and large performance only successful on Google Play but also on the App
changes for best results. Store!
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Reporting on Conversion Rate

Optimization
When considering how to measure the impact of

your CRO efforts, the best numbers to consider are
naturally ratios and relative data points, as CRO is
about improving your app’s efficiency.
KPI
Metric Impressions to downloads conversion rate (App Store)
Impressions to product page views click-through rate OR Store Listing Visitors to Store Listing Acquisitions
(App Store only) conversion rate (Google Play)
For apps on the App Store, this Beware This fundamental ratio KPI for Keep two important factors in mind
top-of-funnel metric is mainly useful Changing both keywords and your measuring CRO performance revolves when reporting on your conversion
to understand the ability of your app app’s store listing at the same time can around the (unique) visitor to install rate:
preview video in encouraging store make it difficult to determine whether conversion rate on the App Store or
visitors to take a deeper look. This a change in product page view CTR Google Play. Making improvements to 1. Shifts in impressions or store
can help you determine how well your or install conversion rate happened your listing is ultimately done with the listing visitors can also cause
app preview video does at drawing because of your new keyword mix or goal of increasing the chance that each changes to your conversion rate,
users deeper into your product page; because of your CRO changes. Try to visitor (most accurately measured by independent of your CRO efforts.
however, because a product page view keep either your visibility or conversion impressions or store listing visitors) For example, changing keyword
does not always generate an install, this stable when making a change, and only will decide to install your app. rankings due to competition
should just be considered as a metric change one CRO element at a time for changes, algorithm updates, or
and secondary to an install-related KPI. best measurement confidence. Make sure to measure the conversion seasonality can all affect your
rate per source level: Search and Browse conversion rate independent of
(App Store) or Explore (Google Play). any change on your store listing.
2. Because users can download apps

directly from search results on
the App Store, this is the lowest
common denominator when
measuring conversion rate.
290 291
App Store conversion rate shown in the App Analytics dashboard. Source: App Store Connect.
KPI KPI
Product page views to downloads conversion rate Installs
(App Store)
While the impressions conversion When measuring the product page view The classic metric for measuring the impact of
rate is the best metric to measure to downloads conversion rate, be aware visibility improvements is also an important KPI
the performance of your CRO efforts that any advertising efforts directing to measure CRO success. While install conversion
overall, to measure changes that users to your product page will skew rate helps measure efficiency, the ultimate goal of
only affect your product page on the this conversion rate ratio more than the ASO revolves around increasing install volume. Over
App Store, it is necessary to measure impressions to downloads conversion time, not only will improvements in CRO raise your
the product page view to downloads rate. conversion rate, but also the number of installs your
conversion rate. Elements that app receives. As a result, keyword rankings can be used
relatively affect your product page to point to the success of CRO; as your app climbs up
view conversion rate include your the rankings by converting more visitors into users,
promotional text, description, forth Beware it also earns more favorable organic rank placements
screenshot and onwards, What’s New, Your app may have a higher number of from the keyword algorithm.
the app info (awards, chart, size, etc.), downloads than product page views,
as well as the header image on your as users can directly install your app In the metrics view in the App Store Connect “App
app’s product page, your promoted in- from search results. Therefore, it is Analytics” dashboard, Apple uses a gray line to
app purchases, and the bundle the app recommended to use the impressions indicate when app or iOS updates occur, helping you
is included in. conversion rate instead of the page hone in more quickly on the right dates.
views conversion rate.
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KPI
Google Play conversion rate vs. peers
Google Play’s conversion rate vs. peers is a great

quality signal to determine how your performance
stacks up to the competition. The benchmark reflects
“the difference between your app’s conversion rate for
the selected time period and your peers’ median,” and
you can select the peer group to compare with. This
can often be more useful than comparing against your
app’s own performance, as ASO is very much involved
in positioning your app against the competition for
better performance. Additionally, as a comparative
data point, the conversion rate benchmark can help
you determine whether your visibility optimization
efforts are likely to bear sustainable fruit or not, as
a low conversion rate will cause your visibility to
decline over time.
The simplest method of reporting on CRO

performance (or visibility improvements) is to create
a weekly/monthly log of store performance data and
use this historical data as your benchmark.
By using benchmarks for “normal data,” you can also

create a system that saves analysis time by indicating
whether performance is normal on a daily, weekly,
monthly, and yearly basis, or whether something is
off and requires a deeper review. Abnormalities in
performance uncovered by reporting can also raise
a red flag for issues related to factors outside of your
direct control, such as identifying potential issues in
ratings/reviews or shifts in competitors or the store Google Play conversion rate vs. peer data
algorithm. (app name and category data removed).
294 295
Reporting on CRO
You can also use data from the App Store Connect
and Google Play Console to correlate with keyword
metadata and conversion rate optimization changes,
affirm or debunk your hypotheses, and inform future
hypotheses. As an example, given the graph below, you
see changes in conversion rate and would like to make
sure that this uplift was caused by your screenshot
updates.
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The successful screenshot update should cause an immediate uplift in conversion

rate while impressions remain stable. However, it is important to note that
seasonality factors and external noise would not be removed from a paired t-test,
so it is also important to make sure you do not compare periods also influenced by
offline campaigns, PR, and so on.
An easy, simple, and common way to

do so is to conduct a causal impact
analysis, comparing the average volume
of influenced metrics right before and
after the changes are implemented. By
using a paired t-test, you can compare
the data differences before and after for
each subject, thus accounting for user
behavior throughout the week. When
computing data, it is important to
have a good length of time for both the
baseline and influenced periods: at least
two weeks = two cycles. For instance,
Use of an ASO tool can help you measure the impact of your ASO efforts and other factors on your
the example above compares app units
downloads and category rankings. Source: AppTweak.
(downloads) and impressions from Oct
24th (Sat) to Nov 6th (Fri), and Nov 7th
(Sat) to Nov 20th (Fri).
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Portfolio Approach
Optimizing Against Your Other Apps
Developers with multiple apps on the App Store or Google Play possess a unique There is also an important caveat to be
opportunity to optimize against their portfolio, generate applicable learnings that aware of when optimizing against apps
can benefit all apps, and thus produce a self-virtuous growth of knowledge. targeting different types of users: The
learning outcomes will always carry
Even if the apps exist in different categories and cater to different target users, the risk of being influenced primarily
there are still many mutually beneficial tests and learnings that can be discovered by user intent, rather than the test you
using the portfolio optimization approach, such as: have run. To overcome this, you should
test your learnings against the app you
• Testing the impact of different • Probing nuances of how the keyword want to apply it to before doing so, to
general screenshots or app preview and top chart ranking algorithms ensure that the hypothesis holds true.
video designs (e.g., screenshot on operate via standardized tests.
a real phone interface, screenshot Along these lines, you can also test for
on an animated phone profile, • Testing different messaging learnings of one app across the App
screenshot only). styles for IAPs (e.g., use case vs. Store and Google Play; but again, be
straightforward description vs. sure to test the learnings on the other
• Testing the structure and layout of data points). platform before assuming they will
your description. hold true.
300 301
CHAPTER 04
Localization &
Seasonality
CHAPTER 04 LO C A L I Z AT I O N & S E A S O N A L I T Y
Introduction to
Localization
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Address a global In 2019, Deezer, a French music streaming service, identified Positive results after localization are not unique to Deezer. In
audience through Turkey as its next target market. The company engaged Phiture 2014, Soundcloud began localizing keywords in key markets and
and conducted research on this new market and used key findings experienced a large uplift in downloads, including 376% month-
localization to create visual- and text-based assets that would speak to relevant over-month growth in downloads in Russia and 264% growth in
to grow your cultural trends. As a result of its localization efforts, Deezer went South Korea.
from being an unknown music streaming service to a market leader
audience beyond
in Turkey with the following results:
your initial From these two examples, we can see the high-impact potential of
geographical base. • 61% uplift in App Store downloads after the first round app localization. Despite this, many apps have not (yet) implemented
of`keyword optimization. localization as a consistent ASO strategy. After conducting an
analysis of the top 20 apps in various categories and markets on the
• 53% uplift in Google Play downloads. App Store (2020), it was found that only around 50% of apps had
localized their subtitles, while just a little over 80% had localized
• 2% increase in organic conversion rate. their long descriptions.
304 305
Percentage of the top 20 apps per category and country with localized subtitles
(App Store). Source: AppTweak, December 2020.
306 307
Percentage of the top 20 apps per category and country with localized long descriptions (App Store).
Source: AppTweak, December 2020.
308 309
Counting almost 1.5 billion speakers around the Even in Australia, store visitors will search for In this chapter, we’ll take you through
world, English is often perceived as the international “pokies” instead of “slot machines.” As such, having several important localization topics
language; however, as large as this number seems, a localized app store presence helps developers that can improve your visibility and
this only represents 20% of the world’s population. break cultural and linguistic barriers, succeed in new conversion strategies. These include
Although certain developed countries, such as France markets, increase conversion, and boost their chances understanding the mechanisms behind
and Germany, are highly proficient in English, most of being featured on the store (some local editorial app store localization, choosing the
users (around 65%) still prefer to search for online teams even make app localization a requirement). languages to localize your app in,
content in their native language and use domestic minimum viable translation, and other
keywords to browse the app stores. localization tips and tricks.
The most spoken languages worldwide (native and second language speakers in millions).
Source: Statista, 2021.
310 3 11
Available Languages on the

• On the App Store, you can localize your app in up
App Store & Google Play to 39 languages or locales.
• Google Play supports up to 77 locales
for localization.
“Locales” are the languages (represented by two- You can set one primary locale on both stores (usually
character codes in lower case) matched to a country en-US or en-UK). By doing so, you specify the default
(represented by two-character codes in upper case). locale the store will revert to when users browse the
We use the term “locale” rather than “language” to store in a locale that your app is not localized for.
be able to differentiate between dialects in the same
language; for example, US English appears as “en-US”
while British English appears as “en-UK.”
312 313
Localization on Google Play
If you don’t provide translations for your textual app Beware

metadata on Google Play, users can choose to view While the Google Translate algorithm is constantly
an auto-translated version of your content. Google improving, it is not perfect and automated translations
automatically translates your app’s short description on the Play Store can lead to weird, undesirable
and provides a “translate” toggle button in the top outcomes. This can especially be the case for brands:
right-hand corner of the page for users who want to If you decide to keep your store presence English-
read the long description in their native language. only, it might be worth checking the quality of the
Google will also automatically index your app for auto-translations in your core languages and fixing
many keywords in local searches without you having any errors.
manually translated your metadata.
Google’s auto-translate feature will also translate
parts of your keyword corpus. If you rank for “shop
healthy” in English, it is likely that you also rank for
“gezond shoppen” in Dutch, even if you have never
translated or published something in Dutch on the User experience for Google Play’s listing translation (French, Belgium).
store.
314 315
Localization on the App Store
The App Store is a bit more rudimentary and does Several conclusions were drawn from this test:
not provide auto-translations. As a result, if you want
users to view your app page in their native language, • In the United States, apps rank for keywords
you have to manually translate your metadata in the included in both the Spanish (MX) and English
App Store Connect console for each language you (US) app listing.
want your app page to be available in.
• With the exception of Canada and the US, apps
More interesting for ASO is that keywords in at least globally rank for keywords included in the English
two locales can be indexed in each App Store territory. (UK) localization (when English (UK) is set as
For example, in the United States, the Apple algorithm the primary locale) or English (US) localization
will consider the keywords added to the English (US) (when English (US) is set as the primary locale).
and Spanish (MX) app pages when indexing your app.
• Keywords included in the English (UK)
We ran a few tests using fake keywords, such as localization are not indexed in Japan, whereas
“enuk1201,” for an English (UK) localization and keywords in English (US) are.
tracked these keywords across the different App Store
territories to better understand which locales are • Keywords in English (UK) seem to be indexed in
indexed in which territory. Australia and New Zealand in the absence of an
English (AU) localization.
It is also worth noting that, at the time of this book’s For example, an app that has a great presence and user Indexed and non-indexed languages across different App Store territories for our localization test.
publication, apps also rank globally—except in Canada base in the United States but low brand recognition
and the US—for English (AU). It is not really clear why in Mexico could forgo translating its app listing into
Apple would do this, hence this should be handled Spanish. Instead, it could include English keywords
with caution as Apple might reverse this phenomenon in the Spanish (MX) localization. The app would then
at some point. rank in the US App Store for the keywords added to Beware
both the English (US) and Spanish (MX) localization. Keywords are not combined across localizations, meaning that if you
ASO experts can take advantage of this multiple locale have “learn” only in the English (US) keyword field and “Spanish”
indexing and try to rank their app on a wider variety of only in the Spanish (MX) keyword field, you will rank for “learn” and
keywords. “Spanish” in the US, but not for “learn spanish.”
316 317
Next, add other relevant English keywords to the app’s Spanish (MX) keyword
field; you could even include English keywords in the Spanish (MX) title and/or
subtitle to target even more English keywords.
Example of a Multi-Index
Localization Strategy
Let’s imagine that you develop a food recipe app

supporting a variety of meals from vegetarian dishes
to meaty BBQ dinners. The app is in English, and its
core market is the United States.
Incorporating so many recipes makes it difficult to Example of a multi-index

add every relevant keyword to your app’s 30-character localization strategy.
title, 30-character subtitle, and 100-character
keyword field. This is where a multi-index localization
strategy comes into play. While this practice is frowned upon by Apple, so far, no
The first step is adding the most relevant and searched Above, we see that the most relevant Spanish keywords rejections from Apple have been publicized. However,
for keywords to the app’s English (US) metadata: have been added to the title and subtitle. However, in general, it is best to (at least) localize the title and
other recipes US users might look for have also been subtitle to appeal to local users. Even if your app is
added to the keyword field, in English. We also see that not available in Mexico, keep in mind that the large
the keyword “recipes” was repeated in the Spanish Spanish-speaking population in the US may be more
(MX) keyword field despite already being included likely to search for your app using Spanish keywords.
in the US metadata. This allows the app to target Nonetheless, if Spanish speakers are not your main
the long-tail keyword “salmon recipes” as keyword target audience, this methodology can help you rank
combinations are restricted to singular locales. As for more English keywords in the US.
such, if the keyword “recipes” had only been added to
the English (US) metadata and “salmon” only to the
Spanish (MX) metadata, the app would only rank for
the individual keywords “recipes” and “salmon,” but
Example of a multi-index not the for the combination “salmon recipes.”
localization strategy.
318 319
List of App
Store Territories
With Cross-
Localization
Benefits
320 321
Note: Data broken down

by language is not available
on App Store Connect;
instead, you should base
your localization choices on
How to Prioritize App statistics broken down by
Localizations “territory” or “region.”
There are a lot of languages to However, you could also start by Developers often opt to start with FIGS
choose from when localizing your looking at the languages in which your languages (French, Italian, German, and
app—so where should you start? Of app is already popular. Consider your Spanish): These languages are considered
course, this depends on your broader app analytics to see how many new or top choices for app localization as they
internationalization strategy which active users your app has per language reach a wide range of potential users
should incorporate many different and country, as well as the markets in mature markets with high shares of
factors, such as total addressable from which your app receives the most revenue and purchasing powers. Recently,
market size, monetization capabilities, downloads and ratings & reviews. Portuguese and Russian (FIGS PR) have
your app genre, and available internal Tracking your competitors and the gained a lot of interest in addition to
resources. markets their apps are localized for can FIGS languages. As for Asian studios,
also indicate favorable markets for your these typically start localization efforts
own app. To go a step further, you could for Asian languages—CJK in particular
also look at external data to consider (Chinese, Japanese, and Korean).
revenue per market and market growth
rate.
322 323
The
Localization
Process
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
An impactful app localization strategy goes

beyond simple translations.
Discover the different steps that constitute
a strong localization process.
The localization process consists of four levels:

minimum viable localization (MVL), localization
of metadata, culturalization of creatives, and
culturalization of in-app content.
The steps essential to app localization.
324 325
Minimum Viable Localization

(MVL)
An MVL is the first level in the app localization process
This specific example is interesting as it also You should go one step further to research how each
and the minimum you can do to gain initial traction
demonstrates why you should be careful when using translated keyword will look on the App Store using a
in visibility and conversion. It consists of translating
Google Translate for visible assets: While the concepts live search or an ASO tool. In the case of the keyword
your app’s metadata, description, and keywords into
have been translated correctly, the app-specific “Filmredakteur,” we can quickly understand that
your target market’s main language and can provide
meaning has been lost in translation. For example, not many apps (=2) are trying to optimize for this
signals as to whether you should divest or invest in
Google provides “Filmredakteur” as a translation of keyword. This indicates that users would not typically
further localization for that market.
the keyword “film editor”; however, this translation search the stores using this keyword, suggesting it is
actuallyconcerns the job title, not the generic term , not an interesting term to target in app metadata.
which you probably wouldn’t know if you didn’t speak
German!
App Store
Automated translations are frowned upon by Apple For example, if you wanted to understand whether
as well as by store visitors. Despite this, automated a German market would be interested in a movie
translations can sometimes be useful when entering recording/editing app, you can start by entering the
a new market for the first time, which is why they are main keywords (identified in English) into Google
referred to as minimum viable translations. Translate.
The keyword ‘Filmredakteur’ generates minimal results on the App Store in Germany.
If you do not have much confidence in the quality Source: Toaster by Phiture.
of automated translations, you can consider only

applying auto-translations to the App Store keyword
field, as this metadata element is not visible to users.
An auto-translated keyword field will not impact your
conversion but will help your app rank on relevant Google Play
keywords in the target market’s primary language.
On the other hand, we would advise against relying Adding auto-translated metadata as if they were
on automated translations on Google Play. By default, professional will not help for keyword indexing and
users can already choose to view an auto-generated may only decrease your conversion rate. Therefore,
translation of your app page (see section “Localization we would advise you to add professional translations
on Google Play”), and Google automatically indexes for the title and short description (at least) as these
apps for translations of their main keywords. are the most visible and impactful elements in terms
of conversion rate. For this, you could use a service
like Gengo.
Some initial localization for keywords using Google Translate.

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Keyword Research &

Localization of Metadata
An MVL is beneficial, but as we saw with Building a keyword list in a foreign language is not easy. Be sure to analyze your competitors’ metadata To help you save time and expand your keyword
“Filmredakteur,” its effectiveness is limited in terms Begin with an initial list of the most relevant keywords (especially titles and subtitles/short descriptions) to research, you could again rely on an ASO tool; most
of search visibility. To boost your app visibility in a in your app’s default language and use a translation get an idea of the most appropriate relevant keywords have a variety of keyword research tools that can help
new market, it is vital to conduct keyword research tool like DeepL Translate to identify the different for the local market. Another way to find relevant you build a large keyword list in no time.
and optimize your app for that specific locale. translations of each term and the applicability of keywords is to consider the exact autofill suggestions
each. Let’s look at our previous example of a movie that Apple displays in the search tab for these
To do this, you should create a keyword list in the recording/editing app and the keyword “recorder.” In keywords. For example, if the keyword “Filmrekorder”
target language to identify relevant, high-volume, this case, the most relevant translation in German is (film recorder) is one of your focus keywords, your
low-competition search terms to add to your app’s “Rekorder” (“Blockflöte” is mostly associated with research should mainly focus on the root keyword
metadata. music and not film). “Film.”
DeepL Translate’s different translations of “recorder” in German and example sentences. Exact autofill suggestions that Apple displays in the App Store search tab; auto-suggestions are among
the strongest sources of keyword ideas. Source: AppTweak (2021).
328 329
Once you have assembled your list of relevant To complete your keyword research,
search terms in the target language, try to think of you should perform a live search for the
all the possible keyword combinations, including high-volume keywords. This allows you
broad keywords and long-tail keywords (niche to identify the apps that currently rank
keywords). One way to do this is through ASO tools in the search results so you can better
that incorporate “keyword shuffling” features which understand whether these keywords
provide all the high-volume, long-tail combinations of are relevant to your app.
different keywords:
From your final list of relevant German

keywords, you should then select the
keywords you want to target in your
metadata and determine where each
keyword should go (title, subtitle, short
description, keyword field, etc). To make
sure your message is conveyed well, we
recommend having these suggestions
reviewed by a native speaker from
your target country because direct
translations will not suffice.
Keyword shuffler for the terms “Film,” “Filme,” (films) “schneiden,” (editing) “machen,” (making) and “drehen” (shooting). Live search results for “Film schneiden”
Source: AppTweak. (film editing).
330 331
Here are some elements to keep in mind when

localizing your app’s creative elements:
• Use language that resonates with the local culture • When adding captions to screenshots, use a font
True Localization is (i.e., slang or other colloquialisms) instead of direct that provides full support for the target language
“Culturalization” translations. Many elements, such as cultural and instead of one that doesn’t support the whole
linguistic nuances (i.e., grammatical structures, alphabet or characters (especially for non-Latin
Localization does not just mean keyword optimization However, the proportion of apps that localize their tones, etc.), need to be considered in the translation languages).
but also working on your app’s creatives and in-app creatives varies from country to country. For example, process to make sure your message is appropriate for
content. This is called “culturalization” and consists AppTweak (2021) found that 93% of the top 100 apps on the target audience. Depending on the language, some fonts read better
of developing custom app store pages for different the Italian App Store had localized their screenshots, than others; for example, the best fonts for Korean
locales based on that specific market’s unique beliefs, whereas only 64% of apps had done the same on the • Use the correct references and formats in your Hangul are Dodum and Nanum due to their high
views, and values. This step requires in-depth Taiwanese App Store. AppTweak also found that 85% graphics and text. Some very important elements to readability and full support for Korean characters.
research about the local audience—for example, their of games had localized their screenshots for Germany, keep in mind are units of measurement (e.g., miles vs. Also, fonts may be associated with specific purposes
preferences/expectations concerning app designs compared to only 50% of games for Hong Kong. kilometers), currencies (e.g., commas vs. periods for in different markets. For instance, handwritten
and simply the way they engage with different apps. prices), and dates (MM/DD/YYYY in the US vs. DD/ fonts are usually used in Japan for short and sharp
MM/YYYY in Europe). sentences or exclamations, while Gothic fonts are
typically used for normal expressions.
Screenshots for PayPal on the

US App Store incorporate a
$ currency sign and a period
(e.g., $32.77); on the French
App Store, screenshots
incorporate the € sign and
a comma (e.g., 32,77€).
Percentage of apps and games in the top 100 with screenshots localized for different countries
on the App Store. Source: AppTweak.
332 333
• Optimize for specific local holidays and seasons. • Follow local trends. For example, adding overlaid
• Use local locations and models in A commonly used practice involves tweaking the text to app icons in Japan can help to mark special
screenshots to make the app feel like it app icon (only possible with custom store listings occasions, milestones, and big updates; including
was made specifically for local users. on Google Play) and/or screenshots (possible with special emojis on app pages in Korea can help to
Google Play’s custom store listings and the App Store’s increase conversion rates.
• Use cultural references specific custom product pages, explained in Chapter 6) to mark
to local audiences. Some colors different seasonal events. For example, to account for
and numbers have contrasting summer in the Southern Hemisphere which falls at
connotations depending on the the same time as winter in the Northern Hemisphere,
country; for example, red is associated many shopping apps tweak their screenshots to reflect
with luck and prosperity in China and is upcoming collections for the different seasons.
therefore incorporated into many local
app creatives.
Screenshots for Tinder on the US and Brazilian App Stores call on

local models and popular names.
• If possible, highlight cultural symbols

and/or architecture (e.g., the Statue of
Liberty or the Eiffel Tower) in creatives.
On Google Play, Google Maps increases its local relevancy in the Different ways games use their icons to mark special occasions on
UK and Spain by adding pictures of well-known buildings. the Japanese App Store.
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• Optimize your store listing

(including the order of screenshots) • If your app offers customer support in a country’s
for features that resonate most local language(s), showcase it! This will motivate
with local users; people in different users to download the app knowing that they will
markets tend to prefer specific app be taken care of if they encounter any difficulties.
features over others. As such, keep
in mind that these preferences • Prompt users for local ratings & reviews, especially
change from market to market if you currently have none. Users are more likely
and be sure to showcase preferred to read reviews left in their own language due to
features on localized listings. heightened relatability.
Babbel’s first App Store screenshot shocases languages differently
in the US (left) compared to France (right). In the US, the app also
showcases the number of subscriptions.
• Keep your original app title to These tips will help with the “culturalization” of your
strengthen your brand—add it app page and make a significant difference—however,
next to localized elements (which culturalization does not stop here. Users might be
could also be your title) to increase disappointed if they discover that the app they just
engagement. For example, in Asian downloaded does not support their local language. As
markets, many games localize their a result, the next step would be to also “culturalize”
title while also keeping the English your in-app content and text.
version either in parentheses or
separated by a dash.
Localization is a continuous process of regular
testing. Conducting in-depth research about a new
market will help you better understand trends and
cultural differences. However, just doing this one
time is not enough! You also need to constantly test
new hypotheses and creative assets (A/B tests) before
they go live on the stores to have a better idea of what
works (and what doesn’t work) in that market and the
elements that resonate most with local store visitors.
Different ways games localize their titles
(App Store, China).
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Custom Store
Pages on
Because custom store listings target users based on country, you are
not limited when adapting your message to users in the same region
Google Play
but from different countries. For example, a special discount offer
only available in France could be presented on a custom store listing
targeting France, whereas promoting this discount on the main
store listing would risk Belgian or Moroccan users seeing it as they
may also be sent to the French-France main listing if their devices
are set to French.
When you localize your app store listing, you can Google’s custom store listings allow developers
typically only reach users based on their device to create alternative product pages of their app by
language and region preferences. This presents uploading assets and text to be shown to users based
unique challenges for apps that want to showcase on their store country or app install state (also applies
country-specific elements on their app page; for to pre-registered users). The aim of this feature is
example, a food delivery app that is localized for the to provide marketers with better accuracy to target
French language might want to showcase different users with specific offers and value propositions.
restaurants on its screenshots to users in Belgium vs.
France. Google Play has a solution for this challenge
called “custom store listings.” A detailed description
of store promotional tools can be found in Chapter
6—here, we will reference the feature within a
localization context.
The French app Heetch localizes its screenshots
for Belgium.
While users in France see maps of Paris (above),

users in Belgium will recognize the streets of
Brussels (below). In its screenshots for France,
Heetch also showcases a shorter average waiting
time (“2 minutes”) and adds terminology more
relevant to Paris (“en ville et en banlieue” =
“in the city and in the [Parisian] suburbs”).
338 339
Additional
Localization
Resources
Localizing your store presence can add During the 2020 ASO Conference in FURTHER READING:
quite a lot of overhead costs—it can Berlin, Ilia Kukharev, Head of ASO at For more specific information on
be extremely inefficient to develop an Aviasales, explained how the brand screenshots, check out Tim Jones’s blog
app at the same time as translating its has created a seamless flow for 40+ post: Grow Your App Internationally
content into many languages. Teams languages with a weekly release cycle with Screenshot Translations, which
working with a lot of localizations using automated localization on explains how to use Launchmatic to
should automate some of this overhead Crowdin. With this automated process, instantly translate app screenshot text
by using tools such as Launchmatic the company has been able to reduce into every single available App Store
(app screenshot generator) or Crowdin the time needed for translations from and Google Play language.
(cloud-based localization technology). 15% to just 1%, saving a lot of valuable
time.
340 3 41
Introduction to
Seasonality
The Importance of Seasonality
in ASO
It is important for ASO practitioners to at least On the other hand, downloads for travel apps generally
recognize the impact of seasonality on store behavior increase around the arrival of the summer months; at
at different times throughout the year. this time, many users are preparing to book flights,
hotels, and vacations, and again, are likely to download
For example, we know that downloads for the Health apps that facilitate their searches.
& Fitness category generally peak around the New
K E Y TA K E AWAY S Year—this is a time where people are very motivated User behaviors between different categories also
to work out and improve their lifestyles (especially fluctuate daily. Looking at the Games (All) category,
Understand the importance of after the Christmas period) and, as such, are more we see that downloads increase more at the weekend
(and learn how to benefit from) app likely to download apps that help them reach their when users have more time to play and engage in
New Years’ resolutions. leisure activities; during the week, users are normally
store seasonality when conducting more preoccupied with school or work. On the other
ASO work. hand, users tend to download apps in the Utilities
category in the middle of the week, as these products
serve to facilitate users’ daily lives.
Where app localization considers the impact of space Seasonality coincides with app localization as
on your ASO strategy, seasonality considers the different events are relevant to different locales:
impact of time. Naturally, user habits and preferences for example, public holidays such as Christmas or
impact store search behaviors. This can be reflected Easter are not particularly relevant in all countries
in fluctuations in downloads for different apps at around the world. Such cultural differences should be
different times of the week, month, or year. As a result, considered when adapting your app product page and
seasonality refers to the process of updating your app aiming to further engage store users.
metadata and/or creatives to best reflect seasonal
events or holidays.
Yearly fluctuations in download estimates for the Travel category Weekly fluctuations in download estimates for the Games category
on the US App Store. Source: AppTweak. (orange line) and the Utilities category (red line) on the App Store.
Source: AppTweak.
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How to Leverage Seasonality

in Your ASO Strategy
To leverage seasonality in your ASO strategy, it is

recommended to update your app’s textual metadata
and/or creative assets to attract and engage users with
references to relevant seasonal events. This helps Trivia Crack updated its App Store screenshots for seasonal events
to position your brand as proactive, reactive, and to engage users and promote new game modes.
creative.
However, before immediately updating your product They can be particularly useful to help you understand
page, it is always recommended to A/B test your if / how updating your app page according to seasonal
metadata on the App Store or Google Play. A/B tests, events will resonate with your audience: for example,
discussed in more detail in Chapter 3: Increasing some users might consider seasonal updates as
Conversion, are experiments run on your app page to a marketing ploy while others might respond
understand the text or creatives to which your target particularly well.
market reacts best.
Trivia Crack updated its App Store icon for different seasonal events
to make its app stand out in search results.
344 345
In general, to try and leverage

seasonality in your ASO, you should:
• Take advantage of seasonal trends
• Evaluate consumer behaviors for to boost your app’s downloads; for • Combine ASO with • Be creative and
your category by month or day of example, offer holiday promotions other marketing follow local trends.
the week. or new content related to the event efforts.
on your app/game.
Shein regularly updates its screenshots to match its app page with in-app content, deals, and collections. Shein regularly updates its screenshots to match its app page with in-app content, deals, and collections.
346 347
A Note on Seasonal or
Otherwise Time-Sensitive CRO
There are many instances where there arises a Search volume for keywords related to these seasonal
time-sensitive opportunity to improve visibility events temporarily soars in the app stores. For
and conversion rates by taking advantage of current example, in the weeks leading up to the 2021 Super
events or trends. Major seasonal events or holidays Bowl, search volumes for the keyword “super bowl”
are principal examples of these, but others include grew from, on average, 10 to 45 in the US. Search
political events (e.g., presidential elections), large volumes for the keyword “black friday” also soar each
sporting events (e.g., the World Cup), and shifts in year to reach a volume between 50 and 60 on the US
popular culture. App Store.
While some time-sensitive opportunities may last for

several weeks or months, optimizing for them should
be viewed as a luxury, rather than a necessity. Taking
advantage of a time-sensitive event represents a risk
due to:
• These opportunities may not be as pervasive As a result, you should only attempt to optimize for
throughout the general app market compared to these opportunities if your overall performance is
the intent of keyword searches or an app’s category. sound, if the trend matters to your target market,
and if you are able to test your optimization before
• There is less data available on how to cater to applying the results to your live app listing.
trends compared to the regular rhythm of business.
• Such trends are also often ephemeral, meaning

that the learnings gained can easily become
obsolete.
Search volume history in the US App Store for the keywords “Superbowl” and “Black Friday.” Source: AppTweak.
348 349
Example of a Successful
Seasonality Strategy: CBS Sports
CBS Sports is an example of one app that successfully On January 22, CBS Sports included the keyword
leverages seasonal events to increase its visibility “Super Bowl” in its subtitle and updated its
and optimize its page to make it more relevant for its screenshots. The app’s rankings on the keyword
users. For major seasonal events, the app doesn’t only “Super Bowl” jumped to eventually reach the number
optimize its screenshots to better match user intent, one position. ESPN, on the other hand, did not
it also tries to benefit from the increase in search implement the same kind of strategy and lost rankings
volume by updating the subtitle. on the keyword during the Super Bowl season.
CBS Sports has updated its App Store subtitle several times to benefit from seasonal events such as the Example of different screenshots for the CBS Sports app on the US App Store.
Super Bowl, Masters, Champions League and more. Source: AppTweak.
350 3 51
After updating its metadata for the Masters in April

2021, CBS Sports also managed to rank #2 on the
keyword “masters.” ESPN did not rank for this
keyword at all.
Keyword ranking history for the keyword “Super Bowl” for CBS Keyword ranking history for the keyword “Masters” for CBS Sports
Sports vs. ESPN (US App Store). Source: AppTweak. vs. ESPN (US App Store). Source: AppTweak.
Successfully optimizing your app for seasonal events

requires a thoughtful strategy, including many of
the best practices outlined earlier in this book. Only
updating screenshots or just adding a trending
keyword to the keyword field will not be enough to
make a true impact.
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CHAPTER 05
Reviews and
Ratings
CHAPTER 05 R AT I N G S & R E V I E W S
Why Are Ratings and New Apps vs. Established Apps

Reviews So Important? There are two major phases of an app’s Once you have amassed many reviews,
lifecycle regarding ratings and reviews. negative reviews leave you clues about
The first phase is the launch of a new app, how disgruntled users feel. Even with
where you have few ratings and reviews the best of apps, unhappy users will go
but you need more social credibility. out of their way to leave low ratings and
You may not have many users, so getting negative reviews. First and foremost,
more ratings and reviews is a challenge. helping these users will be your number
And since your app just launched, you one long-term goal. If users leave a
are still addressing initial bugs and negative review, they are not the only
K E Y TA K E AWAY
product issues. ones having that particular issue, and
you will inevitably make a better app
Understand why ratings and Ratings and reviews are the lifeblood of by solving the root causes of their
a fresh app on the app stores. Positive complaints.
reviews are vital to a solid
ratings win over users skeptical of a new
app growth strategy. app and validate that the app is worth We know satisfied users are lazy. Happy
their time to download. As an added users will not (usually) go out of their
bonus, positive reviews broaden the way to rate and review the app. As you
target keywords for when users search establish your app, you also need to
Ratings and reviews are the key public your users happier and less likely to for your app. The more target keywords establish a plan that encourages a steady
indicator of your app’s health. App uninstall your app. contained in positive reviews, the stream of happy users to leave high
ratings and reviews play a crucial role better your app discoverability is. Users ratings and positive reviews, keeping
in driving app downloads. Ratings are Both ratings and reviews are important are thus more likely to stumble upon users discovering and installing your
important: Users are never keen to and serve the same function for users, your app via a search on the app stores. app… Instead of your competitors.
install an app with a rating below 4.0 but in different ways. Ratings convey a
stars, and given the intense competition quick, quantitative measure of an app’s “Maintain a strong rating” is the mantra No matter what phase your app is in,
on the app stores, even an app rated quality, while reviews offer a more of an established app. You may have this chapter will give you the insights
below 4.5 stars is at a disadvantage substantive, qualitative measure. An many users, but you need to maintain to increase your install conversion
compared to higher-rated competition. app’s star rating is the most important a consistently high rating while via a high rating and maximize your
Apple and Google are more likely to single data point affecting an app’s combating low ratings and negative keywords via glowing reviews. Special thanks go to
feature and promote a highly rated app; download conversion rate, while reviews. You may have multiple Sebastian Gallese and
your app will rank higher in your target reviews display the true value your app competitor apps with high ratings, and Thomas Schultz-Wenk from
category (e.g., Arcade, Social, Music) offers to users. The ASO Stack Slack you need to differentiate yourself by Haystack Reviews for this
compared to lower-rated competitors; community suggests that 100 high maintaining an even higher rating. To chapter on optimizing your
and last but not least, by fixing your ratings have a larger impact on your app keep an app at the top of the charts, a app’s ratings and reviews
app’s negative reviews, you will make metrics than one review. high rating is needed. strategy.
356 357
Creating a
Review Strategy
If you do not have a basic review strategy in place, the most
important step is to simply start asking users. As you optimize your
review strategy, there are numerous decisions to consider, and we
will explore these in the next sections.
K E Y TA K E AWAY
Before we dive into where and when to prompt users, it is helpful to
understand the two approaches when asking users for a rating:
Learn how to create a strategy deciding where,
when, and how you will ask users for reviews.
Passive Active
Decide if you will actively prompt or passively
entice users to rate your app. You can add a simple “Rate Using the system-provided
the app” button in a less in-app-rating prompt or a
conspicuous area of the app. custom pop-up, you can more
These typically feel more aggressively ask the user to rate
“native” within the app and the app. Since these prompts
You need to plan how to help your users rarely take the time to write a blend in with the surrounding often overlay the screen, most
happiest users rate your app. A strategy glowing review, upset users, on the user interface. A passive apps show these prompts at
to combat negative review bias is other hand, immediately turn to app prompt will result in fewer the end of a successful user
essential because your satisfied users store reviews as a place to vent, ask for ratings than an active prompt journey when no further user
are unlikely to go out of their way to support, and warn other users about but is generally less invasive to interaction is needed.
organically rate your app. While happy issues within your app. the user experience.
A typical strategy to ask for reviews, which you have likely implemented, is:
The passive versus active choice: Depending on the size of your user
1 2 3 base, your typical user lifecycle, and your user experience, a more
passive or more active strategy may be warranted. For example, a
Where When How
casual game with quick users and high churn may opt for an active
Find the moment in the Near this happy location, Show the user an in-app strategy to ensure users rate the app before quitting the game. In
app which brings users find the least disruptive rating or ask the user to contrast, a subscription app with a large user base and very loyal
the most joy. moment to ask the user rate on the app store. users may warrant a more passive approach to solicit ratings without
to rate. bothering long-term customers.
358 359
Screenshots showing, from

left to right, where Google While developing rating features is Tools for ratings and reviews analysis:
Podcasts, Reddit, and easier compared to more complex Apple, Google, and third-party ASO
Quickbooks fall along the features in your app, your rating tools all allow you to manage ratings
spectrum of passive vs. active strategy will have an outsized outcome and reviews. You will use these tools
prompts. for your company. Consequently, the to monitor your review performance
proper implementation and testing of and assess if you are hitting your
this feature are of great importance. rating targets. For the sake of brevity,
we include only a few tools below, but
we recommend using the tools you are
already most familiar with:
Passive In-Between Active
Once you decide how you will ask users to rate, the next sections
will help you finalize your strategy:
• Pick smart rating triggers

• Craft the right messaging and flow for the rating experience
• Reply to prominent user reviews
Custom code versus third-party tools: Implementing the rating logic

in your app will likely require a developer to add code to your app.
Another alternative is to rely on third-party messaging platforms
like Braze, Leanplum, Firebase, etc., to deliver custom rating
prompts to users.
360 3 61
Ask For Reviews From the App Listing Controversial Practices
You can also use your app listing to ask for reviews. Every app is different, and what works for one may If your app lacks reviews and ratings or has a low The ASO Slack community also reports bots leaving
While not all users read the app listing, this is a low not work as well for another. It’s all about figuring out average rating and poor reviews, you may be tempted nonsense five-star reviews on random apps, which
effort activity to generate new reviews, especially what makes your app stand out compared to other to use controversial tactics to improve your rating. could trigger action from Apple or Google if they
when the latest release adds significant new functions apps in your category. Think about ways to draw a suspect your app of foul play. If you ever see a
that users will appreciate. connection between those features and the reasons Some of these shadier tactics include incentivizing suspicious review left on your app, the best approach
why users should leave you a rating. users to leave a five-star rating in exchange for an is to simply report the review to Apple or Google.
Encourage new users to leave a rating by asking them in-app offer or using paid services to generate fake
to download the app and then rate it at the bottom of reviews. Be aware you may be banned from the stores
your app description. for manipulating reviews. That means that if you’re
caught, you’re out of the game—no more app listing or
downloads.
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Choosing
the Right Trigger
K E Y TA K E AWAY
Discover how to choose smart triggers by

prompting users when they are happiest,
starting simple and increasing complexity if
needed, and avoiding unhappy users by not
prompting too often.
Number of actions Duration
Prompt users to rate once they have Prompt users when they cumulatively
Triggers dictate when to show a rating prompt to the Simple Usage Triggers reached a certain number of app use the app for a specific duration.
user. Triggers are the most influential factor in asking launches, buttons pressed, or screens This ensures a highly activated user
users to leave a review. If you trigger the prompt at The most common triggers are usage triggers. These seen. This ensures a highly satisfied understands the app’s value and has
the wrong time, you waste a valuable chance to gain triggers fire when the user has performed a specific user sees the rating prompt with enough had enough time to truly experience the
a positive review. But if you trigger the prompt at the action a certain number of times or for a specific repeated experiences. Examples: app. Examples:
right time, users are more likely to rate your app. number of minutes/hours/days. These are the most
basic kind of triggers and are perfect for an initial • 10 app launches • Three total hours of watching
Do not feel overwhelmed by the potentially infinite rating strategy. • Pressed the “Complete Purchase” movies
number of triggers within your app. Even if you had button four times • 25 total minutes of active gameplay
not priorly thought about this, you likely already know • Reached the high score screen
the best trigger to find your happiest users. As part of twice These simple usage triggers target a
this process, list the most logical triggers for your app wide audience, allowing you to show the
and implement the top triggers that you think will rating prompt to a high volume of happy
perform the best. users.
364 365
User Journey Triggers

As users progress through your user funnel, they eventually reach an “aha moment”
using your app. An ideal user journey trigger asks the user to rate at this location.
This type of trigger is more complex to plan and implement than a simple usage
trigger, as it occurs after the culmination of multiple events. This is an advanced
rating strategy and the most impactful way to request a rating from a user. Examples:
The triumphant gamer A special dinner reservation
As users play your game and struggle A user reserves a table using your
through multiple levels and, in this restaurant reservation app. However,
case, die three times and have to start this is no ordinary reservation—the
the game over, finally, on the fourth user diligently scanned for multiple
attempt, a milestone is achieved. It is minutes trying to find the perfect spot,
here that we present the rating prompt noted that this reservation was for a
to the user, as their emotions have special anniversary dinner, and now
dramatically swung from frustration to found a lucky reservation at a very
joy. You know from your user metrics popular restaurant that is usually
that they are now “hooked” and will booked months in advance. As this is a
keep coming back to the game. golden opportunity for the user, it is the
perfect opportunity to ask the user to
rate the app.
Pro Tip A prompt appears after a successful

reservation.
Think about the size of your user base,
how many users reach each ideal user
journey, and continue to tweak and
optimize these more complex triggers.
366 3 67
Anti-Triggers
There are certain times when it is best to avoid asking users to rate the app. Use
logic to not ask at a time that will lead to the user ignoring the rating prompt, or
worse, rating the app poorly.
Here are a few examples: Other Triggers
• Do not prompt users if they have Here are a few miscellaneous trigger
experienced a crash in the last week • Do not bug users who have seen approaches that may work for your app.
or recently filed a support ticket. the rating prompt in the last 30-90
These users are upset with your days (unless there has been a major • Major update. You can encourage
app—they will not have positive update). These users already had users to rate your app after a major
feedback. a chance to rate, they don’t need update. For example, highlight the
another opportunity. amazing new feature in this release
before asking them to rate.
• Depending on your user lifecycle, • If users say they are not interested
wait for one to seven days after in rating the app, don’t ask for a • Simple feedback triggers. Add a
users have downloaded the app rating for at least 30 days. Let users simple “feedback” button in your
before you ask for a rating. Users rate when they have the time in the app settings. If users have positive
need enough time to evaluate your future. feedback, you can ask them to rate
app’s benefits. later.
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As with all things, balance this approach given:
Trigger Quotas Frequency Expectations
If they use the app only once a year to If it is a premium subscription app,
Apple and Google both set a limit on the number of complete taxes, you may want to show users may only tolerate one request per
times users can see a system in-app rating prompt. the rating multiple times within a rating per year.
For Apple, the limit is three occurrences per app short span if they dismissed a previous
within a 365-day period. For Google, the limit is once prompt.
during a short period of time (for example, less than
a month). Android developers have confirmed this
once-a-month limit is generally correct, although the
Release cycle Rating goals
documentation states it can be changed by Google If you release a new version each week, If you maintain a very high rating, you
Play without any notice. you may need extra help from users to may only need users to rate the app
show a high rating for new versions. once a year.
Given this quota, a common-sense approach is to Apple, in particular, allows you to reset
show an in-app rating, at most, once every four ratings per app version. Similarly, if you
months. This is a good general approach since you are about to launch a substantial release
avoid annoying users with too many rating requests update, you may want more happy users
and users who have used the app for four months are rating a specific release regardless of
likely to be satisfied. when they last rated the app.
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Client vs. Server Triggers
A more advanced technique is to

consider storing the rating prompt
trigger logic on your server rather than
on your client’s. This allows you to
easily update the logic for the triggers
without needing to update your app.
For example, you can initially configure

your server to ask users to rate the
app after 10 launches. You could later Personalized Triggers
change this value on your server to 5
app launches to see if you achieve more In late 2021, users on Android devices started seeing
ratings. And most importantly, you will ratings specific to their registered country and device
not need to wait for a new app update to type. The trend of personalized ratings for users
make this change. means there is less emphasis on a global rating for
all users; instead, users in some countries may see
You can use a tool like Firebase Remote higher ratings while other users see lower ratings
Config to tweak these server-side for your app.
values and experiment with even more
advanced concepts like A/B testing This presents an opportunity for rating triggers. A
different trigger values. simple example is if you discover your app rating is
low in one country but high in other countries. If you
In this scenario, you could show the currently trigger a small percentage of your happy
rating prompt after 10 app launches users to rate your app, you may want to direct a larger
to users in country A and after 5 app percentage of your happy users in the low-rated
launches to users in country B. You country to rate the app. Personalized triggers allow
could then note the change in ratings you to target users that see a low app rating while
for each country during this A/B test. leaving other users unaffected.
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Measuring Triggers
The final section of this chapter goes into detail about measuring
rating effectiveness. There are two approaches specific to triggers:
indirect and direct measurement.
Indirect measurement Direct measurement

Since it is impossible to measure if users actually rated The direct measurement approach is helpful,
your app once they are on the system in-app request especially when A/B testing triggers. For any change
or directed to the App Store, you can try to correlate to your triggers, instead of showing the system in-
your trigger changes to fluctuations in rating data. For app rating request or directing users to the App Store
any change you make to triggers, simply note the date (which does not allow you to measure users’ actual
users encountered this change, and then note changes actions), you show a sentiment rating to these users
to the volume or distribution of ratings. that you can measure.
If you see a significant change in ratings in App Store For example, let us say you currently trigger a rating
Connect or the Google Play Console, you can infer request if users like 15 artists in your music app, but
causality. While this approach is likely to be good you wish to see if you will get higher-quality ratings if
enough if you only make a few changes each year, it you set the trigger threshold to liking 10 artists. For a
only works well if there is a substantial change in small percentage of your users (for this example app,
ratings and you can never be 100% certain a change in let us assume 1% is enough to constitute a successful
ratings was due to the change in trigger (e.g., maybe A/B test), instead of showing the rating screen, 0.5%
a large marketing event or new feature drove users to of users will see a screen that asks “Do you like this
give very high ratings in the same time period). app?” at 10 likes, and 0.5% of users will see the same
screen at 15 likes.
You can then directly measure how each user group

responds. And if your data supports the hypothesis
that the level of app satisfaction is the same for users
at 10 versus 15 likes, you can go ahead and change the
rating trigger to 10 likes for all users.
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Designing Your Prompt
System vs. Custom Prompt
Deciding between the system in-app request versus a Custom prompts require more design effort, but
custom prompt is one of the most important choices they can be customized to blend in with your app
related to user experience. The system in-app request experience without interrupting the user experience
is the standard approach Apple and Google offer app with a pop-up. They are unique to your app and can
K E Y TA K E AWAY developers to display a small pop-up within the app. be designed to be more eye-catching than a standard
This allows users to quickly rate and review the app request. Custom prompts do require the user to leave
Design your prompt experience, deciding without leaving the app. You do not have control over the app to rate it though, which can dissuade users
between system or custom prompts, whether how the pop-up looks or the content of the pop-up, from leaving a rating or review. Custom prompts are
you should gate your prompts, and the optimal and can only control when the pop-up is triggered. also not subject to a limited quota per year (see the
previous section “Trigger Quota”).
design, voice, and experience for your users. A custom prompt offers you full control over the
content and messaging of the rating request. However, While many apps have reported receiving a higher
users must leave the app in order to rate or review the volume of ratings after implementing the system
app on its store page. in-app request, it is worth experimenting with both
The design, messaging, and implementation of your rating prompts approaches to see what suits your users best and
dramatically influence the rating experience for users. Oftentimes, Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. which approach brings you the highest quality of
teams spend great amounts of time thinking through custom For the most basic method, starting with the system ratings and reviews.
triggers but less time thinking through how to optimize their prompt in-app request is the easiest approach. It requires no
appearance. additional design and most users are familiar with
the system rating request. Users rate the app with
The visual design, messaging, and experience of the prompt directly less effort, as they only need to tap two buttons to
impact your rating prompt’s success. Do not make the mistake of quickly leave a rating and then resume their activity,
neglecting this step! all without leaving the app.
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Gating the Prompt

There are two things to keep in mind when Regardless, if you want to be extra cautious, you have
One common prompt experience is to filter users implementing gating as part of your rating experience. two alternatives. One is to gate custom prompts. This
before they arrive at the prompt to ensure the users The first is that gating lengthens the rating funnel. practice is condoned by Apple and Google as you
that do arrive at the rating prompt are the most likely While gating is more likely to drive highly motivated simply “deep link to the App Store page.” The second
to reward your app with a high rating. Triggers are users to rate the app, it presents more work for users is to implement delayed gating. This practice asks
an important component of this process, but you will to perform prior to writing a review. In an ideal world, users their sentiment for the app, and then—days
also need to decide if you will gate the rating request. you already know users are extremely happy based later—shows the system in-app request.
on where the prompt is triggered, and gating is not
Gating is the process of asking users questions about required.
their sentiment of the app, and then only if they
respond with a high sentiment score, do you show the And while Apple and Google have ambiguous app
rating request. The most common example of this is developer policy language surrounding system in-app
to show a dialog with a question like “Do you like our requests, at the very least, these companies discourage
app?” or “How likely are you to recommend our app, gating if using the system in-app requests. Apple
on a scale of 1 to 10?” If users respond with a “Yes” or specifically uses language such as “don’t use buttons
a rating above 7, these users then see a request for a or other controls to request feedback.” We also asked
rating. If users respond “No” or mark a rating below 8, members of the ASO Slack community if any had
users see a question to solicit private feedback so as to faced negative repercussions from Apple or Google
avoid negative feedback appearing on public reviews. for gating. Their responses suggest that the possibility
of Apple or Google taking action against your app for
gating a system in-app request is very low.
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Design
Design refers to the visual user interface (UI) of your
prompt. Here are a few tips to improve your rating
prompt design:
• Visually appealing UIs grab users’ attention. Improve

engagement with your review prompt by working with a UI
designer to add on-brand touches with custom colors, fonts, and
icons. These make your prompt feel less intrusive to your users
and users are less likely to immediately dismiss the prompt.
• Think about a fun animation to display the review prompt and

entertain your users. This will grab their attention so they are
enticed to interact with the prompt.
• In a sentence or two, explain why you’re asking users for a review.

Be succinct and don’t write a novel. This allows users to quickly Source: appfuel.com
decide if they want to rate the app.
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Experience
Experience refers to the actual user flow of the
prompt. Here are a couple of tips for improving your
rating prompt user experience:
Voice
• Keep the number of steps to a minimum. Instead • Allow users to express dissatisfaction and
Voice refers to the messaging and “feel” of the prompt. What do of asking users if they like the app and then asking contact you if they are not truly happy. Not all
users take away from reading your prompt? Here are a few tips for if they want to rate the app, simply ask if they like users that see your prompt will be happy so you
improving your prompt’s voice: the app. Later, you can set a trigger to show an want to provide an alternative option to rating
in-app rating at an appropriate time. You will lose the app. You would rather users let you know
out on happy users rating the app if you make why they are discontent in a private support
• Address users as special, valued customers, or them perform too much work all at once. ticket than in a public, negative review.
with personable nicknames that are unique to
your app (e.g., “Hey Power Redditor!”).
• Use an appropriate tone for your app. For most

apps, a polite tone (e.g., “Mind leaving us a
review?”) works better than an aggressive tone
(“Rate us 5-stars!”).
• Track which actions triggered the prompt and

mention those actions in the message to draw
attention to the value received. For example,
if users arrive at the prompt after achieving a
high score, the prompt can mention: “ what a
great score!”
• Tell users how much leaving a review helps your

app and new users. For example, a music app Unique voice.
could write: “Your review helps music lovers like

you discover exciting new artists.”
Experience flow.
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Replying
to Reviews
Reviews on the Google Play

Console.
K E Y TA K E AWAY
Learn how to effectively reply to reviews The one-to-seven ratio Re-engage the user
by targeting featured reviews, re-engaging
This means that if you receive a single one-star review, Your response to a reply helps to
users, and showing a genuine desire to help you now need seven five-star reviews to average a re-engage users with your app. While regaining a
dissatisfied users. 4.5-star rating. It is worth the effort to work with single user might not be extremely impactful for an
unhappy users to improve their reviews; otherwise, app with millions of users, for some apps, this might
you will need a much larger quantity of five-star be very worthwhile:
ratings to offset a poor review.
• The negative reviewer converts from a detractor
to a promoter, updates the review, and thus
influences many potential new users.
Reviews on the app stores are the public indicator of the
overall user opinion of your app. While we have covered • Some users are “whales” (i.e., the users spend a
asking for ratings in depth, it is also important to help disproportionately high amount on your app vs.
Social influence
users who took the time to write reviews. As part of average users) and are therefore well worth the
this strategy, replying to reviews is an opportunity to Most potential users check reviews before deciding effort to re-engage.
improve the public sentiment of your app by showing whether or not to download your app. Your positive,
you are engaged with users and trying to help unhappy helpful reply to a negative review can influence Apple and Google empower app developers to analyze,
users. whether users decide to download your app or manage, and reply to reviews. Take advantage of the
not. When you respond to negative feedback, you free tools they offer. Your ASO tool of choice is also
When replying to reviews, there are three things to help potential users know your team is proactively likely to include review management features. Explore
keep in mind: improving the user experience. your favorite tool and see how it can help you reply to
and manage reviews at a larger scale with ease.
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Bad reply
Using the same template message for different people.
How to Reply to Reviews

Effectively
• Apologize for their inconvenience! Users

are upset, and no matter what the root
cause of the problem is, users believe your
app did not live up to its promised potential.
• Be personable. Address your users by name

when possible. This is a human-to-human
interaction.
• Whenever possible, address users’ specific

concerns and how to solve these issues. Tell
users if you will be releasing an upcoming Example of a bad reply.
update that fixes the problem, or if you are

actively working on a fix.
Good reply
Adressing their specific complaint or request.
• Provide users with a support email so they
can send more detailed information to your
team.
• Answer the most featured or upvoted

reviews that live on the front page of your
app on the app stores first. These are the
reviews the majority of users see first and
are of the highest priority.
• Do not respond to every review with

the same template. This will result in a
less genuine response, which users will
notice. Show that this is not an automated
message, but a real person addressing their
unique concern.
Example of a good reply.
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Measuring Rating
and Review Impact
K E Y TA K E AWAY
Use data from Apple, Google, and

other sources to measure the
success of your reviews and ratings
strategy. Track and optimize users’ Ratings and reviews are a vital metric for your Metrics to track: Track the volume of ratings/reviews,
rating journeys. company to track. There are many examples of large, the distribution of ratings (from one star to five stars),
successful companies with millions of users where and the actual text of the reviews.
the CEO still reads app reviews each day and monitors
rating trends. Since ratings and reviews act as a public The volume is important since you will want to
barometer of the health of your app, tracking changes maintain a steady stream of users rating your app. You
in these metrics is important. will want to make changes to your app to gradually
increase the rating volume.
Where to start: App Store Connect and the Google
Play Developer Console are the primary sources of At the same time, you will also want to ensure the
truth for your data. Start here when establishing distribution of your ratings remains on the higher end
baseline metrics for your ratings and reviews. You of the one-star-to-five-star spectrum. This may seem
can even visualize and download historical data to see obvious, but if you get more users to rate the app, you
how your ratings and reviews have changed over time want to ensure the majority of those users are leaving
across versions of the app, countries, devices, and you high ratings. Otherwise, a spike in low ratings will
various user segments. Many third-party tools offer render a spike in high ratings moot.
basic ratings and review data, but it should always be
compared to first-party data from Apple and Google
where possible.
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Analyze User Feedback

Lastly, analyze the actual feedback users leave in
reviews. Several app growth tools monitor and track
basic sentiment data but try to manually read as many
reviews as possible so you can assess major pain
points.
Public reviews tend to be polarizing in either being

The User Journey
overly negative or very positive, but they provide
useful insights into what users like and dislike, as well
as what new features users would like to see. Always While it is not possible to measure whether a specific For example, if you have a rating prompt trigger when
listen to your users! user rated your app five stars or left a positive review, users press the “Listen” button five times, track the
it is important to measure your rating and review number of presses on the “Listen” button and attribute
Show off positive user feedback to boost your outcomes and the user journeys prior to leaving a the start of the rating journey to the user pressing the
marketing efforts. Happy users will highlight the best rating or review. You can then see how the changes “Listen” button. You can then experiment with how
features of your app and encourage more users to to your rating prompts and triggers influenced your rating journeys perform if users press the “Listen”
download it. app’s rating performance historically. button three times vs. six times in the future. This will
help you answer the question, “Were these users more
For example, imagine your app receives 20 ratings or less likely to rate?”
each day with a 4.1-star average. Let’s say you change
your rating flow to entice more users to rate, and For example, if you have a multi-prompt journey
then notice the following week you receive 30 ratings and you ask users to rate your app only if they have
each day; you may be able to attribute this increase indicated on a previous prompt that they like your app,
in ratings to your change. Since a variety of factors you absolutely want to track which screens were seen
influence change in ratings (e.g., a new app release), it and which buttons pressed. This will allow you to build
is not possible to isolate these factors from your hard a user journey to see where users are dropping from
work—but at the very least, we can infer outcomes. the flow, as well as experimenting with messaging and
changing (or reducing) screens to see if you help more
For a user journey, it is important to track the screens users succeed in the journey to rate your app.
seen and buttons pressed in the rating journey. The
entry point into the rating journey will let you know
Review Sentiment Analysis highlighting the number of ads as a pain point for this
game. Source: AppTweak.
how users entered the rating flow.
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CHAPTER 06
Store
Promotional
Tools &
Customer
Information
CHAPTER 06 S TO R E P R O M OT I O N A L TO O L S & C U S TO M E R I N F O R M AT I O N
Store
Promotional
Tools &
Customer
Information
Among the changes that have added complexity This second aspect carries the most importance, as
K E Y TA K E AWAY S to ASO in the past few years, a major shift has it also explains the stores’ recent addition of privacy
accompanied Apple and Google’s addition of new information sections and search adjustment tools
Learn about the tools and programs allowing developers to market that continue the tradition of developing new features
promotional tools their apps directly on the stores and beyond. With to benefit the end user. In this chapter, we will first
Apple and Google having moved from very user- review the marketing tools available on store consoles
available via the app store centric approaches to developing new features for for developers to improve their app performance in
consoles & developer tools, their stores, this highlights two major developments and outside the stores, before presenting the App
in the app industry: First, the need for Apple & Google Store and Google Play’s latest features for consumer
and review how the App to better justify the share of revenue taken from all information.
Store and Google Play now transactions made on the store; second, their own
present privacy data and interests to reaffirm the stores’ role as the only place to
discover apps (in opposition to third-party platforms,
search adjustment tools. such as social networks, that had previously perfected
advertising solutions for paid user acquisition).
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Store
Promotional
Tools
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
According to Statista, between 2,000 and 5,000 new As such, Apple and Google have started to add more
Understand store pre- apps were published on the App Store alone every marketing functionalities to promote apps in and
registration pages, the month during the first half of 2021; the total number around their respective app stores in efforts to
available tools to give of apps available on the App Store and Google Play is convince developers to reinforce their efforts in store
also estimated to be over 3 million on each platform. ecosystems. For instance:
customers a foretaste of your Not only has the mobile app industry become
app’s functionalities, how to saturated, apps have become more complex, with • Apps and games that can rely on pre-existing fan • Groups of apps able to create synergies may
promote specific content for many developing multiple services that can appeal to communities may benefit from pre-registration form bundles to nudge users to download all
a variety of user segments. pages allowing future users to be notified apps at once or purchase paid subscriptions
specific user segments, and once the app becomes available for download. that grant benefits across multiple apps.
essential information about As a result, many apps aim to build anticipation before
their release by targeting multiple user segments with • Developers looking to demonstrate their app’s main • Eligible apps and games may also request to become
store-run programs.
custom messages, promoting specific app benefits and user benefits through live experiences can make part of specific store programs meant to offer
features, or even creating synergies with other apps to smaller versions of their apps available to users particular advantages to store users.
facilitate user acquisition. While the app stores have before requiring them to download the app in full.
historically been the one place for users to download
apps, their historical structure of “one app - one locale • Apps willing to promote specific offers and In this chapter, we’ll take you through the multiple
- one page” had led most of these efforts to occur messages to particular user segments can create tools made available by Apple and Google for each of
before target users even reached the store. custom store pages or promote specific in-app the aforementioned cases.
However, recent changes in the digital advertising content, whether in the form of events or in-app
ecosystem—including new privacy changes purchase packages.
introduced by Apple with iOS 14.5—have made ad
targeting more difficult and pushed for the adoption
of more contextual advertising.
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Pre-Registration Pages
App Store Pre-Order Pre-order app release setup in App Store Connect. Source: Apple.
App Product Pages
Apple allows developers to create an app product page The process to make an app available for pre-order Once Apple has approved the app, a limited version Furthermore, developers may update the app’s build
ahead of their app’s official release as a way to promote is almost exactly similar to the immediate release of of the app’s product page is created inside the App or metadata by submitting new versions in App
the product before launch and build excitement a new app, except developers now have to select “pre- Store. This page displays the app’s metadata as well Store Connect, or modifying the release date from
among users. Users who choose to pre-order an app order” and indicate a release date (between 2 and 180 as its expected release date; an “order” button also the “Pricing & Availability” section of App Store
are notified on the day of the official release; the app days after). As such, developers have to submit their replaces the usual “get” button. Developers can then Connect. They can also track the performance of app
is then automatically downloaded on the device from app’s first build and some initial metadata for Apple’s use the app’s product page for their various marketing pre-orders in the “Sales and Trends” section of App
which the pre-order was made, as well as all other review, as well as indicating the territories in which campaigns and the page may also start appearing in Store Connect with three dedicated metrics: number
devices associated with the user’s Apple account if the app will be available. App Store search results. of orders, canceled per-orders, and net pre-orders.
they have activated the “automatic download” option. Developers are also able to review the performance of
their pre-order page through a dedicated dashboard
Both free and paid apps are eligible to be pre-ordered and find reports in the “Analytics” section of App
provided they are being offered on the store for the Store Connect where impressions, pageviews and
first time. This means that an app already published pre-orders (taps on the pre-order button) can be
in some countries cannot be offered for pre-order monitored and broken down by device, source, and
in other countries, or that apps already available for territory.
iPhone and iPad cannot be made available for pre-
order on Apple TV.
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Google Play
Pre-Registration Campaigns
Google Play pre-registration campaigns provide a

fairly similar user experience as pre-order pages on
the App Store; nonetheless, some notable differences
can be seen:
• Pre-registration campaigns can only last for • After the app launches, pre-registered users
90 days. receive a push notification letting them know
the app is available for their device; however,
• Developers can only use pre-registration automatic downloads will only apply to eligible
campaigns once they have provided some devices and if the developer has taken the
information about the app’s content, with appropriate steps. Accounts belonging to
regards to the app’s safety and compliance with children under 13 and managed enterprise
Google Play policies and legal requirements. accounts are ineligible, while apps over 150MB
will only be downloaded and installed over
• Developers are limited to having up to two WiFi, regardless of the user’s install settings.
apps or games in pre-registration on their
Google developer account at one time. • Console metrics around pre-registration
campaigns include “pre-registered users”
• Developers may limit their app’s pre- (the number of users who have pre-
registration campaign to certain devices. registered) and “conversions” (the number
of pre-registered users who installed
• Developers have the possibility to set up a gift for the app within 14 days after its release).
pre-registered users in the form of a free in-app
product. • Apps can use pre-registration campaigns
in countries where they are not yet
available regardless of whether they have
already been released in other countries.
• Developers can also use Google Play Instant to Apps that offer a reward as part of an active pre-
registration campaign are marked with a gift icon
make an extract of an app or game useable during and the text “reward” next to the “coming soon”
the pre-registration campaign to further build tag when they appear in Google Play search
excitement among their user bases. results or featurings.
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Giving Customers
a Foretaste of the App
Much like for any type of product, convincing In the case of apps, however, Google and Apple have
people to download an app often requires them to each developed functionalities that aim to help
be convinced of the benefits of using it. As such, developers recreate the “free sample” strategy, making
marketers like to identify the experiences that have small versions of apps available to users before they
the best chances of converting undecided customers have to download the app in full. Let’s review the
into convinced users during what many call the “aha inner workings of each platform’s tools, as both their
moment.” While marketers of physical products can requirements and functionalities differ.
hand out free samples to push customers toward their
“aha moment,” digital products and services do not
necessarily have the same opportunities.
An app’s store listing page using Google Play Instant technology
and an install prompt.
Google Play Instant

Available since October 2017, Google Play Instant Google Play Instant apps are accessible through an Developers may choose to limit the availability of Last but not least, full games that are able to meet
apps are partial versions of an app or game that users app’s Play Store listing which displays a “try now” their instant experiences to certain countries or the requirements of a Play Instant experience may
can access to discover its functionalities before button next to the install button, or alternatively regions where their app is available. Developers can convert their Android Package (APK) and apply to be
downloading the app itself. Instant apps rely on through a website banner. Once in the instant also design multiple instant experiences; however, part of Google’s “Instant Play games” program which
Android app bundle technology, with the requirement experience, users may be exposed to an install prompt they will have to remember that only one experience can grant them prominent featurings on the Games
that the combined download size of the code and inviting them to download the full version of the app may be accessed through their store listing. Other tab homepage.
resources within all instant-enabled modules be without having to return to the Play Store. instant experiences may be accessed via a deep link
under 15MB (in other words, if they offer multiple but developers have to consider that only one instant
instant experiences for the same app, the combined app can be declared for each website domain.
size of all instant experiences must be less than
15MB).
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Apple App Clips

In 2020, Apple introduced App Clips, its own version In terms of technical requirements, App Clips have a Unlike Google Play Instant apps, accessing an This feature synergizes with the fact that not only
of app samples, as part of iOS 14. App Clips follow the smaller size limitation than Play Instants (maximum App Clip can only occur outside the App Store. can developers trigger the clip’s card inside the clip
same principles of making a smaller version of an app of 10MB instead of 15MB). However, the possibility to Concretely, users can encounter App Clips through to encourage users to download the app, but they can
available to users before they download the full app. upload multiple clips from the same app means there specific “invocations” set by the developer to trigger also trigger push notifications within 8 hours of the
However, App Clips differ from Instant apps in their is a limit of 10MB per clip compared to the limit of an App Clip card to pop up on a user’s device when clip being opened.
discoverability. 15MB for the sum of all Play Instant experiences. All the chosen conditions have been meant. Specifically,
App Clips have to be uploaded on App Store Connect invocation types include: Another major difference with Google Play’s Instant
and undergo a review process similar to regular app experiences is that developers have to upload specific
builds. • Safari smart app banners, which developers can metadata for their App Clips for Apple to generate a
set to appear at the top of their website on Safari. card that will be presented to users encountering an
invocation, asking whether they are willing to open
• Links shared via iMessage will show the Clip the clip. App Clip cards’ metadata includes:
card whenever a person shares the link to a site that
displays the smart banner. • A title of 30 characters maximum
• Near field communication (NFC) tags can • A subtitle of 56 characters maximum

trigger an App Clip card whenever an iOS device
comes into contact with the card, even when the • A 1800 x 1200 px PNG or JPEG image
screen is locked. (without transparency) to serve as header for the Clip
• QR codes can also trigger an App Clip card • A CTA verb for the clip launch button, chosen
to appear whenever the code is scanned by an iOS between “view,” “play,” or “open”
device.
These metadata elements are not expected to impact
• Place cards in the Apple Maps application can store visibility, as App Clip cards can only appear
be set by a developer to make the App Clip card appear outside the App Store. Nevertheless, this metadata
for users reviewing a specific location. can be optimized for final app installation through
trial and error, as Apple reports on the number of App
While most of these invocations do necessitate some Clip card views, installations, open rate, sessions, and
sort of interaction with the physical world (scanning app installations in App Store Connect.
a QR code or opening an NFC tag, for instance), it’s
worth noting that smart app banners and iMessage
link invocations are meant as an opportunity to reach
virality with a clip and encourage users to share clips
App Clip cards. Source: Apple.
with others.
404 405
Promoting Specific App Content

on the Stores Google Play Custom Store Listings
One of the most complex challenges for ASO While the possibility of personalizing app store Released in 2019, Google Play’s custom store listings Custom store listings differ from the main listing,
marketers comes from the fact that all users, no pages has long been a dream for ASO practitioners, are a feature of the Google Play Console that allow as instead of being shown to users based on their
matter their personal interest in an app, are required recent features developed by Google and Apple are developers to create alternative app product pages. language and region, custom store listings target
to go through one single app store page to download an progressively opening the door for marketers to To do so, developers upload assets and texts that will users based on two specific criteria: their Play Store
app. This single app download page has long been the play on more contextual messages in the app stores, be shown to users based on their Google Play store country and their install state (though no two custom
cause for dilemmas between using general metadata whether through custom landing pages, the promotion country or app install state instead of their device store listings can target the same country).
and creatives to appeal to multiple user segments, of in-app events, and/or purchasable items. language and region.
or adopting a very specific message to maximize As highlighted in our chapter dedicated to localization,
conversion for one segment (at the risk of deterring When creating a custom store listing, developers custom store listings allow marketers to differentiate
other audiences). have the option to upload a new version of any of the store listings between two countries that are part of
following store listing elements to create variations of the same “locale” in the main store listings (such as
their main store listing: Argentina and Colombia both being grouped under
the same “Spanish - Latin America” locale) and
• App title promote country-specific offers without the risk of it
• Short description being visible in countries where it is not applicable.
• Full description
• App icon As for custom store listings targeting different install
Custom Store Landing Pages • Screenshots states, so far Google has only allowed for the use of
• Feature graphic custom store listings to target countries/regions
Customizing your app store page for each specific For example, while ASO practitioners are able to • Video where an app is in pre-registration; by doing so, Google
source of users has obvious benefits: With a message create different English store pages for the United provides developers with a way to maintain a different
tailored to users’ journeys to reach the app store page, States and the United Kingdom, both major app stores store listing from countries where the app has been
marketers can maximize each funnel’s conversion only allow developers to create one single local page released to production or is in closed testing. This can
rate without having to consider the impact of one for all Arabic-speaking countries. help developers anticipate their apps or games leaving
funnel on the others. Even without reaching such pre-registration on different dates depending on
an advanced level of contextualization, developers territories, as custom store listings can include more
may feel encouraged to adopt certain pages beyond than one language or region while developers cannot
technical limitations induced by the architecture of create more than 5 custom store listings for each app
app store pages, such as some local pages being served on the Google Play Console.
to users in multiple countries despite them not having
the same access to or interest in a given app.
406 407
App Store Custom Product Pages
Apple announced custom product pages as part The most important difference from Google Play’s Providing an opportunity to showcase multiple
of new App Store functionalities introduced custom store listings, however, is that App Store messages tailored to different user segments, some • Matching specific messages to the initial referrer
under iOS 15. custom product pages are accessible via dedicated potential use cases for custom product pages include: (e.g., reusing assets from an ad campaign or
URLs, making it possible for marketers to target leveraging the image of an influencer collaborating
Unlike their Google Play counterparts, custom customer segments outside the App Store in a much • Leveraging preferences for apps offering with an app or game).
product pages allow developers to create variations more precise way. Furthermore, developers are able to a variety of content (for instance, a sports
of their main product page only by changing their create up to 35 custom product pages per app (with no results app could highlight different sets of
screenshots, app preview videos, and/or promotional limit to the number of pages per country). creatives, each focusing on a different sport, to
text (the app title, subtitle, keyword field, description, maximize its appeal to fans of each discipline).
and icon remain the same as on the default page).
Assets uploaded to custom product pages must • Showcasing special promotions restricted to
comply with the same guidelines as those for the main specific user groups while avoiding the risk of
product page and will be reviewed by Apple (though ineligible users discovering the promotion and
not necessarily as part of a new app build submission). churning.
Here are some more examples of how apps and games

may group their custom product pages:
1. By user intent: Meditation & wellness apps, such 4. For timely product offers: Retail apps such
as Headspace, may consider grouping custom as Adidas may want to promote exclusive deals
product pages that focus on improving sleep vs. to certain users or showcase a new flagship
those for practicing meditation. product; these apps could use custom product
2. By audience segments: Dating apps could pages to better feature their deals while ensuring
easily consider creating custom product only eligible users are exposed to their message.
pages with different visuals and messaging for
male vs. female audiences, or per age group. 5. For seasonal campaigns, as a way to align with
external messages for events like Black Friday.
3. By country: Given certain App Store locales can
appear in multiple countries (like, for instance, 6. For offline campaigns with special
German product pages appearing in both product pages welcoming users that
Germany and Austria), food delivery apps like scanned a QR code on the subway.
Wolt may want to use different custom product
pages to showcase popular local products. 7. For retargeting, as a way to call out an app’s new
features and better appeal to active and lapsed
users who are already familiar with your unique
selling point (USP) and core functionalities.
Custom product pages. Source: Apple.
408 409
Overall, custom product pages are a major shift in Custom product page optimization and even
App Store marketing, as they represent the end of marketing campaign optimization could become
single app store pages per locale. Nevertheless, it topics that fall under the scope of large ASO teams as
will be important to keep an eye on the compatibility Apple will offer a breakdown of its console metrics
of custom product pages with different marketing (such as impressions, downloads, conversion rate,
channels: proceeds, and retention rate) per custom product page
in App Store Connect. The added benefit is that these
• Custom product pages have replaced the metrics will not be subject to the same type of user
Creative Sets functionality in Apple Search consent required by the App Tracking Transparency
Ads. This new feature can also be leveraged framework, unlike the data aggregated by most
by other performance marketing channels attribution tools.
also, although it is not accessible organically.
• The dedicated URL system aims at increasing

the conversion of referrer traffic. However, it may
pose a challenge concerning the optimization
of advertising campaigns, as some ad networks
that offer conversion tracking and campaign
optimizations based on conversion events may
not be compatible or will need to adapt to become
compatible.
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In-App Event Promotions

Another promotional tool developed by both store
operators concerns the specific advertising of in-app
and in-game content. With game and app developers
adding more and more new content and gamification
mechanisms to foster user engagement and
monetization in their apps, Apple and Google have LiveOps cards are built based on metadata provided
started to introduce ways to promote in-app events by developers in their Google Play Consoles, including
directly through their respective stores. an internal event name and tagline of a maximum 80
characters each, a landscape image and a square image,
and may also include a 1000-character-maximum
description and a video (provided through a YouTube
URL). Developers also have to indicate an event type
for each event (selected between “major update,”
“offer,” “event,” “crossover,” and “pre-registration
update”), a start and end time, a list of countries where
the event is accessible, a priority level (from normal to
very high), and whether (and when) they want to start
Google Play LiveOps Cards showing a preview of the event.
Currently only available to some developers These cards can appear on the app’s store listing While LiveOps cards offer the opportunity to increase
(according to Google, requests to become eligible (between the short description & tags and the ratings an app’s visibility through store featurings and could
must be sent to a Google Play Business Development & reviews), on the Apps or Games tab, on the Events also help improve conversion by signaling special
Manager), LiveOps Cards are special elements meant tab under the Games tab (only available for games app content to users, it’s worth noting that LiveOps
to help promote special offers, limited-time events, in 17 countries and excludes China), and in special cards are not indexed and therefore do not represent
and major updates to Play Store users for events “Offers” collections. Last but not least, promotional any opportunity to increase search visibility.
lasting for a maximum of 4 weeks. offers can also show up in search results for the app’s Furthermore, Google Play does not share any specific
brand name; however, they do not appear on any other data on the performance of these cards in terms of
search results page. new user acquisitions or the engagement of existing
users.
Live Ops card on the Google
Play Store listing of “Dragon
City Mobile.”
412 413
App Store In-App Events
Quite similarly to Google’s feature, Apple announced • Two high-resolution images or videos of a maximum The most important differences compared to Google As in-app events have proven their ability to
in 2021 that developers would be able to submit 30 seconds. Play LiveOps cards are that App Store in-app event boost numerous vital KPIs, it will be important to
metadata and assets to create in-app event cards with cards will be indexed in App Store search results, host multiple events in the upcoming periods. By
iOS 15. To create an in-app event card, developers will • An internal event reference name only visible in App and in-app event details pages will be accessible via a ensuring that your app has a deep-linking capability
have to submit the following event metadata: Store Connect. URL (in addition to when users tap on the event card). and something worth creating an event for, this
Consequently, in-app events are expected to have opportunity to generate more impressions, first-time
• An event name of 30 characters or less, indexed by • Information relative to the event’s target audience a much larger impact on visibility and conversion downloads, and product page views should not be
Apple’s search algorithm. (new users, active users, or lapsed users), which could on the App Store, as they will offer more visibility overlooked.
be leveraged by Apple when showing featured apps to opportunities on the store and could also serve as
• A short description of 50 characters or less, indexed App Store users. a landing page for retargeting campaigns or other
by Apple’s search algorithm. marketing efforts.
• A choice of “event badge” (event category type) to
• A long description of 120 characters or less, not pick between “challenge,” “competition,” “live event,” Keywords from the event name, short description, and
indexed by Apple’s search algorithm. “major update,” “new season,” “premiere,” & “special potentially even from the app’s metadata appear to be
event.” indexed; it has also been noted that these keyword
rankings are independent of the app’s category. A tip
here is to include your app’s most valuable keywords
in the event name and short description, as well as
ensuring that they are in your keyword field as an
opportunity to improve your ranking for these terms.
Based on a few observations by Phiture and other
developers, this could lead to drastic improvements in
your app’s ranking (although this appears to be short-
lived too).
In-app event cards. Source: Apple.
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Promoting In-App Purchases

on the App Store
Since iOS 11, Apple has made it possible to promote in-

app purchases directly on the App Store and not only
within an app. This allows developers to promote the
benefits of purchasable items in multiple placements
on the App Store starting from their app’s product To that end, in-app purchases first have to be
page but also including search results and possibly declared in App Store Connect and categorized as
app collections created by App Store editors. one of the following four types: “consumable,” “non-
consumable,” “auto-renewing subscription,” or “non-
renewing subscription.”
Promoted in-app purchases also require a display

name (up to 30 characters) and a description (up to
45 characters) that clearly distinguish the benefits
of each offering, as well as a square promotional
image distinct from the app icon which will allow
your in-app purchases to appear in search results for
your app name. Depending on other indexation and
ranking criteria, an in-app purchase may also appear
in search results for other terms targeted in its name.
This means each in-app purchase can offer up to 30
characters to target additional keywords and help
increase your app’s visibility, as well as presenting
additional featuring opportunities.
Finally, apps that offer auto-renewable subscriptions

and non-consumable in-app purchases may enable
Family Sharing to allow users to share their purchase
with up to five additional family members. While this
does not present additional opportunities to increase
visibility in App Store search results, it may benefit
your app’s chance of being featured and will also lead
An auto-renewing subscription appearing in iOS search results and on the App Store to the addition of a “Family Sharing” badge at the Badge on the product page of an app that
product page when the app listing or IAP card is clicked. bottom of the app’s product page. supports Family Sharing.
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App Store App Bundles
With developers releasing multiple apps capable of When using app bundles, developers are given the
interesting similar audiences, Apple has introduced opportunity to craft specific metadata for the bundle
the possibility to create bundles that make it easier itself, granting it additional visibility beyond that of
for customers to buy up to 10 apps or games in a single each individual app:
purchase. Such a system works both for paid apps that
could be bought in a bundle at a discount and free apps • The bundle icon is set by default and consists
with subscriptions for which one plan unlocks access of the first four app icons included in the
to all other apps in the bundle at no additional cost. bundle; however, the bundle icon can also
be a custom icon crafted by the developer.
• The app bundle name can be up to 85

characters and is indexable, thus offering
opportunities to target additional keywords
than those targeted by each individual app.
• The app bundle screenshots show the first

screenshot from each bundled app and are
displayed on the app bundle product page.
• The app bundle description offers a

4,000-character space to motivate users to
download the bundle by highlighting its benefits.
• The keywords targeted by each app in the bundle

are also compiled by App Store Connect to be used
to index the app bundle.
An app bundle appearing in App Store search results (left), an app bundle product page (middle),
and an app bundle featuring on the product page of one of its individual apps (right).
418 419
Store-Run Marketing Programs

In addition to native marketing tools available
through store consoles, Apple and Google have also
developed their own marketing programs to drive
traffic and revenue to the stores themselves. For
instance, both Google and Apple have developed their
own subscription services for mobile games, while
Google has also introduced a store virtual currency
that users can earn within apps and reinvest through
their activities.
Google Play Points

Google Play Points work as a loyalty program in which Whereas apps and games soliciting a featuring on the Finally, don’t forget the main benefit of Play Points
Play Store users can earn points for every purchase store’s homepage often have to comply with specific is their availability as a virtual currency across apps
made on the Play Store (whether on apps and games requests from Google regarding their UI and product and games. Therefore, their first upside is the way in
or for Google services such as movie rentals) or after metrics, taking part in the Play Points program grants which they can foster engagement and payments on
downloading certain featured apps and games. Points access to featuring inventory that is not subject to the the Play Store; however, the consequence is that they
can then be reinvested to unlock discounts or special same requirements. As a result, it is worth noting that are likely to fluidify the stream of highly active and/
content for partner apps and games that are part while the traffic boost expected after being featured or paying users coming to games participating in
of Google’s program. In fact, apps partaking in this on the Play Points tab is quite inferior to traffic Google’s program.
program are encouraged to offer exclusive in-app increases from a homepage featuring, the former
items or coupons at a discount to boost engagement featuring type can be easier to obtain once part of
and incentivize users to make a purchase, in exchange the program. Additionally, Google Play appears to
for what they may benefit from specific store send push notifications to participants in the Play
featurings and promotions run by Google. Points program to alert them about rewards or games
offering opportunities to win points, which is likely to
boost an app’s visibility to those users.
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Google Play Pass and

Apple Arcade
Both Google Play Pass and Apple Arcade are
subscription services run by the stores to offer users
unlimited access to games; however, their conditions
and benefits differ greatly. In terms of distribution, developers applying to have Given the limited number of apps that are part of
their apps distributed under the Play Pass program Play Pass (for instance, we only observed 11 Play Pass
can benefit from increased Play Store visibility, as games in the Music category in October 2021), we can
Google Play Pass a dedicated Play Pass tab appears on the Play Store infer that an app’s chances of being featured on the
homepage for Play Pass subscribers (however, unlike Play Pass tab are greatly superior to being featured on
Google Play Pass functions as a subscription service All apps and games that are distributed through Google the Arcade tab on Apple’s App Store, this tab does the Games or Apps tabs. However, we have not seen
available in 90 countries (with the notable exclusions Play Pass are also available to other users on the Play not appear for non-subscribers). The Play Pass tab any clear evidence that being part of the Play Pass
of China, Japan, and India); the service automatically Store and are not exclusive to Play Pass subscribers, displays curated recommendations as well as several program can lead to additional featurings outside of
removes in-app ads and unlocks in-app products & although regular users are exposed to monetization app collections (similar in style and format to those of the Play Pass tab, and the only sign of apps and games
subscriptions for apps and games that are part of Play options that are removed for Play Pass subscribers. the Games and Apps tabs) and an index of Play Pass offering benefits to Play Pass subscribers on other
Pass. Furthermore, subscribers can also download games and apps per category. screens is a dedicated badge that appears on their store
paid apps & games that are part of Play Pass for free. listing page, although only for Play Pass subscribers.
Finally, the financial benefits for apps applying to

be part of the Play Pass program come in the form
of compensation via a royalty program “based on
algorithmic methods that incorporate signals which
capture how users value all types of content (from
weather apps to narrative-driven indie games),”
according to Google. Furthermore, Google’s public
website claims that “on average, developers have more
than doubled their Play revenue across participating
titles in markets where Play Pass is live,” though we
have not been able to verify this claim.
422 423
Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade is vastly different from Google Play Furthermore, Apple Arcade games can be discovered
Pass in the sense that this subscription service offers through App Store search, either via a dedicated
exclusive access to mobile games—and only games— search filter or as part of regular search results, and
on iPhone and iPad, but also Apple TV and Mac. are also often featured on the Games tab. In search
All Apple Arcade games are free of ads and in-app results, Apple Arcade games display an Apple Arcade
purchases, and can be played offline. badge above their app title and do not display a star
rating or the number of associated ratings.
Unlike the Play Pass tab, all iOS users can access This means their metadata is indexed like any other
the Apple Arcade tab on the App Store and browse game available on the store although they appear to
content in the form of editorial featurings, app only rarely rank at the top of search results, most likely
collections, dedicated category rankings, and pre- due to their lower download velocity and smaller
order announcements. amounts of ratings compared to free-access games
that may compete for the same keywords.
424 425
Last but not least, the product pages of Apple Arcade Consequently, the icon and banner video of Apple Over the last few years, Apple and Google have released
games differ from regular App Store product pages: Arcade games are likely to be the creative assets multiple new features to help developers promote
They display an auto-playing video as a header banner with the most impact on the pageview to download their apps inside the stores, even going as far as
and the page layout has the game icon centered above conversion rate, while the app preview video and creating their own app distribution programs to foster
an Apple Arcade badge, the app title and subtitle, and screenshots in the creative gallery would play a more user activity in the stores and in partner apps. Among
an enlarged “Get” button. These elements take up the minor role. the most recent changes are a few initial methods of
entirety of the first screen, pushing the information reviewing one of the oldest rules in ASO—an app’s
panel and screenshot gallery down to the second obligation to show the same store page content to all
screen and forcing users to scroll to see them. store visitors in the same locale. iOS 15 functionalities
in particular are considered as signifying the largest
change in ASO since their announcement; they could
lead to a re-definition of ASO’s role in app marketing,
especially if expectations that Google Play will follow
in Apple’s footsteps become true.
426 427
Customer As Apple and Google have made significant

strides to develop marketing tools on
Information
their respective stores and defend their
positioning as the principal channels for
app discovery, they have also added new
Tools functionalities regarding user information

privacy as well as search adjustment tools
meant to help end-users better navigate the
store and make more informed decisions
around the apps they want to download.
Data Privacy Sections iOS Nutrition Labels

K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Uncover how Apple and In 2020, Apple introduced new privacy Any app published on the App Store is specifically For each data-collecting process disclosed, developers
features as part of iOS 14 as privacy and required to provide Apple with an extensive picture are required to specify:
Google have begun to enrich control over third-party data sharing of the personal data collected from users for both
customer information by became a growing topic of interest for internal purposes and to be shared with third parties. • The type of data (from personal data, such as
adding new fields on app consumers, and new laws like the European In fact, Apple published a list of exemption criteria to contact information, location, user or device
Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) clarify the data that does not have to be reported, thus identifiers, to more generic data, such as app usage
pages forcing developers to required digital businesses to collect user highlighting the broad spectrum of the disclosure and diagnostics which might be anonymized
disclose user data gathering consent before processing and sharing required from developers: Only data that is provided before collection).
and sharing practices, and personal data. Although the App Tracking by the user in an app’s interface with the obvious
Transparency (ATT) framework has had purpose of being collected, is collected infrequently • How it is used (from advertising, marketing, and
by experimenting with new the largest impact on app user acquisition and not for the app’s primary purpose, and—most analytics purposes to powering app functionalities
filters and labels in search as a whole (and did therefore give way to importantly—is not collected for tracking purposes and/or product personalization).
some ASO side effects), for developers, (i.e., advertising, advertising measurement, or
results. the only direct change on the App Store marketing) is optional to disclose. • How it might be linked to a user (whether the data
was the introduction of a new “Nutrition can be linked back to a single person or might
Label” section on the app product page. benefit from specific privacy protections that
prevent such associations).
428 429
Last but not least, developers need to declare what Once developers have provided the required Google Play Privacy
data is subject to tracking and linked with third-party information in their App Store Connect console,
data, whether for targeted advertising, advertising Apple will automatically generate a privacy report
Information Cards
measurement purposes, or shared with a data broker. consisting of three cards (“Data Used to Track You,”
Only two exceptions apply to this rule: when the data “Data Linked to You,” “Data Not Linked to You”) In May 2021, Google announced it would follow in Completion of the form will become
is solely linked to a user’s device, and when the data is appearing on the app’s App Store product page under Apple’s footsteps and add a safety section on apps’ mandatory by April 2022 and must ensure
shared with a data broker for the sole purpose of fraud the What’s New section for new users or under the store listing pages starting February 2022. As of the following information is disclosed:
detection, prevention, or security purposes. Reviews & Ratings section for users who already have November 2021, developers could fill in a form in
the app installed. the Data Safety section of the Google Play Developer • Any of the required user data types
Console to highlight the type of user data they collect, that are collected and/or shared.
Therefore, it is worth noting that while providing how the data is used and handled, and any additional • Any user data sent from the user’s
Apple with the data required to generate an app’s privacy or security practices, such as encryption or device by libraries or SDKs used in
privacy report may be time consuming, the report deletion mechanisms. the app, regardless of whether this
itself does not appear outside of the app product page information is transmitted to you (the
and can only be accessed by scrolling down the page. developer) or to a third party.
This means it is unlikely to have a big impact on an • Any user data transferred from the
app’s conversion rate, given the limited proportion of server to a third party, or transferred
customers who see it. How the future Safety section will look inside an to another third-party app on the same
app’s store listing page. Source: Google.
device.
• Any user data collected or transferred
through a WebView which can be
opened from the app—unless users are
navigating the open web.
While Google has stated the data

safety form will ask for additional and
different information from the App Store
requirements (and that Google Play’s Data
Safety section may differ materially from
that on other stores), expectations for this
section are the same as for the App Store.
In particular, that it will not be positioned
on the store listing page in a prominent
manner, thus meaning it will be unlikely to
Privacy report card and
expanded view from the
be a major factor for pageview to download
“Productive” app on the App conversion.
Store.
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Search Adjustment Tools

Though Apple and Google’s new requirements
around user data privacy and safety have not led
to particularly impactful UI changes on either
store, they attest to both companies’ will to satisfy
increasingly demanding customers who look for best-
in-class-quality apps. This objective has also led to the
introduction of search adjustment tools to help users
filter out search results based on specific criteria.
App Store Search Autocorrect &

Search Suggestions
Since iOS 14, Apple’s search engine has automatically Furthermore, Apple introduced search suggestions in
displayed results for the correct spelling of a April 2021 to help users further specify their search
misspelled query, along with a message asking the intent. Unlike search page suggested items that only
user to confirm if the misspelled query was what they suggest the most popular terms to complete any
intended to search for and whether they should be led query a user has started typing in, search suggestions
to the search results for that exact query. appear on the search results page and add a list of
Autocorrect & search suggestions on the App Store, November 2021.
topics that may relate to the initial query. As a result,
users may select one of the suggested items to filter
results and display only a certain type of apps fitting
the combination of their query and the suggested Finally, it’s important to note that neither autocorrect
topic. Although Apple does not disclose how these nor search suggestions are available in all App Store
suggestions are generated, they are likely to be based markets (as of November 2021), though they have
on the metadata of apps that rank for the initial been confirmed by members of the ASO Stack Slack
query, and could also derive from reviews and ratings to appear in the US, Germany, France, China, Hong
matching a specific topic. Kong, and Ukraine.
432 433
Google Play Search Filters

In September 2020, Google also introduced search These include:
adjustments with search filters that allow users to
exclude apps and games from search results if they • “Family” to only display apps & games listed in the
do not meet a specific star rating threshold or if they Family category
have been attributed a specific Google tag (usually
with regards to a particular functionality or topic). • “Multiplayer” to only display multiplayer games
From our observations, suggested tags that can be
used as filters are not self-attributed but can only be • “New” to only display recently released apps &
tags attributed directly by the Google Play algorithm. games
• “Offline” to only display offline games
• “Play Pass” to only display apps & games that are

part of the Google Play Pass program
• “Premium” to only display paid apps & games
• “Single Player” to display only single-player games
• “Editor’s choice” to display only apps & games that

have been featured by Google editors
Search filters from the US and French Play Store, November 2021.
434 435
Users can combine multiple filters to With app store users becoming more On the other hand, new search
trim down the list of search results and more selective regarding their adjustment tools have recently
even further. ASO Stack users have app choices, Apple and Google have been added to each store and have
also observed that when filtering apps both introduced new functionalities to the potential to skew app visibility
by star rating, Google Play’s filter only provide additional information to users. if they are not flagged correctly by
considers the daily average of new While developers are now required to store algorithms as matching filters
ratings and not the historical average disclose how they handle and share suggested to customers. In particular,
rating displayed on the app’s page. This user data and safety, the sections where star rating filters on Google Play may
means that even an app with a star this information is displayed have cause apps and games to lose visibility,
rating superior to 4.6 will not appear not proven to impact conversion in a even in the case of well-rated apps that
in filtered search results if its average particularly strong way, and should receive below-average ratings on a
rating on that day is inferior to 4.5, as mostly be considered as a formal specific day.
observed in the following example (the check necessary for any app to receive
official Exploding Kittens app does not approval from store operators and be
appear in search results filtered to only listed on the App Store and Google Play.
show apps with a star rating higher
than 4.5 stars, despite its average rating
being 4.6). Search results using combined filters on the French Play Store,
November 2021.
436 437
CHAPTER 07
CHAPTER 07
Performance
Reporting
Dashboards
438
& ASO Tools
CHAPTER 07 PERFORMANCE REPORTING DASHBOARDS & ASO TOOL S
Creating Dashboards
for Performance The Challenge of Isolating
Reviews Organic Installs
ASO is part of the user acquisition funnel; even more

importantly, it’s the destination of user acquisition
before users get a chance to experience the app or
game. Most companies focus on one KPI: Installs.
Total Installs = Organic Installs + Non-Organic Installs
Organic installs represent users who come to the store forward in developer consoles and with
listing page without having seen an ad. Users can mobile measurement partners (MMP), such as
find an app via various organic channels; searching AppsFlyer and Adjust. Apple and Google don’t
and browsing the app stores are the most common separate organic downloads from non-organic
methods of app discovery. Conversely, non-organic downloads: ASA downloads are mixed with search
Without the ability to measure the impact of your work on your top installs represent users who discover an app via ads. downloads in App Store Connect, while Google
KPIs, ASO might as well be a fairytale. You need to be able to report No matter whether that be through Apple Search Ads Ads downloads are mixed with search and third-
on all your activities, from granular wins to the overall impact on (ASA), Google Ads, or on any social media network, party downloads in the Google Play Console.
user acquisition. app developers pay a fee to acquire these installs.
When measuring and reporting in ASO, we have to
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to measure ASO success with The member of a user acquisition team who oversees make a clear distinction between the definitions of
different KPIs. It is important to understand how marketing ASO is usually the point of contact for reporting “installs” and “downloads.” A lot of marketers use
activities play into the overall growth of your organization—not only purposes. However, things are not that straight these terms interchangeably which can create a lot
do they demonstrate the value of your function, they also help you of confusion, even within the developer consoles.
answer crucial questions, like where to invest your budget and time.
When you really know what works and what doesn’t, you’ll be able
to make more strategic decisions and drive business outcomes with > Download > Install
tailored ASO strategies. A user downloads an app on a device. A user launches an app for the first time after
downloading it, thus installing it on a device.
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Redownloads—users who delete and redownload the The App Store and Google Play provide a breakdown
app or downloads onto other devices a user owns— of where downloads are coming from. This helps app
are explicitly excluded from these metrics so app developers pinpoint the biggest opportunities for user
Data Discrepancy developers can monitor the performance of new-user acquisition.
Due to Different Naming acquisition.
Apple, Google, and MMPs have different names for In most cases, the number of downloads doesn’t
and understandings of downloads and installs. The match the number of installs. This is because users do App Store user acquisition sources include App Store Browse, App Store
ASA Console makes this even more confusing by not necessarily open the app after downloading it. For Search, app referrers, and web referrers.
calling downloads “Installs,” which are the sum of example, a user might accidentally click on the “GET”
“New downloads” and “Redownloads.” This can make or “INSTALL” button before later discovering they
it quite difficult for marketers to understand what is have downloaded the wrong app. In fact, according
actually measured by each metric. On the previous to AppsFlyer, this happens to about 20% of users,
page, we distinguish between the two metrics: A causing data discrepancies between the developer
download is counted when a user downloads an app consoles and MMPs.
on a device, regardless of whether or not the user
opens and uses the app. This is a signal that a user is The App Store and Google Play consoles name
interested in using the app. An install is later counted downloads differently from one another. The
only when the user launches the app; it indicates a definitions are also slightly different but they generally
user exploring the app’s features. mean the same thing—download. Specifically, the
App Store refers to first-time downloads while
Google Play counts downloads when the user hasn’t
yet installed the app on any devices.
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Google Play traffic sources include Search, Explore, and third-party referrals.
In the KPI tree, we use the term “installs,” as we care about users who eventually
open and use the app. You can also go further and use revenue-related metrics
such as subscription numbers and lifetime value. However, if you want to model
the funnel to reflect ASO’s impact on business goals, installs are always the best
place to begin.
Interestingly, the effort put into ASO often increases performance in non-organic
traffic. Knowing that all users will eventually arrive on the App Store or Google
Play to download an app, we can safely assume that optimizing the store listing will Visibility & Conversion
have a certain impact on conversion, even if the users come from paid marketing,
such as Facebook or Google Ads.
Based on the ASO Stack, there are two aspects of
measuring the impact of ASO: increasing visibility
and increasing conversion.To best represent the
metrics to be monitored and measured, we structure
the KPI tree in the same way. Let’s have a closer look
at this layer.
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Increasing visibility is to increase an app’s reach within the stores; Increasing conversion, on the other hand, is to increase the
for example, ranking higher for popular keywords. In other words, attractiveness of an app among competitors within the stores—
we maximize the chances that a user will see your app in different for example, presenting screenshots that directly answer a user’s
places, such as in the search results or on the store homepage. search query. Through these persuasive techniques, we eventually
improve the store listing and maximize the likelihood that a user
will download the app.
Conversion rate indicates the likelihood of users downloading an app.
To measure an app’s visibility, the core metrics we should look at are

Impressions (Unique Devices) on the App Store and Store Listing Visitors on
Google Play.
The average conversion rate on the App Store is significantly different from Google
Whenever we do a specific activity to increase visibility, the impressions or store Play. This is because the base of the metrics differs. On the App Store, impressions
listing visitors will increase if the optimization is successful. The acquisition are counted when users see the app icon somewhere on the store. On the other
source and traffic source breakdowns are also available for these metrics. For hand, Google Play counts an impression only if a user arrives on the store listing
example, App Store “Browse Impressions” will jump if the app gets featured, page. In general, conversion rates on Google Play are much higher because users
while App Store “Search Impressions” will increase with excellent keyword express more interest in the app by clicking on the app icon and reaching the store
optimization. listing page. The higher the user intent, the higher the conversion rate.
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In 2021, the average conversion rate (App Units/Page Views) across categories on the US App Store was
30%. The average install rate (App Units/Impressions) was 4%. Source: AppTweak.
Some app developers look at the “product page views to downloads” conversion rate
on the App Store, trying to find a comparable metric to the Google Play conversion
rate. This works theoretically, as product page views represent the number of
times your App Store product page was viewed. This metric is helpful to monitor
your paid campaigns which direct users to the store listing page from outside the
store.
However, on the App Store, the majority of users download the app directly from
the search results without visiting the store listing page first. Roughly speaking,
less than 20% of users will reach the store listing page from search or Browse
results. This means that the product page views to downloads conversion rate only
represents the behavior of a minority of your users. Depending on which traffic
In 2021, the average conversion rate (Acquisitions/Store Listing Visitors) across categories on Google Play
US was 34%. Source: AppTweak. source you want to monitor, be sure to select the right conversion rate to see the
full story.
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Conversion rate varies by traffic source depending on

user intent. The search conversion rate is generally KPIs of Visibility
higher than Explore or Browse conversion rates, as
users who come from search have a higher intent Headspace, a very well-known meditation and mindfulness
to download an app from the results, especially for app, has been featured on the App Store several times. These
brand names. The conversion rate of web referrer, featuring opportunities have been observed to double the app’s
app referrer, and third-party referrals is influenced by daily downloads in one day. After investigating the impact of being
performance marketing strategies and organic traffic featured, Headspace refined its strategies for user acquisition and
from the app developer’s website. To better monitor app discoverability in the stores and was then successfully featured
conversion rates as a performance KPI, a breakdown frequently. By identifying the granular results of each ASO activity,
by traffic source with a line showing the trend app developers can focus on the optimizations that influence top-
evolution gives a holistic view of overall performance. level KPIs in a game-changing way.
The respective conversion rate should increase Let’s focus on the four main optimizations aimed to increase
whenever we implement a successful optimization visibility.
activity. From this, the number of downloads should
also increase. Note that certain optimizations
classified as “increasing visibility tactics” will
Conversion rate with traffic sources breakdown and view over time.
impact conversion rates too. For example, when you
implement a keyword optimization tactic with the aim
of driving more traffic from generic keywords, your
search conversion rate will drop, as the additional
traffic will have a lower conversion rate than brand-
specific downloads. Similarly, the total conversion
rate will typically drop when an app gets featured on
the store. This is because the app is shown to a lot
more users (increase in Browse impressions), while
user intent to download the app stays quite low (drop
in Browse conversion rate).
Conversion rate benchmark in Google Play Console.
A lot of ASO tools (such as AppTweak or AppFollow)
provide conversion rate benchmarks based on app-
tool integration data. On its developer console, Google Keep in mind that KPIs in ASO are always interlinked
Play provides the most accurate benchmarks with and we should consider these data points while
percentiles. considering the context of others.
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Right after a successful metadata update: Influence on search-related metrics:
• Keyword rankings of the targeted • App Store: Search impressions and

keywords will increase. search app units will increase.
• Search visibility indicators or • Google Play: Search store listing

scores of keyword tracking tools visitors and search store listing
will increase. acquisitions will increase.
Unfortunately, the search-related metrics might not always move up even if the app starts
Keyword Optimization ranking for the targeted keywords. On the next page is a list of possible reasons and next steps.
As discussed in Chapter 2, keyword

optimization (KWO) aims to increase
app visibility in searches by targeting
keywords with high search volumes and Pro Tip:
high relevance to the app. Successful A lot of keyword tracking tools provide an abstract
keyword optimization will cause score denoting the general search visibility, usually
immediate results within a few days accounting for keyword rankings and search volumes.
after a metadata update, followed by The more keywords or the higher the ranking, the
changes in search-related KPIs and the greater the visibility score. This can be a great abstract
top-level metric, total downloads. metric to know whether KWO is effective or not.
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Getting Featured
The App Store publishes editorial stories every day,

while Google Play uses an algorithm to showcase
relevant apps to users. As highlighted in Chapter 2,
there are different ways an app can get into these
feature spots to reach even more potential users.
After iterating your metadata work and observing the impact on search-related metrics, the value of each
keyword will surface. Soon enough, you will be able to maximize search traffic by targeting high-volume,
relevant keywords—the perfect metadata balance! The App Store’s editorial stories. Google Play’s featuring collection.
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Getting featured on the App Store and Google Play

requires some degree of interaction with Apple and
Google. Nonetheless, it could bring tremendous
results with the right approach. If your app gets
featured, you will obviously see this in the store. Most
ASO tools also provide a statistical view of featuring
frequencies so you know when and where your app
has been featured.
In the developer console, you will see big spikes in

Browse impressions or Explore store listing visitors
and downloads depending on the effectiveness of the
featuring, likely accompanied by a drop in Browse/
Explore conversion rate and total conversion rate.
Sometimes, the additional exposure of getting

featured does not translate into Browse downloads. If 2. The position in the featuring: Appearing in
this is the case, you should look into two aspects: the top position is always important, especially
among competitors. On the stores, similar apps
are generally placed in one collection, meaning
1. The topic of the story: When a story is less that apps have to fight competitors for users’
relevant to the app’s key value propositions, it is attention. The higher the position the app is listed
difficult to gain downloads. For example, users in the featuring, the greater the chance users
who click on the story “Organize Your Life” will see and download the app. The opportunity
are unlikely to download photography apps. to convert an impression into a download
is very limited if the app sits below the fold.
Photography apps listed in the story “Organize Your Life.”
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Healthy Core Android Vitals
Increasing visibility isn’t only about optimizing the other users to download the app. In the Google Play
store listing. App developers also have to take care Developer Console, core vitals that go beyond the bad
of the health of their apps. Google Play mentions behavior threshold are flagged in the Overview tab,
that “exhibiting bad behavior in vitals will negatively under the Android Vitals section.
Category Switching affect the user experience in your app and is likely to
result in bad ratings and poor discoverability on the Google Play’s complex algorithm takes Android vitals
Google Play and the App Store categorize apps to help Play Store.” into account to optimize the store experience. If app
users to find what they want. The stores launch new developers don’t fix unhealthy Android vitals, Google
categories from time to time as an increasing number of As Google believes people consistently reward the Play will penalize these apps by lowering its keyword
apps are published on the stores with groundbreaking best performing apps with better ratings & reviews, rankings and limiting its exposure on the store. The
functionalities. Although app developers choose an the Google Play algorithm is made to respond to user most obvious changes in visibility metrics are from
app category when they first publish the app, it is preferences. Apps that present a good experience Explore traffic, meaning that the app will suddenly
always smart to reconsider whether or not the app is The following Browse/Explore metrics will be and health will generally have better rankings and receive much fewer Explore store listing visitors and
still relevant to its category. impacted if the new category ranking is high enough discoverability on Google Play, which will result in acquisitions.
(i.e., in the top 30): more installs.
Similar to keyword optimization, a successful category Android vitals should be monitored whenever
switch will enable the app to rank higher in the • App Store: Browse impressions and Browse app Android vitals reflect an app’s health. Not only do developers push an update to users. The app will
category, followed by an increase in Browse/Explore- units will increase. they exhibit the overall app performance from a receive its Explore traffic when vitals are healthy
related KPIs and, eventually, total downloads. technical perspective, they also flag issues in user again. Compared to Explore discoverability, unhealthy
• Google Play: Explore store listing visitors and experience. Vitals are extremely useful, as they help Android vitals have less of an impact on search
Explore store listing acquisitions will increase. developers spot problems early enough before users visibility (keyword rankings).
start to complain publicly in reviews and discourage
Right after a successful category switch:
A category switch will only impact the top-level KPIs
• Category ranking will increase in the long run if the app ranks in a top position in its
new category. As the top chart or category is sorted
by the total number of downloads over a given time
period, this tactic mainly benefits apps with good
organic traffic.
On the other hand, Browse/Explore visibility in a

category is very important for games or lifestyle apps.
These types of apps are unlike music or travel apps,
where big brand names like Spotify or Booking.com
easily pop into users’ minds. For these apps, users
often browse categories looking for inspiration; as a
This app’s category ranking increased across countries on Sep 8 after result, apps can expect to enjoy organic traffic uplifts
a successful category switch. if they manage to reach the top 10.
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Store Asset Experiments
In Chapter 3, we discussed how you can increase

conversion rates by applying the Conversion Rate
Optimization Loop (CRO Loop) to create store assets.
Results are evaluated differently depending on where
and how experiments are run.
The results of Google Play listing experiments are

easy to read. For example, here we can easily interpret
that the testing variant drove an install uplift of +0.4%
to +3.8% compared to the current store listing (control
variant).
KPIs of Conversion
Throughout the user journey, the conversion rate is
the easiest and most important metric to understand.
Interestingly, conversion rate optimization is not just
about creating beautiful store assets; there are three
crucial aspects that we’ll explore in the next section.
After applying this experiment: As the experiment was live for one week, the annual-
ized incremental downloads would be the difference
• +0.4% to +3.8% in downloads between the two variants, extrapolated
expected increase in conversion rate. to a year.
• The number of downloads was expected to • Expected annualized uplift

increase by the same amount (+0.4% to +3.8%),
providing that impressions remained stable. = (29,859 installs - 29,282 installs) ÷ 50% audience
÷ 7 experiment days x 365 days
To take things one step further, we can calculate the
expected uplift in installs. = 60,173 installs
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A small win in one experiment can bring an app a

lot of value in terms of downloads if the traffic base The analysis is rather straightforward: You compare
is big enough. Experimentation is powerful, as the the conversion rate before and after the creative
small wins from iteration will eventually add up to update. However, taking the averages of the
meaningful numbers and shine in top-level KPIs, conversion rates can be fairly inaccurate, as a lot
conversion rates, and installs. more considerations need to be made. We list the
recommended steps in this table.
Note that the extrapolation might not be applicable to
apps that experience strong seasonality effects. This
is because two major assumptions are made for the
extrapolation:
1. The number of impressions and store listing

visitors remains stable throughout the year.
2. The experiment hypothesis remains true

throughout the year. Experiments like adding a
Christmas background to screenshots wouldn’t
perform as well as during the summer festival
season. Therefore, these experiments shouldn’t
be taken into consideration when estimating the
uplift in installs.
Similarly, the result of an experiment can be derived

from comparing the control variant and testing
variant, even in other approaches like a before-and-
after test. On the App Store, the previous feature of
Creative Set testing was somewhat biased, as Apple’s
Sequential algorithm would optimize for downloads. However,
analysis: Observing the general approach was to apply the creative test
the change in
conversion rate after and observe the changes in conversion rate and
a creative update. downloads. This is also called a sequential analysis.
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You can track these metrics directly in the Google Play Console or
through third-party tools, such as Appbot or AppTweak.
Example of a creative update analysis.
If the creative change doesn’t result in an uplift,

you can revert to the previous creative or apply a
This app’s average star ratings immediately increased in late October after the implementation of an in-app rating
hypothesis. Don’t let a small negative number stop
prompt.
you from iterating the creative change.
Ratings & Reviews
Humans are social animals; we listen to what others

have to say and quite often make our decisions based
on other people’s opinions, even if we don’t know
that person. That’s why ratings & reviews can be so
impactful on the stores.
In Chapter 5, we discussed different methods of

improving your app’s ratings & reviews. If your efforts
are successful, you could see:
• An increase in the number of ratings & reviews.

• An increase in average star rankings.
• Users talk more about their positive experiences
on the app. The app received more five-star ratings after implementing an in-app rating prompt.
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Similar to a sequential analysis, it is important

to remove (as much as possible) any factors that
influence the conversion rate, as we are comparing
conversion rates before and after certain events like
the implementation of a rating prompt.
One thing to keep in mind is that Google Play might

give the app more visibility, such as higher keyword
An app’s total conversion rate is expected to increase rankings and more featuring opportunities, as the
with better ratings. If there are no other significant star rating improves. It is also likely that the number
changes to the store listing, the impact of the improved of total store listing visitors will increase. This
ratings is very visible when compared to the total reinforces the fact that these metrics are interlinked;
conversion rate. Hence, the app will receive more app developers should fully understand the impact of
downloads as the conversion rate increases. each activity and measure success accordingly.
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App Size & Permissions
App size and permission are smaller factors that can

impact conversion rates.
On Google Play, your app size is compared to a

predefined peer group. App size matters, especially in
markets with a lot of low-end devices with less storage.
Generally speaking, the larger the app size, the lower
the conversion rate on both the App Store and Google
Play. Uninstall rates also typically increase with app
size.
Permission denial rate can also be found in the

Google Play Console. This is the percentage of daily
permission sessions during which users denied
permissions for your app. The list of permissions
is hidden deep in the store listing page. For privacy-
sensitive users, any unnecessary permissions might
discourage them from downloading the app.
List of permissions hiding deep in the store listing page.
App size vs. peer group in the Google Play Console.

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Final Words About Interlinked

Metrics
In the KPI tree, we illustrate the metrics that are im-

mediately affected by ASO activities. However, these
metrics—installs, impressions, store listing visitors,
and conversion rate—are always interlinked, not only
mathematically but in reality. Below, we list a few tips
to help you better understand the complexity of ASO
metrics.
> The ASO impact of impressions/store listing visitors > Use “installs” to compare the results of different
on conversion rate: Although it is mathematically activities. The ultimate goal is to draw quality users
correct to say that conversion rate increases because to the app, so use “installs” to prioritize resources
downloads increase, this is not the right causal for the right ASO activities. This turns questions
relationship between these two metrics. In fact, you like “should I devote my time to iterating metadata
would expect sales (installs) to increase because changes or crafting new creatives?” into “will A/B
the marketing strategy (ASO effort) sends a better testing creatives bring more value than adding these
message to potential buyers (improved conversion keywords?” This then makes it much easier to show
rate) instead of the other way around, right? impact and identify next steps.
> Conversion rates should be carefully evaluated > Understand the bigger picture in user acquisition. We
together with impressions/store listing visitors. often see uplifts in Browse and Explore downloads
Conversion rates can be impacted by a change in traffic when a marketing team invests a lot more into paid
composition (brand traffic vs. generic traffic). Brand marketing or offline marketing. This is because brand
search traffic generally has a higher conversion rate awareness subsequently increases and users flood
than generic search traffic. When more generic traffic the stores to download the app, pushing its category
reaches the store listing page, search conversion rates ranking to the top position. The snowball keeps rolling
will naturally decline with the smaller share of brand and more users then download the app from the top
traffic. charts. Similar stories happen all the time. Without
a bigger picture in mind, app developers can’t truly
understand the impact across all acquisition channels,
as the efforts of the marketing team will eventually
cause changes in top-level KPIs in the store consoles.
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Console & Reporting Tools
Working in the mobile industry, you should be familiar with the store consoles to
some extent. Nonetheless, we would now like to walk you through the main tabs in
the consoles and point out the metrics you can find there. We will also showcase
an easy-to-use data visualization tool, Google Data Studio, for performance
monitoring and reporting.
App Store Connect

More About Traffic Composition
Within App Store Connect, the App Analytics tab provides
It is possible to boost conversion rates to a very information about user engagement, marketing campaigns, and
high number, but this doesn’t always result in more monetization using data.
downloads. Why? By limiting traffic to brand-only and
removing all generic keywords from the app metadata, > Overview: A one-pager that lists out all the high-level KPIs in our
conversion rates will reach a maximum number KPI tree, including impressions, conversion rate, and app units
(brand traffic usually has a higher conversion rate); (downloads). There is also a quick view of app units by territory,
however, total downloads will drop as you remove traffic source, and device.
most of the generic keywords.
> Metrics: An in-depth dashboard to visualize and download all
Now we can understand how visibility metrics (i.e., performance metrics. There are country filters, traffic source filters,
brand search share) play a role in conversion rates and etc. This is very useful to understand the granular impact of a specific
how/why high-level KPIs are interlinked. optimization activity.
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> Acquisition: A closer look at the traffic sources of app referrers, web Google Play Console
referrers, and campaigns. You can see which website or apps users
come from. In late 2020, Google revamped the Google Play Console. The ASO-
related information can now be found under several sections.
> Retention: Apple provides basic retention metrics such as the
percentage of users that first installed the app on a date and used it
over the following days. It is not as comprehensive or powerful as > Grow Store Presence: In this section, app developers can control the
other retention tools, like Braze. store listing and run experiments.
> Grow Store Performance: High-level KPIs like store listing visitors,
conversion rate, and store listing acquisitions (downloads) can
be viewed here. The metrics can be broken down by traffic source,
country/region, language, search term, etc. Conversion rate
benchmarks per traffic source, country, or language are also listed
here.
> Quality Ratings & Review: The app’s star ratings & reviews can be
found in this section with a country and language breakdown. You
can easily see how ratings & reviews change over time and look into
the topics your users commented on in their reviews. This is handy
to understand user satisfaction and disappointment.
> Quality Android Vitals: Android vitals are grouped under the quality
section. The data about crash rate or app size helps app developers
understand and improve the user experience from a technical
perspective. Fixing issues and improving the app’s performance can
App Store Connect.
lead to a better user experience, higher ratings, and more installs.
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Getting Everything in Data Studio
It can be quite time consuming to jump from one console to another,

not to mention to export the data and consolidate it into real
insights. As reporting plays a big role in measuring ASO success, it is
important to use the right tool for data visualization and monitoring.
Google Data Studio is a great tool for data visualization; it is very

similar to Tableau or other in-house business intelligence tools. You
can use it for free, or pay a little extra to make it more powerful. If you
are not using any data visualization tools at the moment, we would
recommend you build a simple dashboard and monitor your app
performance with Google Data Studio.
Google Play Console.
Google Data Studio provides a variety of reporting templates.
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No matter which tool you use, you can build a powerful dashboard for performance
tracking and data visualization by following these steps.
Collect the right data from the developer

consoles
The developer consoles provide a bunch of data,

but this doesn’t mean you have to include all of it in
your reporting. Stick with the metrics that allow you
to measure performance against your marketing
objectives. If your goal is to gain more installs, collect
information about downloads from the developer
consoles and match this data with install numbers
from MMPs. All the high-level metrics should be
tracked, including downloads, impressions/store
listing visitors, and conversion rates.
The metrics should also be broken down per traffic

source and country, especially if you are working on
a variety of app optimizations simultaneously. It is Both stores provide APIs to call data directly from the
better to get daily data per traffic source and country consoles. In our experience, this data is somewhat
so that the sum of these data will provide a bigger different from those in the console. If you have an
picture. in-house engineering team, you could instead build a
script to scrape the data from the console.
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Collect the necessary data from

third-party tools
As previously mentioned, we need more data to identi-

fy granular wins, such as improved keyword rankings.
You can track these metrics using third-party tools.
Depending on the ASO activities you are running, you
should also collect the relevant information.
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Display the important metrics in a data

visualization tool
Once you collect the data from all the consoles and
tools, you can display the core metrics in a data
visualization tool like Data Studio. We recommend
starting with monthly high-level metrics in
comparison to the previous month. The comparison
gives the metrics more meaning and makes it easier Of course, you can also display the data in graphs to
for stakeholders to understand what happened in the visualize changes over time and show progression/
month. overall trends.
Downloads over time to show progression.
High-level metrics in the dashboard.
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Include all the granular metrics to show the

moment of truth
Instead of explaining the details in slide decks or

presentations, we would recommend including all
the small metrics in the dashboard so it becomes the
single point of truth for all stakeholders. It is also very
convenient to monitor these granular metrics (likely
from third-party tools) against the high-level metrics
from the developer consoles.
Set up filters for date, country/language,
app, & more!
Google Sheets is probably one of the most convenient

tools for reporting. However, it is not interactive
enough for the users to view the data flexibly, or you
could risk a total mess-up of the data points. Most
data visualization tools hide the data source from
dashboard users, and allow users to select the data
with filters, which is very important for any dashboard.
You should set up two basic filters: date and country/
language.
> The date filter lets the user zoom in and out for a
specific period of time. For example, ASO managers
want to know week-over-week performances while
marketing managers focus on monthly metrics.
Having the visibility score side by side with search metrics allows us to see that search impressions increased as the app
gained more visibility from keyword rankings.
> Country/language filters provide the possibility
to focus on specific markets. You can also set up a
“region” filter to get a broader perspective on a wider
geographic location.
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With these steps, you can build an interactive

Set up filters in the dashboard.
dashboard for reporting for all stakeholders and spend
less time making slides and writing manual details.
This is what your final report could look like!
Instead of setting up an individual report for a specific

app, you can add an app or product filter if you are
managing multiple apps. With this filter, you can then
view the same metrics and graphs for different apps. It
is beneficial to compare the performance across apps
in the same portfolio.
Set up an app/product filter to view performance across apps in the

An all-in-one interactive ASO dashboard.
same portfolio.
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Third-Party Tools
Platform Tools
Notwithstanding previous comments, Apple and Google
do provide plenty of data via their first-party reporting Google Play Console
platforms, with more data regularly released by both
Apple and Google.
Dashboard View
In the Google Play Console, the dashboard is the

main screen and the one you arrive on after selecting
an application. The Google Play Console dashboard
is meant to offer an overview of your app’s health,
its performance, and its engineering stability. The
dashboard includes the following data points:
• New users acquired

• User loss
• Star rating and ratings volume
• Store listing performance
• Crashes, ANRs, and other Android
vitals
• App size
• Pre-launch report
Google Play Console dashboard.
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Statistics View
The Statistics view offers a deeper look into your
• User acquisition and loss Segmentations include:
app’s performance across a set of data points and
• Devices, device updates, install, uninstall events,
breakdowns.
and device loss after update • Android version
• Engagement, broken down by DAU, MAU, and • Device
Statistics reports can also be exported and configured
monthly returning users • Device type
to display up to two data points across one of the
• Average daily ratings • Country
following:
• Crashes, ANRs, app download size, app size on • Language
device at install time • App version
• Pre-registrations and conversions • Carrier
• Store listing acquisitions and visitors
Google Play Console statistics vs. peer group view.
Users and devices can be segmented

into all, new, and returning, and data
can be viewed across acquisitions and
loss for each statistic.
The Statistics view is also where you

can compare your apps’ performance to
peers across the gamut of available data
points, which can help you understand
which areas you should improve in to
raise your app’s organic ranking power.
Google Play Console Statistics view.
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• Finance (cryptocurrency, insurance, investment, • Maps & navigation

loan, mobile banking, mobile payment, personal
finance) • Medical
• Art & design (drawing) • Music & audio (audio recorder, karaoke, lyrics,
music instrument, radio, sound effect)
• Auto & vehicles (vehicle maintenance, vehicle
shopping) • News & magazines (news aggregator)
• Beauty (cosmetics, hairstyle) • Parenting
• Books & reference (audiobook, dictionary, • Personalization (emoji, emoticon, keyboard,

e-reader) launcher, lock screen, ringtone, theme,
wallpaper)
• Business ( job seeking)
• Photography (camera, photo editor)
• Comics
• Productivity (calendar, notebook)
• Communication (caller ID, email, video call)
• Shopping (fashion, loyalty program)
• Dating
Google Play Console statistics with time series graph and table showing daily peer group
performance.
• Social (meet new people)
• Education (driver’s education, language
education, mathematics, science education, study • Sports
guide, test preparation)
• Tools (calculator, measurement, network
Data available in the comparison-to-peers section of Peer comparisons can be run for primary peer groups • Entertainment (coloring book, humor) connectivity, privacy & security, remote control,
the Statistics view include: (e.g., Finance) and secondary peer groups (e.g., web browser)
Finance > Cryptocurrency), and peer comparisons • Events
• Store listing acquisition rate (all, new, returning can be configured for any peer group, regardless of • Travel & local (air travel, houses & vacation
users) what your app category is set to. • Food & drink (recipe, restaurant) rental, public transport, taxi & rideshare, travel
• Audience growth rate guide)
• User loss rate Peer comparisons include a shaded line chart with the • Health & fitness (activity tracker, meditation,
• DAU/MAU median, 25th, and 75th percentile data points for the sleep, weight loss) • Video players & editors (video editing, video
• Returning users selected peer group. Primary peer data is available for player)
• DAU growth rate any country; however, some countries do not support • House & home (home automation)
• MAU growth rate secondary peer group-level data comparisons. • Weather
• Lifestyle (horoscope, self-help)
Primary (and secondary) peer groups include:
• Live television
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2. Custom Store Listings

Release Store Presence This allows you to create a
customized page for different
This section contains information relevant to app This view houses all the levers that determine how countries or pre-registration
developers, including: your app’s store listing appears in the store, including campaigns. Up to 5 custom
the following two major areas: store listings can be created.
• Release overview
• Production 1. Main Store Listing
• Testing The store listing is where you enter your app’s 3. Store Settings
• Reach and devices metadata (both text and visuals) for your app’s This is where you select your
• App bundle explorer main store page. app’s category, Google Play
• Setup tags, and provide contact
Google Play Console Custom Store Listing creation.
details.
4. Translation Services
Provides a way to have your store listing translated
(by humans) into another language.
5. Store Listing Experiments

Where store asset experiments are run.
Google Play Console Main Store Listing view.

Google Play Console Store Listing Experiments performance.
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Store Performance
The Store Analysis tab is another important area for

app developers/marketers focusing on ASO. Here,
Google provides data on store listing visitors, store
listing acquisitions, and store listing conversion rate,
broken up along several dimensions, including:
While highly useful and the best way to obtain a true
test of a live store listing, there are several limitations • Source (Google Play Search, Google Play Explore,
to note regarding Google’s A/B testing engine: and third-party referrals)
• Languages
• Countries
• Search terms
• App install states (new users vs returning users)
> The confidence interval is locked at 90%, which may • UTM source
not be a high enough level of confidence for marketers • UTM campaign
who want a more precise reading. • Main store listing vs. custom store listings
> Testing is done with all visitors for an app’s listing,

which cannot be manipulated (e.g., search vs. top
chart browsing).
> While experiments can provide data on either first-

time installers or day-1 retained users, they do not
allow for reporting on other post-install metrics, such
as revenue.
> Running multiple experiments only provides data for

the performance of a variant all-up which, while useful
for a cohesive report, makes it difficult to distinguish
the effect of each variable.
> Experiments do not provide insights into other

metrics, such as engagement or the view rate of each
element.
Google Play Console Store Listing Acquisition report by country.
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The Conversion Analysis tab shows performance that

can be segmented by the above dimensions, and also
compared against primary or secondary peer groups.
Google’s store listing and conversion analysis data

is quite useful and extensive, especially for ASO
practitioners who don’t use an MMP. You can use this
data for some of the following analyses:
> Measuring the real change in performance after an

optimization (e.g., how a screenshot change affected
conversion rates).
> Measuring the performance of each acquisition

source, such as how SEO installs converted purchases
(and which keywords drove installs).
Google Play Console Store Listing Conversion report showing an app’s conversion rate vs. the benchmark
Google Play Console Store Listing Acquisition report by search term. conversion rate by source.
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Android Vitals
This section provides insight into your app’s development quality

along several common problematic data points that, if persistent
or widespread, can have a significant, negative effect on user
experience.
• App stability • Battery

◊ ANR rate ◊ Stuck partial wake locks & stuck
◊ Crash rate partial wake locks (background)
◊ Multiple ANR rate ◊ Excessive wakeups
◊ Multiple crash rate ◊ Excessive background Wi-Fi scans
◊ Excessive background network
usage
• App startup time
◊ Slow cold start
◊ Slow warm start
◊ Slow hot start • Rendering
◊ Excessive slow frames
◊ Excessive frozen frames
• Permissions
◊ Permission denials
Google Play Console vitals overview.
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Monetize
The Financial Reports section has been expanded in • App pricing

the new Google Play Console to cover a wide variety of • In-app products
sections. First, you can manage your app pricing and • Subscriptions
These data points can also be compared to peer groups. in-app products via:
Each data point includes the percentage of affected

sessions from all Android versions, as well as the latest
Android version, and a bad behavior threshold. Note
that if your app exceeds the bad behavior threshold,
this can have a significant, negative impact on your
organic placement rankings.
Other information in the Android Vitals section

covers:
• Frame rate performance

• Loading time
• Settings
• App size, including app download
size and app size over time
Google Play Console financial overview.
Report on monetization performance via:
• Subscriptions (including data on active • Revenue

subscriptions, new subscriptions, cancellations, • Buyers
revenue, average revenue per active subscription, • Conversions
and refunds, as well as data on total subscription • Promo codes
performance, subscription retention, cancellation
reasons, subscription conversion rates by offer/
discount, and subscription performance by user
source/country)
Google Play Console App Size view.
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Google Play Console subscription overview.
Google Play Console subscription cancellation.
Google Play Console subscription retention. Google Play Console revenue overview.
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Google Play Console buyers overview. Google Play Console conversions overview.
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Ratings and Reviews Use Google’s ratings > Analyze the impact of your rating prompt.
report to:
This section contains input from users, including both > Allocate customer service resources, based on
ratings & reviews and beta feedback. User feedback the rating per country data.
data is provided in one of four sub-views:
> Prioritize QA resources, depending on the rating
per device or Android version data.
Ratings > Decide to take action if your app’s rating is

Google provides deep insights into your app’s star The Google Play star rating can also be compared to consistently trending lower.
rating, broken down along a series of different primary or secondary peer groups.
dimensions:
• Country
• Language
• App version
• Android version
• Device & tablet type
Reviews
Google also provides a raw log of reviews across a set

of dimensions, including:
• Benchmark (Google standard- • Android version

defined segments, including
account, design, monetization, • App version
privacy, resource usage, speed,
stability, uninstalls, update, • Developer reply state
usability)
• Review highlight
• Topic (Google custom-defined
segments based on keywords, such • Device language
as waste, website, Wi-Fi, people,
phone, everyone, ads) • Device model
• Rating • Device type

Google Play Console overall rating and ratings distribution.
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Review Analysis
Use Google’s Review reports to:
Google also provides more refined insights for review • The impact (on ratings) of reviews that were and > Prioritize developer time based on feature/bug
analyses via the following data points: were not replied to (by you, the developer). feedback.
• The most common user feedback found in reviews > Identify features and functional areas to
(benchmarks and topics) with an estimated highlight in your CRO efforts.
positive or negative impact on your app’s star
rating. > Identify common root words useful for
visibility optimizations.
• Insights into each rating functional area (i.e.,
common topics, such as app design or updates) > Come up with messaging and ideas for your
and a comparison for each functional area of your marketing and advertising efforts outside of
app’s performance vs. your app’s category peers. the store.
Testing Feedback Other information found in the

Google Play Console:
This view provides private feedback
from users testing an open or closed • Developer account details
test of your app. • API access details
• Pricing templates
• Managing testers
• Pre-launch report
• Notification preferences
• Game services
Google Play Console analysis of the impact of developer review replies, and benchmarks and topics analysis.
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App Store Connect
While Google may have out-innovated Apple when it comes to app

developer tools, Apple has nonetheless built a solid platform and
committed to a regular series of updates for its App Store Connect
platform, such as the recent release of product page optimization
and custom product pages. Apple’s App Store Connect platform is
separated into four main navigation views, as well as several sub-tab
views within each.
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Testing Feedback
Apps
General Features
Similar to Google’s Store Presence view, the Apps view is where
developers and marketers adjust the metadata that shows in the App • Version Information: This is where the major • Manage In-App Purchases: Manage your in-app
Store. The major sub-views here include: metadata (besides the title and category) are purchases.
submitted, including screenshots, promotional
text, icon, description, screenshots, “what’s new,” • Subscription Groups: Manage your subscriptions.
game center, and localization selection.
• App Store Promotions: Manage your promoted
• App Information: This includes the app title, IAPs (up to 20).
category, and localization selection.
• In-App Events: Manage your in-app events (up to
• Pricing & Availability: This provides visibility 10).
into pricing-related distribution details.
• Custom Product Pages: Manage your custom
• App Privacy: Includes information pertinent product pages (up to 35).
to iOS 14 privacy-related changes, such as app
privacy “nutrition labels” which disclose to users • Product Page Optimization: Set up and run
the data (types) that an app tracks. product page optimization A/B tests (up to 3
treatments per test).
• Ratings and Reviews: Provides the ratings and
reviews and developer replies.
• Version History: A log of historic app version

updates.
• App Review: Provides information related to the

App Store version review/approval process.
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App Store Connect App Information and Privacy views. Product Page Optimization Setup view.
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Services
The Features sub-view provides control and visibility
over the Game Center and promo codes.
TestFlight
The TestFlight sub-view provides control and Pro Tip:
visibility over beta testers (internal and external), as In Ratings & Reviews on App Store
well as requisite testing information. This sub-view Connect, you can also see information
includes useful information on tester invites sent, about the country of the user who left
tester installation status, and app crashes, for each the review, and how many viewers
version as well as for individual testers. marked a review as helpful. Apple
Product Page Optimization Reporting view.
makes it easier to access this data by
providing a filter option for the most
recent /helpful /favorable /critical
reviews, as well as for app version and
user territory. This enables you to hone
Other features that can be available through App in on the reviews that best represent
Store Connect include App Clips and App Bundles. the sentiments of your user base.
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App Analytics
As with Google’s User Acquisition view, App In the initial overview, marketers and developers The Overview is similar to Google’s dashboard view Acquisition sources include the
Analytics is where ASO practitioners will spend the see a high-level glimpse into the selected app’s but more detailed. It is great for gaining a quick look following:
most time investigating, as it provides the data points performance, along with retention and geographic at the health and performance of your app and to see
necessary to judge the success of an ASO strategy. A data. whether things are trending in the right direction or • App Store Search (including Apple
summary of your app analytics can be viewed across whether a problem is developing. Search Ads)
all of a developer account’s apps/bundles, as well as • App Store Browse (top charts, features,
individually. The Acquisitions sub-view displays data from each related app lists, story placements in
acquisition source, as well as any campaign tracker the search engine results page)
links you have set up. • App referrer
• Web referrer
• Institutional purchase
• All other sources
• Unavailable
App Store Connect App Analytics Overview dashboard. App Store Connect App Analytics acquisitions.
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The Metrics sub-view allows you to drill down into New app version updates or Apple software updates
and filter data by dimensions, such as territory. Data are indicated by gray, vertical bars (annotations).
from the Metrics sub-view can be compared in dual- You can also save views, such as the tap-through rate
axis or calculated ratios, as well as exported to CSV. (TTR) or ratio of product page views/impressions.
Metrics that can be viewed include:
• Impressions (total and unique devices)

• Conversion rate
App Store Connect App Analytics acquisitions.
• Product page views (total and unique devices)
• App updates
• First-time downloaders
The Metrics sub-view is excellent for configuring data > Comparing the conversion rate by country. • Redownloads
to download for your own reports, as well as drilling • Total downloads
into trends noticed in the Overview sub-view, such as > Determining the uplift in App Store search • In-app purchases
worsening downloads. Use this data for some of the impressions from a recent metadata update. • Proceeds
following analyses: • Sales
> Determining whether the uplift from a recent • Paying users
visibility optimization led to a worse ARPU. • Installations
• Sessions
> Viewing macro trends in metrics like impression • Active devices
volume or KPIs like app units over months to • Active last 30 days
understand the long-term success of your ASO • Crashes
efforts. • Deletions
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The Retention sub-view offers insights into your > Retention per day for users acquired 30 days ago
app’s retention performance, broken down across the
following dashboards: > Day one retention for the past 30 days
> Daily retention for each of the past 28 days
Metrics data can be broken down by: Some of the ways in which you can use
Apple’s source data include:
• Device
• iOS version > Disambiguating the impact of
• App version search vs. top charts/featurings
• Page type in terms of performance drivers.
• Region (e.g., Europe)
• Country > Identifying top referrer apps to
• Source type strengthen those relationships
• App referrer and/or marketing connections.
• Web referrer
• Campaign > More easily correlating the
• Purchases impact of keyword ranking
changes via only analyzing
data from the App Store search
segment.
App Store Connect App Analytics Retention view.
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Use this data for some of the following analyses:
> Analyzing your app’s retention data if you do not have

an MMP.
> Analyzing the impact of your engagement campaigns

on raising retention.
> Analyzing the quality/retention of users sourced from

changes in ASO/marketing strategy.
Sales & Trends
Sales and Trends provides more in-depth data into • Total active subscriptions
Pro Tip revenue data, including three main sub-views: • Subscription units and sales data
You can schedule a weekly email • Subscription events data such as renewals,
summary that provides app analytics Subscriptions offers reports on your subscription cancellations, grace period entry/exit, conversion
data for your top 20 apps via the Users products (filterable by app or subscription product). from promotional offer to standard price, and
and Roles view. Several dashboard views help organize this data into billing retries
relevant sections, including: • Conversion rates for different offers, including
Example of an app analytics summary email. standard and promotional offers
• Subscription cancellation reasons
• Proportion of subscriptions active for 1 year or
less than 1 year
• Subscription retention data
• Subscription events
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App Store Connect Sales & Trends subscription retention view.
App Store Connect Sales & Trends subscription summary view.
App Store Connect Sales & Trends subscription state view.
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There are a variety of ways in > Analyze your push campaign effectiveness in increasing
which you can use these reports. the number of new subscription signups (pre-post).
For example, you can:
> Cross-reference your new user acquisition reports with
new subscriptions to determine whether you’re acquiring
quality users and what the lag time in subscribing is.
> Diagnose the overall health of your subscription volume

and, with a daily/weekly/monthly revenue goal, determine
when you need to turn up your marketing activities to
increase subscription cash flows.
You can also use these reports to your activities (such as promoting free
determine how well your optimization trials, running remarketing campaigns,
activities are doing in terms of or implementing a push or in-app
improving the conversion rate of notifications system) occur, and then
trials, discounted subscriptions, full- compare the conversion rate before and
price subscriptions, and renewals/ after the start date of your optimization
cancellations. Track the dates on which activities.
App Store Connect Sales & Trends subscription event view. App Store Connect Sales and Trends subscription retention view.
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Sales
Sales offers reports on all products sold (including free downloads,

IAP, subscriptions, and pre-orders). Sales reports can be filtered by
the following dimensions:
• Content (the name or ID of the unit sold, such as an IAP item)
• Territory
• Device
• Category (each item’s category, such as iOS Apps > Business)
• Content-type (drilled down into different distribution

categories of items, including apps, bundles, in-app purchases
broken down by iOS apps, tvOS apps, and Mac apps)
• Transaction type (free/paid/redownloaded/refund/update)
• CMB (Complete My Bundle; shows the action taken by

customers to purchase the remaining apps in a bundle beyond
those already purchased)
• App version
• Store currency (e.g., USD, EUR, INR)

App Store Connect Sales Units sub-view.
• Client (App Store/iMessage App Store/news)
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Reports provides a way to easily download data. Agreements, Taxes, and Banking include all the
legal requirements to distribute and sell apps.
Payments & Financial Reports provides a
breakdown of payments and units sold per date Resources and Help provide developers with videos,
range across regions, including original currencies, documentation, news, and links to helpful resources
currency conversions, and taxes/adjustments. across the different products distributed through the
App Store, such as apps or podcasts.
User Roles allows developers to control access to all
or part of an App Store Connect account, as well as
access to TestFlight for beta testing purposes. There
are seven different roles that a user can gain access to.
Users can also be limited to accessing only a certain
app(s)—except for Admin or Finance roles or if the
Reports add-on has been added to a specific role.
App Store Connect Sales > Sales sub-view.
App Store Connect Sales Proceeds sub-view. App Store Connect User Permissions view.
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AppFollow
AppFollow is a platform that helps mobile teams & analytics ASO tools, including organic traffic
throughout the entire app life cycle. The Finnish dashboards, app reviews, rankings, keywords,
company was founded in 2015 with a vision of downloads, and real-time reports. Together with more
bridging customer feedback and app development. than 20 integrations like Slack, Tableau, and others,
AppFollow offers a suite of cutting-edge search the advanced features make it easy for teams to make
winning strategic decisions and grow their app.
ASO Tools
ASO tools provide broad functionality to report on,
analyze, optimize, and position the metadata elements
of your ASO strategy. In the next sections, we list
the major ASO tools broken down by functionality,
including keyword research, keyword optimization,
keyword ranking, top chart ranking, app performance
data, ratings & reviews, and competitive research.
General ASO tools focus on helping you analyze all the

general elements of your ASO strategy, from ranking
on keywords/top charts to keyword research, light
competitive reviews, and more.
AppFollow.
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App Radar
App Radar is an Austrian ASO tool that first went live
in March 2016, though Thomas Kriebernegg, App
Radar’s CEO, had been working as an App Marketing
Consultant since 2011. App Radar specializes in
keyword research and some of App Radar’s unique
features include submitting metadata directly to App
Store Connect and Google Play Console accounts. App Radar.
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AppTweak
AppTweak, awarded ASO tool of the Year at the 2021 App Growth
Awards, was founded in 2013 by Olivier Verdin and Sebastien
Delis. AppTweak’s all-in-one platform offers ASO Intelligence, Ad
Intelligence, App Intelligence and Market Intelligence. Driven by a
mission to develop the most accurate, transparent and easy-to-use
ASO tool, AppTweak is known for its innovative metrics, such as
“Organic Keyword Installs,” “Keyword Relevancy Score,” and more.
AppTweak. AppTweak.
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Asodesk
Asodesk is a Russian ASO tool founded by Sergey Sharov. Asodesk
provides general ASO services, along with unique features to provide
accurate attributions of organic downloads from keywords.
Asodesk. Asodesk.
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MobileAction Sensor Tower

Founded in 2013, MobileAction offers an app marketing intelligence Sensor Tower is an ASO tool founded in 2013 by AngelPad 6 alumni,
suite and Apple Search Ads campaign optimization platform. Its Alex Malafeev and Oliver Yeh. Sensor Tower offers general ASO
products range from a comprehensive ASO tool with data from services with unique features that include custom alerts delivered
over 3 million keywords to boost organic growth, to a rich ad library via email and Slack for new/soft launches, download/revenue
with over 32 million creatives to enable paid growth. As an official spikes, and app updates.
Apple Search Ads partner, MobileAction’s campaign management
platform, SearchAds.com, runs campaigns on auto-pilot to help app
marketers scale Apple Search Ads effortlessly.
MobileAction. SensorTower.
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Keyword Discovery Tools Google Keyword Planner Tool

The Google Keyword Planner tool can be accessed countries, date ranges (e.g., for seasonality), and
Keyword discovery tools can help you research through the AdWords interface and requires users to languages.
keywords in either the initial or iteration stages of sign up for an AdWords account.
your ASO strategy, but do not provide ranking data or This tool also provides insights into the monthly
reporting for specific apps. While it only provides keyword research based on search volume for keywords, which can be used
Google web search traffic, the Keyword Planner tool directionally to prioritize keywords.
is one of the most prolific keyword research tools
available and can nonetheless serve as a great starting However, take web search trend data with a grain of
point for keyword research. One handy feature is salt and be aware that web search trends often do not
the ability to require certain words to be present in align with app store search trends. That said, for app
search queries, which can help you better understand indexing optimization, the Keyword Planner is an
searches for “apps,” “iPhone,” and “Android,” and excellent resource for researching the right keywords
obtain more accurate suggestions. Another useful to use to increase web-sourced organic installs.
parameter is narrowing results for particular
Google Keyword Planner tool.

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Google Trends
Google Trends is another tool that can be useful to compare the web-
based, relative popularity of specific topics (up to five). One unique
feature of Google Trends is that it rolls many individual keywords
into a “topic.” This helps provide a more accurate macro view when
analyzing trends that may span a wide set of similar keywords.
Again, proceed with caution when using Google Trends for anything
other than directional analyses, as web-based search trends may not
mirror app store search trends.
Google Keyword Planner tool.
Google Trends.
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A/B Testing Tools ASO Giraffe
A/B testing tools focus on empowering ASO ASO Giraffe allows you to test app and game concepts
practitioners in conversion rate optimization, and and optimize your store page. The tool is available
providing iOS app marketers with the functionality for App Store and Google Play pages and provides
of Google Play experiments, but with additional detailed insights into how users interact with your
features. App marketers can also use A/B testing tools store page to help inform your strategy. ASO Giraffe
to run experiments for Android apps. provides information about scroll heatmaps, video
play time, and on-page behaviors.
ASO Giraffe.
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Geeklab SplitMetrics
Geeklab is a cloud-based software solution that allows users to A/B SplitMetrics is an A/B testing tool founded in 2014 by Max
test App Store, Google Play, Huawei App Gallery, and Steam store Kamenkov, an ASO guru and former chief architect at Pandadoc,
pages to help improve their store conversion. Setting up a campaign and Eugene Nevgen, co-founder of MSQRD. Unique features include
on Geeklab does not involve any technical implementations or even an instant audit of an app’s ASO strategy as well as ASO consulting
the submission of an existing app. Geeklab was founded in 2018 by services and performance benchmark data for clients running tests.
Jesse Lempiainen.
SplitMetrics.
Geeklab.
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Storemaven Upptic
Storemaven is an A/B testing tool founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs Upptic is a fully automated store page testing and available assets to find the highest converting combination
with experience in gaming, mobile marketing, and big-data analytics. conversion maximization platform. The tool eliminates of App Store assets, including icons, screenshots, videos,
One of Storemaven’s unique features is its machine learning the need to run multiple A/B tests; instead, the test page feature/promo image, and text. The testing process is
algorithm, which saves media costs by concluding tests faster and learns and improves itself autonomously with no manual accelerated by consistently and automatically removing
with fewer samples. management needed. the lowest performing variant. A clean and intuitive UI
clearly shows progress as the page evolves and improves
As traffic is sent to the test page, the algorithm tests all over time. The platform also notifies the user each time it
discovers a better performing combination.
Storemaven. Upptic.
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Appfigures.
Competitive Intelligence Appfigures

Tools
Appfigures is an app tracking and intelligence tool
founded in 2009. Appfigures focuses on providing
While some competitive intelligence unique value via integrations, robust API reporting,
tools provide features that overlap and real-time reports.
with general ASO tools (such as
app reporting and keyword/top
chart ranks), competitive/marketplace
intelligence tools focus on providing Apptopia
ASO practitioners with data that
is more difficult to obtain, such as Apptopia is an app data and market intelligence
retention rates and usage overlap tool founded in 2011. Apptopia focuses on providing
for competitor apps and categories, unique value through retention rate, app SDK usage
country-level and demographic data, figures, and breakout app alerts.
and advertising trends.
Apptopia.
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Appbot
Appbot is a tool for monitoring and managing app ratings & reviews
across major app stores. Unique features include integrations with
communication, CRM, and project management platforms, as well
as topic/sentiment/trending analyses.
Review Management
Listed here are tools that specifically excel in ratings

& reviews analysis and management.
Appbot.
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In-App Rating Prompts

AppFollow Apptentive
AppFollow provides an extensive app review management tool that Apptentive is a US-based ratings, reviews, and sentiment
allows developers to aggregate user feedback from iOS, Android, optimization tool, founded in 2011 to provide developers with the
and Amazon app stores, respond to reviews, and automate review ability to measure sentiment and gather feedback from their user
management (auto-replies, auto-tags, auto-report, etc.) to save time base.
and effort.
AppFollow. Apptentive.
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Haystack Reviews
Founded by Sebastian Gallese and Thomas Schultz-Wenk and
based in San Francisco, Haystack Reviews works as a consulting
agency with two open-source tools that help app marketers improve
their ratings and reviews. Rating Recipes, Haystack’s first tool, is
a community repository of how the best apps ask for ratings and
reviews. Haystack’s second tool, Promptimzer, helps developers
optimize rating prompts to ask their most loyal users to rate their
apps at the best time.
Screenshot Builders
Screenshot builders make life less tedious by offering
features, such as templates, for custom screenshot
design as well as facilitating the automation of
localization buildout.
Haystack Reviews’ Ratings Recipe displays an app rating flow.
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Fastlane
Fastlane is an open-source platform that automates
the generation of iOS and Android screenshots, in
addition to other builds/release features. Fastlane is
owned by Fabric, which is owned by Google.
AppLaunchpad Fastlane.
LaunchMatic
AppLaunchpad is a tool to create app screenshots for App Store and
Google Play pages. This tool replaces Launchkit.io, which Google LaunchMatic is an app screenshot of app screenshot management.
bought and shut down. generator. LaunchMatic was launched LaunchMatic provides a variety of pre-
in 2020 to help developers and app made templates with full customization
marketers bypass the tedious work for text captions, app screens, and
background colors.
AppLaunchpad. LaunchMatic.
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CHAPTER 08
Guide to Apple
Search Ads
CHAPTER 08 GUIDE TO APPLE SEARCH ADS
Guide to Apple
Search Ads
K E Y TA K E AWAY S
Understand how to leverage Apple

Search Ads to boost your ASO
strategy.
Apple Search Ads (ASA) has gained its global potential, especially given the opportunities to generate synergies In this chapter, you will come to
gradual popularity since its launch opportunities it provides to boost app with an ASO strategy. This chapter understand the ASA Stack framework,
in 2017; as of February 2022, ASA discovery in various high-converting argues that ASA can be an essential a model developed to help mobile
is available on the App Store in 61 placements. Unsurprisingly, ASA is tool in your overall ASO toolbox. Done marketers nail ASA advertising
countries. From May 2021, ASA also one of the high-intent driven channels correctly, ASA can lead to a direct and generate growth. With this
became available in the App Store that marketers use to convert users and increase in ASO visibility which, understanding of ASA fundamentals,
“Search tab,” as well in the traditional drive quality traffic. in turn, can lead to an increase in we will then delve into applications
“search results.” While the search conversion. As such, running ASA can and practical tactics to create synergies
results promote the advertised app Compared to the dominant players in represent a serious advantage over your with your overall ASO strategy and app
above relevant apps a user may want the world of online advertising, ASA competitors who may not be leveraging marketing campaigns.
to download, the Search tab promotes is a relatively new channel. However, this opportunity.
the app above a list of suggested apps ASA is becoming increasingly popular
before a search has even taken place. for two reasons: First, ASA offers high-
The expansion of ASA clearly signals intent traffic; second, it also creates
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The ASA Stack How Does the ASA Stack Work?
The ASA Stack highlights three key horizontal layers that can be
Developed by Andrea Raggi and the Phiture team, leveraged in ASA: Campaigns, Ad Groups, and Keywords. These are
the ASA Stack is a framework designed to help ASA then supported by a fourth and fifth layer: Tools and Supporting
practitioners of a mobile product/service develop Insights.
a strategy for ASA and provide user acquisition
marketers with a holistic view of ASA. From
this framework, mobile marketers can develop a
comprehensive, strategic approach to growing their
user base and/or optimizing for performance. The
stack can be applied at any stage of a product’s lifecycle
and to many different apps, although some elements
of the stack could become more relevant at different
stages of the business cycle.
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Campaigns
ASA Stack, Campaigns layer. Source: Phiture.
The horizontal layers intersect with the foundations highly unlikely to achieve a specific objective (either By making sure you have a relevant, organized, and
(variables and elements) that you can utilize, scaling and/or optimizing the channel) without clear structure in your account and having a precise
customize, and develop to improve your ASA account. investing in “tools” and “supporting insights.” idea of your goals, you will be able to make the most
In fact, variables and elements are the principal out of your ASA campaigns. A clear campaign format
foundations of the ASA Stack, as they can modify your Each element (i.e., each individual cell) in the stack will allow you to exploit automated scripts; in turn,
strategy and help adjust your goals to scale the channel represents an activity that might form part of your this will become your best ally to save time in daily
or optimize for performance. Scaling the channel strategy. Not all elements will be equally applicable operations. In this section, we will discuss the
enables you to enhance your visibility and grow the to a specific app or category/industry, let alone to Campaigns layer of the ASA Stack to discuss how you
number of app users. Optimizing for performance can the company’s resources and internal capabilities. can leverage campaign structure, budget, daily caps,
increase your conversion and improve your return on A smart strategy does not attempt to cover every and storefronts to achieve your objectives.
advertising spend (ROAS) or lifetime value (LTV). single element of the stack simultaneously, but rather
attempts to select an appropriate mix of initiatives to
Companies at different stages of maturity will need reflect the essence of the business and its objectives.
to prioritize the foundations differently to reach their The strategy you choose, if appropriately developed,
particular business goals. A successful strategy will will help you achieve profitability. It should also allow
incorporate most of the elements from the three core you to invest in tools and insights that enable you to
layers to generate sufficient impact, and it will be foster your future growth opportunities.
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Campaign Structure
ASA Stack, campaign structure. Source: Phiture.
Compared to other approaches (e.g., a value-based

structure) the semantics-based campaign works well
because:
• It is difficult to assess the value of keywords before

you run your campaigns.
Your campaign structure is one of the first things to • Some keywords fluctuate in terms of the value
address before you start to advertise on ASA. How they generate (due to external shocks, change in
should I organize my overall strategy? What are bids, competition, etc.). When choosing a campaign structure, you’ll want to
my targets and objectives? Thinking about these cover search volume (scale) and aim for performance.
questions before you start creating campaigns will • With semantic campaigns/ad groups, you’re better If your main target is scaling the channel and
help you better organize your strategic approach. able to effectively drive conversion with custom expanding your current reach, discovery campaigns
product pages that are relevant to the semantic ad can support your keyword exploration to find similar
Phiture works with a semantics-based campaign group/campaign. competitors or keywords that belong to your domain
structure per market: Brand, Generic, Competitor, (see more in the Keywords section). This is done
Discovery, and Probing. This layout can help • How you structure your campaigns will lay the automatically with the help of an algorithm. Besides
you monitor costs per country or region and also groundwork for your performance. You don’t discovery campaigns, keyword research (which will
identify the most important campaigns in terms of want a confusing campaign structure because it be covered later in this chapter) will also be pivotal in
performance and conversion. will only create chaos. achieving scale.
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Budget
The budget figure in the ASA Console

should be interpreted as a lifetime
budget—the total spend in this channel,
regardless of timespan. You should
set a very high number for this budget
because if you suddenly spend your
entire weekly budget, your campaigns
will stop. Ideally, you don’t want to
run out of money at the weekend or
otherwise, so you need to make sure to
increase the budget enough to ensure
you are able to scale the channel and not
be stopped by any hiccups. Keep in mind
that this figure is just a placeholder, and Daily Caps
does not represent the money you’ll be
charged.
Daily caps, like budgets, can function as brakes when
The situation is different if you have you have limited resources to spend on ASA. As
a limited budget and you want to use such, strict daily caps can help you control spend to
the budget figure as a spend limit (for optimize for performance but also to increase scale.
example, if you want to strictly monitor For the former, very low daily caps for non-performing
your monthly budget). With budget campaigns (keeping them for exploratory purposes)
restrictions in place, optimizing for can help you increase the ROAS on the account level
performance will require the (re) if you mainly keep converting campaigns running.
allocation of the highest budget to the For the latter, increasing daily caps provides space to
best-performing campaigns and/or scale the channel by letting campaigns run without
your main target markets. restrictions.
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As of February 2022, there are 61 storefronts available in ASA:
Storefronts
Advertising in different storefronts (countries) may

be a clear solution to your scaling problems. Consider
including additional storefronts to reach more users
if your objective is to explore new possibilities in new
markets. However, certain markets may be expensive
and may not convert well enough to hit your targets. In
this case, if you want to optimize your performance,
limiting the number of ads running in storefronts of
high-ROAS countries can only produce satisfying
results.
When creating your campaigns, you could either

decide to organize them by region (APAC, EMEA,
NA, etc.) or by individual countries. The first option
will allow you to reduce campaign management but
will lack precision (bids, etc.). The second will be
more precise (e.g., bids will only be directed to one
country) but you’ll have to manage several campaigns.
Your final decision should depend on the number of
resources and goals in your strategy. Apple Seach Ads storefronts.
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Ad Groups Device Targeting

Device targeting is the first setting that enables mobile devices. However, the iPad segment can be
advertisers to refine audiences. With this specific more fruitful when targeting games, for instance. It’s
setting, ASA enables you to target iPhones and/or important for you to think about your own app and
iPads. iPad traffic approximately represents 10–15% what segments may be more relevant to you. Testing
of all traffic, but this varies across industries. If your the two segments separately can also be a good
objective is to reach the highest number of users approach to distinguish whether you should focus
possible, targeting both device types will help you. on both or only one of them. If performance is your
ultimate goal, limit device types by targeting the best-
Keep in mind that iPad traffic can be “useless,” converting segments only.
especially if you offer a service on the go, such as car-
sharing or ride-hailing, as people do not use iPads as
ASA Stack, Ad Groups layer. Source: Phiture.
The Ad Groups layer contains many elements that will enable you
to strategize on several fronts. Here is where your targeting will
be refined and where you’ll be able to deeply leverage the power of
Apple Search Ads. Specifically, this layer—more than any other—is
the one that can support your performance-based approach while
also promoting the reach of a large pool of users.
ASA Console, device targeting.
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The bigger the pool of users you target, the larger the
scale you’ll achieve. If you’d like to increase your scale,
Customer Type you should go for “all users.” This includes returning
users who can be particularly valuable, as they have
The second setting that enables you to refine a very high intent to convert, having previously
audiences is the customer type. Here, you can decide downloaded your app and come back to it. Returning
to target new users, returning users, users of your users, as Apple specifies, could be:
brand’s other apps, or all users.
• Customers who see your ad and who may have had
the app in the past but have since deleted it
• Customers who may have the app downloaded on

another one of their devices
• Customers who may currently have your app on a

device
Similarly, for a gaming company, targeting users of

your other apps could be valuable because they will
already be familiar with your products and could have
a high intent to download your app.
Conversely, if you’re looking to optimize your

campaigns, you can either split or limit your ad groups
to manage new users, returning users, and/or users of
your other apps. We recommend having separate ad
groups for these customer types so you can identify
which segment performs better and optimize bids
and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) goals more precisely.
If you then recognize bad performances for certain
segments, you can pause/limit them, which will help
you improve your effectiveness.
ASA Console, audience targeting.
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Demographics
We have two options in the demographics settings: more accurate bids, you’ll have to implement gender
gender and age. In the gender section, you can either and/or age targeting. When targeting “all” age ranges,
target a specific gender (male or female), or both. In the a specific setting is triggered that enables you to target
age setting, you can target any range from 18 to 64, or users with limit ad tracking (LAT) toggled on. These Limit Ad Tracking
target “all.” Here, the guidelines are straightforward: users represent a very limited audience that can only
If you want to reach large audiences, you should be found in devices with an Operating System (OS) on
loosen the age and gender settings to target the largest iOS 13 or older. This setting has been deprecated with Limit ad tracking (LAT) is a privacy setting available
pool of users possible. If you want to optimize for newer OSs after iOS 14. to users pre-iOS 14. When LAT is enabled, the user
performance and focus on specific segments with no longer has an ID for advertisers (IDFA) and
their activity is thus not followed or passed on to
mobile measurement partners (MMPs), like Adjust
or AppsFlyer. Without this data, your MMPs can’t
attribute a user to a certain campaign or define which
events the user has completed.
Users who are “LAT ON” will appear to your MMP as

“unattributed” in the “organic bucket” and will not be
tagged as ASA. If you want to target this kind of traffic,
select “all” when setting the age range in each of your
ad group settings. Doing so will allow you to target
LAT ON and LAT OFF inventory.
It’s important to note that, as of February 2021, the

“events after download” are no longer tracked. This
means you won’t know the precise performances of
LAT ON users. However, if you want to estimate the
value of these users, you can extrapolate the likelihood
that these users complete a given event in your app’s
funnel using a concept introduced by Thomas Petit,
mobile growth/Apple Search Ads expert, during a
whiteboard session with AppsFlyer. This formula
is now used widely throughout the mobile growth
industry.
ASA Console, enabling limited ad tracking.
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Location
The location setting can be very handy if your business

is only available in certain cities (e.g., ride-hailing
apps). On the other hand, if your app is available across
the whole nation and your strategy aims to achieve
scale, you should leave the location setting empty. If
you’re looking to boost performance and, based on
research/analyses/other information, you know your
performance is better in only a few cities, you should
limit your targeting to these locations only.
Example: Let’s say you want to make an educated Of course, this is just an estimation and does not
guess around the number of LAT ON users that 100% reflect the true data coming in from LAT ON.
completed a goal event—in this case, subscriptions. It’s always good to fact-check your assumptions over
the whole account by doing a before-after comparison
• Determine the number of LAT OFF subscriptions when switching on LAT ON. You can look at your
and downloads. organic bucket and see if your goals in that bucket
grew at the same pace that your LAT ON downloads
• Determine the percentage of LAT OFF came in. If your organic user base is too large, try
downloaders who subscribe. singling out one country in which you don’t get a lot of
organic downloads.
• Apply the percentage to the LAT ON downloads
(Apple makes this traffic split visible).
ASA Console, location targeting.
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Ad Scheduling
The ad scheduling setting can turn into one of your

best allies if you use it wisely and if you know how
users convert to your app. To achieve scale, targeting
segments 24/7 will help you gain a large number of
users. However, this choice may not be an optimal
solution and will depend on your product (it won’t
work so well with food delivery apps, for instance). If
you analyze your conversion funnel, you may realize
that certain times of the day (or even entire days of
the week) do not convert as well. As such, if you want
to optimize your performance, you should apply
limitations to your ad scheduling by only focusing on
well-converting days and/or specific hours.
ASA Console, ad scheduling.
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Ad Group Structure
Search Match
We always recommend that ASA practitioners more precisely with CPA goals and custom product
divide semantics-based campaigns (especially the pages, and address users with different intent Search match can be turned on in the ad group settings.
competitor and generic campaigns) into several levels differently. Here, it’s worth noting that Single When this setting is on, your ad will automatically
“ad groups,” with all of them having keywords set to Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs) could help you master be matched to search terms thanks to the retrieval
exact match to reflect distinct “levels of intent.” This your account performance: They provide a maximum of multiple data points (e.g., metadata like the title,
segmentation implies that ad groups target users with level of precision in ad group management at the subtitle, and keyword field, and also information
differing wills to download your app (also known as bid and CPA goal level. However, this approach is regarding similar apps). This setting becomes very
diverse “intent grades”). The higher the intent grade, likely to create thousands of ad groups if you decide handy as it allows you to discover new keywords
the more likely it is that a person will download to have every single keyword in an ad group, making without having to conduct any research. The “search
the app. Take the following example, based on an your campaigns a nightmare to manage (without any match” setting should be activated in a standalone
audiobook subscription app, of how you can separate automation). SKAGs can be helpful if a particular (empty, with no other keywords) ad group within
your ad groups according to level of intent. group of keywords is generating most of your your discovery campaign to make sure you keep its
downloads because they will keep your performance performance monitored.
Segmenting ad groups by intent can help you closely monitored.
optimize for performance, as you’ll be able to work Search match can greatly help you achieve scale: If
you let it run with a high default CPT bid, it will match
hundreds of results. This can be very helpful but it
may also retrieve very broad terms, which is why we
recommend setting low CPT bids and using CPA goals
to optimize towards performance. This approach can
still help you achieve scale, but with greater attention
to the company’s wallet.
ASA Stack, ad segmenting. Source: Phiture.
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Custom Product Pages
In January 2022, Creative Set tests were deprecated

and replaced by custom product pages (CPPs). As
stated in previous chapters, CPPs allow you to create
“additional versions of the App Store product page to
CPA Goal showcase specific app features and content.” Apple
also highlighted that these custom product pages
can be used “to create up to 35 ad variations in Apple
The CPA goal is a setting that can be implemented for Search Ads. The new ads will allow you to align ad
every single ad group. Once implemented, it will send creatives to keyword themes or audiences and take
a “message” to Apple’s algorithm to acquire users for users to a custom product page when they tap.”
a certain amount you specify. If you want to achieve a
CPA goal of €2, the algorithm will try to find users who
will convert to download within that specific target. Custom product pages can be created with
promotional text, screenshots, and app previews that
The CPA goal basically functions as a “brake”—it will differ from the ones on the default product page. The
try not to acquire users more expensive than €2 (if the custom product page will have a unique URL, which
target is unrealistic, the CPA goal will only partially can be integrated into Apple Search Ads and used to
work or won’t work at all). If you’re looking for direct traffic from a particular group of keywords to a
performance, this will help you achieve your bottom- specific custom product page. For the record: Custom
line objectives. If you’re looking for scale, removing product pages are not accessible organically—only
CPA goals or loosening them (keeping them at very through the unique URL that can be embedded in your
high values) will help you achieve scale and target performance marketing campaigns or in editorially
large numbers of users. curated selections on the Today, Games, and Apps
tabs.
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Custom product pages can be used to:
• Showcase different app features (e.g., yoga vs.

HIIT workout on a fitness app)
• Direct traffic to a CPP that is geographically more

By creating ad variations, you can choose the custom product page you want to direct traffic to. The ad will use screenshots and app previews
relevant to specific users (e.g., a delivery app
from your custom product page. Source: Apple.
operating in Berlin could direct traffic from Berlin
to a CPP with creatives that showcase Berlin)
• Target a specific demographic (e.g., a clothing app In Apple Search Ads, the integration with custom Custom product pages are a great way for you to
showing a different CPP for women vs. men) product pages happens at the ad group level. Under leverage different user intents and audiences, and test
“Ads,” you can create ad variations which basically different creative strategies while generating positive
• Leverage seasonal campaigns (e.g., a Black Friday entails directing traffic from the ad to a specific custom synergies. More details on the synergies between ASA
custom product page) product page instead of the default product page. and ASO can be found later in this chapter.
On the “Create Ad” page, you are also able to target a
• Direct returning users to a custom product page particular device or language, and choose whether the
displaying new app features ad will display preview images or only text.
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Keyword Discovery Match Type
Adding keywords is the primary way to increase It’s essential to understand the difference between
scale in your campaigns. Keywords can be added exact, broad, and search matches. Any of the three
from a variety of sources when you conduct keyword sources can match search terms but they will help you
research, including ASO tools like AppTweak, your in different ways. It’s important to know that broad
own brainstorming, or even from Google Keyword and exact matches refer to keywords, while search
Planner (for the latter, keep in mind that web and matches refer to ad groups.
mobile queries differ). New keywords can also come
from your discovery and probing campaigns after Exact match keywords will ensure precision and
you have tested them and proved their value. The target search terms that will help you optimize for
more keywords you add, the larger the number of performance. You insert this type of keyword with
potential users you could target. And if you’re looking [square brackets] around it; this will only deliver
for scale, the more, the better. If you want to focus exact results. For example, if you insert [Facebook] as
Keywords on performance, concentrate on the keywords that a keyword, your ad will only be delivered to searchers
generate the highest ROAS. In particular, focus your looking for “Facebook,” and slight misspellings.
attention on pausing probing and discovery campaigns
The Keywords layer is fairly limited in relation to the if they have high acquisition costs, as well as pausing Broad match keywords can target related search
number of elements you can leverage; nonetheless, its other poorly performing keywords belonging to the terms. For example, if you insert “Facebook” as a
impact on your strategic decisions can be huge. This core campaigns (brand, generic, and/or competitor). keyword, your ad might actually be delivered for
layer will be pivotal to shifting your performance from searchers that look for “Twitter” or “social media.” As
decent to excellent and scaling from fair to high traffic. defined by Apple, broad match keywords are “relevant
close variants of a keyword, such as singular, plurals,
misspellings, synonyms, related searches, and phrases
that include that term (fully or partially).”
Search match “uses multiple resources to match your

ad to relevant searches on the App Store, including
the metadata from your App Store listing, information
about similar apps in the same genre, and other search
data.” In short, these two sources (broad match and
search match) will not only contribute to your scale
but could also boost your performance if carefully
ASA Stack, Keywords layer. Source: Phiture. monitored.
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Tools
The tools covered in this section can create

synergies and efficiencies when utilized together
with ASA. Certain tools can enhance productivity
and performance, while others can help you monitor
competition and the market. We would recommend
using them if possible, as they allow you to combine
efforts for better performance.
Bids
Bids are one of your main weapons to optimize and/or

scale your campaigns, and are crucial to driving higher
ASA Stack, Tools layer. Source: Phiture.
amounts of traffic. To scale the channel and gain as
many impressions as possible, you should set bids to
“maximum” (a very high bid), in order to outbid all
competitors. Having high bids that enable you to win Automation/Machine Learning
as many auctions as possible is imperative. If some for Keyword Redistribution, Bid
keywords are not performing well and your ROAS
is low, you should consider decreasing their bids to Optimization, Etc.
values lower than the respective cost per tap. Doing
so will result in a reduced volume and possibly better Automating some daily tasks and operations in ASA scripts can be exploited. For instance, you can leverage
performance because of their eligibility to enter less can save a lot of time. It can ensure higher levels of bid automation to help you find optimal bids given
competitive auctions. Hence, lowering bids will get efficiency while enabling you to scale sustainably and the time of the day, or automate time-intensive tasks
you “less expensive” users who could positively affect improve your performance. Working with automation such as the redistribution of keywords in different
your bottom-line conversions. can be leveraged through the ASA API through which campaigns.
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Mobile Measurement Partners

(MMP) & ASA API
MMPs are extremely helpful if you want to optimize In a pre-AdServices world, LAT ON downloads were
for ROI. We recommend using them specifically to not reported in the MMP ASA bucket but rather
track and optimize for low-funnel events (i.e., a specific grouped with organic traffic, forcing advertisers to
action that happens in the app, such as a purchase or estimate the value of their privacy-centric users.
trial). MMPs, such as Adjust and AppsFlyer, measure However, with the new attribution framework, all
all events that happen in the app after download— downloads will now be reported on in the MMP,
precisely, the touchpoint where the ASA Console is regardless of LAT ON/OFF.
no longer capable.
With an MMP, you can accurately measure the

effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. Through
the ASA attribution API, you can attribute app installs
that originate from your ASA campaigns. This can be ASA Console
done by adding just a few lines of code to your app,
after which you can easily understand the value of
different customer groups over time and the keywords The ASA Console allows you to create and manage
that drove their downloads. your campaigns. On the management side, you
can create new campaigns and new ad groups, add
In June 2020, Apple announced privacy changes keywords to existing ad groups, and adjust your bids.
with the release of iOS 14 to empower user privacy Through the ASA Console, you are also able to link
by enforcing advertisers to collect consent for any ad groups to your custom product pages. The ASA
user-level data (email, IDFA, etc.) with a dialogue box Console enables you to check impressions, clicks,
called App Tracking Transparency (ATT). With its and downloads (among other metrics), but it will not
privacy changes, Apple introduced a new attribution track any event that happens after the app has been
framework, SKAdNetwork, for all ad networks downloaded. As previously discussed, it is essential to
with the exception of Apple Search Ads. Apple also use an MMP in conjunction with the ASA Console to
introduced its own first party attribution framework see which campaigns generate the highest number of
called AdServices. purchases, sign-ups, and so forth.
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App Store Connect

(Cannibalization)
App Store Connect enables you to create your own Because of its many features, App Store Connect is App Store Connect can become your analysis tool to In any case, you should pay attention to cannibalization
product page where you can set up your metadata, an important ally to measure your reach (organic and infer whether organic downloads experienced a drop by conducting tests (switching campaigns or specific
screenshots, and in-app purchases. Other than paid) as well as the number of app units you generate when your paid downloads started. keywords off ), but you should also keep in mind that
organizational and set-up purposes, App Store (organic and paid). These metrics can be severely seasonality and other exogenous factors may impact
Connect should be leveraged to gain valuable insights impacted when you start running ASA, and can If your organic metrics decreased and your paid your test. These exogenous factors could make it
into your app’s performance with App Analytics. dramatically increase your visibility through ASA. metrics increased while overall traffic remained difficult to properly assess real impact.
You can measure various KPIs and create custom However, there is an important caveat to consider: relatively stable, this could be a sign of cannibalization.
graphs and reports. It’s also possible to get insights cannibalization. Cannibalization happens when your However, it’s hard to properly assess cannibalization
into payments and financial reports in the “sales and ad targets users that would have already converted because Apple does not disclose organic traffic
trends” section. Other features include the ability organically but are instead converting through the volumes at the keyword level. While you would be
to respond to customer reviews on your App Store ad. Cannibalization causes issues because you’re able to see the increase in volume for a keyword in
product page and create promo codes for potential essentially paying for users who would have otherwise ASA, you wouldn’t be able to assess if that increase in
users. converted for free. volume came at the expense of your organic volume.
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ASA API
With the ASA Campaign Management API, you can team in terms of management. Moreover, it also
basically run the operations that you implement automates tasks that can help you achieve greater
through the ASA Console. With the ASA API, you scale, better performance, and increased efficiency.
can build campaigns, manage budgets and daily caps,
create ad groups, include keywords, generate reports, Thanks to the ASA attribution API, in January 2021,
implement audience refinement, and schedule ads. If Apple announced it would be using the ad services
you have a team of engineers who are able to help you, framework to attribute app download campaigns that
they can develop scripts to automate your campaigns. originate from the App Store, Apple News, or Stocks
on iOS devices, regardless of consent given through
Given its potential, the ASA API is another interesting the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework on
tool to explore, as it would reduce overheads in your iOS 14 devices.
Competitive Intelligence
Being able to know what your main competitors are

doing can position you extremely well in the market
and generate a competitive advantage. ASO tools
like AppTweak and Sensor Tower provide useful
knowledge for several fronts, from broad market
intelligence to narrow keyword observation. These
tools will make up the additional scale you want to
achieve and help you reach higher performance targets.
They can help you understand the mobile ecosystem
and maximize the potential of mobile advertising to
efficiently attract quality, high-value users. These
tools are great for your Business Intelligence and ASA
strategy, but they involve a substantial investment.
Apple developer documentation, ad services framework.
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Keyword Research
Conducting proper keyword research is the key

to a successful account in ASA. Discovering long-
tail keywords as well as important keywords in
terms of volume will allow you to achieve scale and
performance. Brainstorming all the possible search
terms is a good starting point, as well as accepting the
Search Ads Console suggestions depending on the
context.
However, with the help of additional tools, you can

really professionalize your keyword research. These
tools provide a comprehensive competitive overview
of your competitors’ keywords, while also providing
several other Search Ads Intelligence keyword
analyses.
By implementing keyword research tools in your

arsenal, you can indeed level up your keyword
research process and gather a significant amount of
information on the competitive market.
Apple Search Ads keyword analysis. Source: AppTweak.
Third-Party Management Tools
Third-party management tools such as SearchAdsHQ with the respective APIs. They enable a much more
and SKAI, among others, provide excellent solutions comprehensive view on performance than only using
to fully analyze an app’s media buying funnel for the ASA Console. In short, these tools help apps focus
Apple Search Ads. These tools are deeply integrated on ROI instead of CPI which will, in turn, shift the
with ASA and MMPs thanks to their integrations focus to performance and quality results.
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Organic Uplift
Supporting Insights Organic uplift can be defined as an increase in organic

visibility, conversion, and also keyword rankings.
Organic uplift generally occurs thanks to increased
The Supporting Insights section is the final layer of visibility for certain keywords, as well as a higher
the ASA Stack. It provides you with elements that conversion for these keywords. In essence, when your
help you know the environment you’re working in and app receives more downloads, its organic keyword
analyze the effects that ASA generates and is affected ranking is likely to grow. As such, ASA is able to
by, i.e., organic uplift, benchmarks, micro and macro generate organic uplift for your organic keyword
influences. rankings because it will be able to generate additional
downloads. Furthermore, due to an increase in
downloads, your app can rank higher in its category
and therefore attract more app units via Browse.
ASA can thus be an excellent tool to not only increase

your scale but also increase your performance. If used
correctly, the higher visibility for certain keywords
will also bring about better organic performance. Your
organic keyword rankings are likely to improve and
could generate additional organic downloads. ASA is
also able to generate positive synergies with your ASO
strategy.
ASA Stack, Supporting Insights layer. Source: Phiture.
608 609
Micro & Macro Influences
Micro influences (“endogenous factors”) and macro

influences (“exogenous factors”) are important causal
mechanisms that affect your campaigns. Let’s define
the two:
Endogenous factors refer to all ASA-generated

effects. Micro influences can be the effect of your
advertising efforts and how they can impact the Share
of Voice (SoV) for some keywords (the SoV is the
percentage of impressions your app receives through
ads). The more you spend on certain keywords, the
higher your share will be, which will increase your
scale. Similarly, running ASA may impact your organic
app units by generating cannibalization. As previously
discussed, cannibalization happens when your ad
targets users that would have already converted
organically but are instead converting through the
Benchmarks ad, which mainly happens for your brand terms and
keywords for which you rank high organically.
Benchmarks will provide valuable support to develop Exogenous factors refer to all external factors that
your ASA strategy. Being able to know in advance the may influence your ASA account. External changes
average cost per tap or average cost per download in a in demand caused by seasonality or triggered shocks
given country will direct your choices towards the most such as the “working from home” trend can impact
appropriate locations. In turn, these early decisions your acquisition efforts. In the summer, competition
may anticipate and improve your performance later surges in some verticals; during the winter period,
down the line. It is always good practice to do research demand may decrease, as some users may be focusing
and retrieve benchmark information on the industry. on different activities (e.g., focusing less on work due
to the holidays). These changes are likely to impact
There are several ways to access benchmarks: the traffic your app receives but also the average cost
You can read reports online, speculate from other per click which can, in turn, affect your whole funnel Many other factors can affect your campaigns, such as
channels (Facebook, Google, etc.), and/or receive this and therefore your ROAS and customer acquisition trending keywords, changes in Apple’s algorithms, and
information directly from Apple or its partners. If you costs. As a result, it’s important to anticipate seasonal other product updates to ASA. All these factors should
have direct contact with ASA representatives, you can trends to adjust your performance and be ready to be monitored, as they can impact your performance
also retrieve data from their database. grasp the additional scale related to seasonality. and scale.
610 611
The ASA Stack: Conclusion
The ASA Stack is composed of five layers: Campaigns, You should adapt your strategy to your business and
Ad Groups, Keywords, Tools, and Supporting Insights. needs while at the same time trying to cover as many
Within each layer, you should leverage its foundations elements as possible given your resources; however,
(variables and elements) to achieve your goals, keep in mind that a smart strategy does not try to
whether they focus on scaling the channel and/or cover all elements at the same time. The strategy you
optimizing for performance. The objective of the ASA choose, while enabling you to achieve profitability,
Stack is to provide you with an overview of all the should allow you to invest in tools and supporting
available assets to grow an exhaustive strategy in ASA insights to foster your future growth opportunities.
that leads your business to profitability.
612 613
How to Create
Synergies
Between ASA
and ASO
ASA can be a great tool to improve your ASO strategy.
As mentioned in earlier sections, running ASA
alone can often generate uplifts in organic visibility,
conversion, and keyword rankings by generating
additional downloads. By adding another step, we are Using Custom Product Pages
able to create a synergy loop between ASA and ASO;
identifying the most “powerful” (those that have a high Earlier in this chapter, we outlined how custom intent to a custom product page with creatives
conversion rate) ASA keywords and implementing product pages work within the ASA Stack. Here, we consistent with that audience and user intent. This
them in your ASO strategy (creatives, keywords, outline how they can create good synergies between maximizes the alignment of audience to creatives,
etc.) will help to further strengthen your App Store ASA and ASO. with the audience being exposed to a more relevant
visibility and conversion optimization. This synergy landing page. Consequently, we offer a consistent
is crucial for your app’s success in the long run as Custom product pages are unique landing pages and seamless experience from start to finish in the
we maximize the overall impact across channels by intended for user acquisition. They enable us to show user acquisition journey. The result could be higher
applying and validating learnings from ASA to ASO. different facets of the app while maintaining consistent conversion rates starting as early as the tap-through-
messaging and a seamless experience throughout the rate, as the ASA ad will show screenshots (or other
In this section, we look at the three areas of synergies user acquisition journey, from ASA to the App Store. app previews) from the custom product page instead
across ASA and ASO: custom product pages, increasing of the default product page.
visibility, and keyword optimization strategies. In practice, we would steer traffic from an ad group
that aims at leveraging a specific audience or user
614 615
Increasing Organic Visibility

With ASA
ASA helps you showcase certain app features or value
propositions through linking groups of keywords
to specific custom product pages, which could help
improve your CPA and conversion rates. Furthermore,
it also allows you to appear in the top results for
keywords that you don’t yet rank for organically. In
turn, this positively impacts your visibility for those
The ad’s app previews will also be personalized through custom product pages. keywords on the App Store.
As soon as you start bidding on keywords that are

relevant to your app, your ads will begin to show up
whenever those keywords are searched for on the App
In Apple Search Ads, most apps struggle with the scale Not capitalizing on custom product pages would Store. With the increased number of downloads those
and performance of non-brand keywords, due to the mean not being able to contextualize the full user keywords bring in, your app will start ranking (or
lower relevancy of these keywords. Custom product journey, which your competitors could do very well. see improved rankings) for those keywords. Thus, an
pages enable you to contextualize the user journey of This would represent a lost opportunity from your increased download volume will lead to incremental
the traffic coming from these keywords; as users find side and an opportunity that your competitors may organic downloads and increase your app’s overall
each step of the funnel more relevant, the conversion take advantage of to improve their user acquisition. growth on the App Store, while also driving high-intent
rates of non-brand keywords can increase. Due to Note that custom product pages could be used to traffic to the app that is more inclined to make an in-
higher CVRs, the performance of these keywords direct traffic from all marketing channels, not only app purchase or perform a specific in-app action. This
will improve, which will allow you to bid higher, be from ASA. also gives you an edge in the competitive landscape.
more competitive in auctions, and acquire a higher Furthermore, bidding on specific keywords can help
impression share for these keywords. Consequently, your app rank higher than other competing apps such
this will increase the scale of these keywords. that they are pushed even lower in the search results.
616 617
Brand keywords bring in high-intent and well- As brand terms are bound to generate high-intent
converting traffic, as the queries are directly related traffic, not defending your own brand terms could
to the app. Including them in your account in addition mean losing the top position in the search results
to other relevant generic terms would bring in that and the most important traffic to your competitors
additional high-value traffic. As you already know, any (as shown in this image). However, there is a risk of
ad for a specific keyword appears right at the top of cannibalization (an organic install that would have
the search results. An app dominates the full search occurred being cannibalized by an ad) because of the
results page if it ranks first organically for a keyword way the search results appear.
and also has an ad show up for that keyword. You would
see the ad at the top of the page and the organic search An App Store visitor might end up clicking the ad
result right underneath the ad. When this happens in instead of the organic search result that appears right
the case of brand keywords (as shown in the following underneath the ad. This results in paid downloads
image), we do not leave any room for competing apps eating up the organic traffic, which is not ideal. If you
to show up in the top search results for our branded do observe consistent cannibalization through your
term. And since people generally do not scroll beyond analyses (i.e., a drop in organic downloads with a
the initial 3-5 search results, we take advantage of all simultaneous increase in paid downloads), you would
the available inventory by monopolizing the entire have to determine the extent of cannibalization and
App Store page and increasing the chances of a EasyPark, ASA. EasyPark ASA, undefended brand keyword for
whether it’s worth bringing in users at a certain price
download. PARK NOW. point through an ad.
618 619
Cannibalization
On paper, the principles behind Apple Search Ads are
quite simple: App developers can bid on any keyword
to have their app appear above the first organic search
result for that keyword, in hopes that this prominent
position in the search results will help to increase
app downloads. The App Store algorithm supposedly
Keyword Optimization Strategy determines which app wins a bid for a keyword by
considering the metadata (title, subtitle, screenshots,
Another way in which ASA can positively impact etc.) and performance of each bidding app.
your ASO is by informing the keywords that could be
highly relevant for your app. Adding keywords that However, the possibility for any app to bid on any
perform well in your ASA campaigns to your app’s keyword—including brand names—has led many apps
metadata has proven to positively impact visibility to bid on their competitors’ branded terms. In turn,
and keyword rankings. This approach allows you to this has pushed apps to bid on their own branded
improve your app’s metadata by using data to support terms to prevent competitors from “stealing” their
your decisions, which would then improve your ASO traffic. The following question therefore arises: In
conversion and maximize your chance of converting defending your installs and impressions from being
users organically and through ASA. It also creates a “stolen” by your competitors, how many of these
win-win situation, as including important keywords installs and impressions would your app have gained
in your metadata would allow you to increase your organically? This is traffic that has fallen victim to
visibility for ASA. A more detailed discussion around “cannibalization”: when you pay for traffic or app
the synergies between ASA and keyword optimization installs that would have otherwise been driven
can be found in Chapter 2: Increasing Visibility. organically.
620 621
How to Identify and Analyze

Organic Cannibalization
Identify organic cannibalization
We should be aware that organic cannibalization can

happen once the app starts running paid campaigns
on the App Store. Once you start running ASA, search
metrics in App Store Connect (Search Impressions
and Search App Units) will grow immediately.
In ASO, (organic) cannibalization refers to a reduction

in organic metrics (e.g., Search App Units) as a result
of non-organic activities (e.g., Apple Search Ads).
Organic cannibalization happens when many users

download the app via an ad, instead of organic results.
Here is an example from a search result for “twitter.”
Twitter was running Apple Search Ads with a brand
campaign, so users see two snippets from the same
app without needing to scroll down the search results.
This could result in more users downloading the app
from the snippet on the top (the ad).
Organic cannibalization is made more likely not only

for brand terms, but also search terms for which the
app ranks first in organic results. It is also more likely
when an image ad is displayed compared to a text ad.
Twitter shows up as an ad above the first organic result of a
branded search.
Search Impressions and Search App Units on the App Store started increasing in mid-March when Apple Search Ads launched.
622 623
Understand metrics Initial analysis and visualization of organic

cannibalization
Let’s break down the metrics to understand how many On the other hand, we can regard Search App Units
come from organic search vs. from Apple Search Ads. (App Store Connect) and New Downloads (Apple In order to start analyzing and visualizing organic We can create a new metric, Organic Search App
Search Ads) as equivalent, and thus we can deduct cannibalization, the following data is required: Units, which is calculated as:
First, we have to be aware that Search Impressions New Downloads (Apple Search Ads) from Search
from App Store Connect are calculated differently App Units (App Store Connect) to see how many • Search App Units from App Store Connect, Organic Search App Units = (Search App Units
from Apple Search Ads, and thus we cannot simply Search App Units reported in App Store Connect are including the period of time without running from App Store Connect) - (New Downloads from
deduct Impressions (Apple Search Ads) from Search composed of New Downloads from Apple Search Ads. Apple Search Ads—daily data—in the country you Apple Search Ads)
Impressions (App Store Connect) and understand would like to analyze.
them as accurate numbers.
• New Downloads from Apple Search Ads since the
campaign started—daily data—in the language
you would like to analyze.
Search App Units (excluding ASA) and New Downloads from ASA.
624 625
Further analysis and visualization of organic

cannibalization
4.1 Weekly trend

Weekly trend analysis.
We are able to analyze weekly trends (7 days as one

cycle) to take user behaviors into consideration.
In this example, the growth of Search App Units

in week 2 (+6.26%) was due to the growth of New
Downloads from Apple Search Ads (+64%), since
Organic Search App Units in week 2 were nearly 20%
less than in week 1. We see that Organic Search App
Units in the following weeks got smaller and smaller
while the opposite was seen for New Downloads
(ASA). This signals cannibalization.
4.2 Trend in campaigns/keyword level
It is also important to understand which campaigns/

keywords contribute to organic cannibalization, so we
can consider pausing these campaigns/keywords.
To understand spends on campaigns and which

campaigns are likely causing organic cannibalization,
the following data is required:
• Spend per campaign—daily data

• New Downloads per campaign—daily data
Weekly trend analysis.
626 627
Measuring the Cost

of Cannibalization
Daily New Downloads and spends per campaign. Modeling the Cost of Cannibalization vs. Brand Protection
We can see that organic cannibalization has escalated To model the cost of cannibalization, you should first Comparing your Cost Per Protected Install with the
in parallel with increases in spends on Brand and understand how we define Cannibalized Installs. Cost Per Install reported by Apple Search Ads can
Competitor campaigns, and thus New Downloads Cannibalized Installs are the total number of installs then help you estimate the “protection premium”
from these campaigns. It is likely that this caused you received from your Search Ads campaigns minus you pay for a given campaign; this will also help you
organic cannibalization. the number of Protected Installs. determine what amount of your Search Ads spend
actually goes toward cannibalization. Unfortunately,
This is the moment to review your ASA and ASO Protected Installs = Impressions * Estimated identifying these costs does not remove the dilemma
strategy and take action to further understand what Competitor Conversion Rate of whether to bid on your top organic keywords or
drives cannibalization. We can turn off the campaigns not, but it can at least help inform your decisions to
one by one to observe the effects. By doing so, you can The Cost of your Protected Installs then becomes: start, stop, or change the budget you invest in specific
observe changes in your Organic Search App Units. If Search Ads campaigns.
you see the Search App Units go up when a particular Cost Per Protected Install = Total Ad Spend /
campaign(s) is turned off, you’ll find the campaigns (Impressions * Estimated Competitor Conversion
that cause cannibalization. Rate)
628 629
Accurately Estimating Competitors’ Considerations When Estimating

Conversion Rates Conversion Rates
To determine your Cost Per Protected Install using use this figure as an “upper bracket” that competitors Firstly, when estimating your competitors’ conversion Third, it is important to consider consumers’ true
the above equation, you need to understand whether will have difficulty reaching. Then, you can invert this rates, it is important to consider an app’s brand power search intent. For instance, consumers searching
the competitor who “steals” your paid impression logic by considering your own app’s conversion rate and consumer loyalty: When searching for a certain for “[brand name] free” may simply be searching
would be able to convert it into an app download, thus for a competitor’s brand name; this is a great way to query (branded or generic) on the store, different for an app that offers functionalities similar to the
estimating your competitor’s conversion rate. anchor your hypothesis and better understand how consumer segments have different “first choice” apps branded app but for a cheaper price. On the other end
your competitor might convert users that search for in mind. Assembling a user research team can help you of the spectrum, certain brands with extremely high
You must first formulate conversion rate your brand name. better understand brand notoriety on the App Store notoriety and a strong presence may instead represent
hypotheses. This is the “hit or miss” part of the and give you an initial idea of your app’s brand power; an entire genre of apps. For example, the brand names
entire cannibalization model: Given that conversion Once you have determined your first anchors, you however, don’t forget to employ both quantitative and “scrabble” and “mario kart” were frequently searched
rates are closely guarded data (Apple does not share should calculate a similarity score between you qualitative research methods to measure how users for on the App Store even before their official apps
organic conversion rate data at a keyword level with and your competitor(s), and refine your conversion react to your brand. Brands that customers identify were released; this demonstrates that users do not
developers), it is a difficult challenge to formulate differential hypotheses based on your user research strongly with (for instance, because of a sense of always search for brand names with the intent of
accurate hypotheses about conversion rates. As such, and data points presented by third-party tools. In shared values) are a lot less likely to have customers downloading that app, but often with the general goal
the best route is probably to use proxy variables— particular, remember that the app stores are strongly switch to a competitor’s product when given the of finding a similar product.
substitute variables that help us approximate grounded on relevance—the multiple places in which opportunity.
conversion rate—to ensure your estimates are not your app appears on the stores represent just as
completely unrealistic. many opportunities to compare your similarities Next, you should consider your competitors’ notoriety:
and conversion performances with other apps. For competitors that most customers have never heard of
The main data points to use in such a case are instance, the top organic search rankings tend to tend to represent a smaller threat to your brand traffic.
typically the keyword-level conversion rates you can reflect which of the most downloaded apps convert However, even if your customers are unfamiliar with
obtain from your own Search Ads campaigns. It is better than others for specific keywords or queries; a competing product, you must also consider the
only logical to imagine that your app’s conversion these search rankings are therefore great hints to help perceived similarity of this product to your own. Your
rate for your own brand name is unlikely to be lower you estimate the varying conversion rates of your products may be very different; nonetheless, these
than the conversion rate of your competitors that are competitors. perceived similarities represent the greatest risk of
also bidding on your brand name. Therefore, you can store users adopting opportunistic behaviors and
reconsidering which app to download.
630 631
Closing Thoughts
on ASA
ASA can be a great asset in your toolbox that you should
use in close collaboration with your ASO strategies
to maximize the overall impact on your performance
and results. By making sure you adopt an ASA Stack
Use the Cannibalization Model approach when running ASA and leveraging synergies
with ASO, sustainable growth will be within reach.
Efficiently and Cautiously
Measuring the exact cost of cannibalization has been
central to Apple Search Ads since it was introduced on
the App Store. However, it is important to remember
that models, such as this one, are designed to simplify
reality in order to facilitate decision-making.
When using this model, don’t forget the following
considerations:
• This model does not account for certain

parameters, such as the percentage of users
who automatically ignore apps in Search Ads
placements, or the fact that not all users download
an app after every search query on the store.
• The model’s accuracy will depend on the precision

of your hypotheses. As a result, you should
regularly test and retest Search Ads campaigns to
keep the data behind your hypotheses up to date.
As with organic performances, Apple Search Ads
campaigns are conducted in a constantly changing
environment, and every keyword or creative
change—as well as many external factors—can
change an app’s conversion rate every day.
632 633
CREDITS
Credits
Final Words Thank Yous & Shout Outs
Well folks, that just about wraps it up! We’ve (almost) If you enjoyed this book, please tell your friends We would first like to give a major thank you to the A big thank you to Georgia Shepherd, editor of the ASO
come to the end of this unabridged guide to Advanced and spread the word! And if you have any feedback, writers, Phiture’s designers, Catarina Rosa, Gawie Book and Digital Marketing Specialist at AppTweak,
ASO. We hope you have gained a more in-depth we would love to hear from you. Send a note to Joubert, Mariano Briozzo, Ingrid Mueller, Sofia for proofreading the entire book.
understanding of how ASO works, from increasing [email protected] and/or [email protected]. Nardone, and AppTweak’s designer, Eloïse Clement,
your visibility and raising your conversion rates to for their support and expertise in making this book a We’d also like to give a shout out to Jonathan Frisch and
learning about the external tools available to facilitate Visit the ASO Stack blog owned by Phiture and delight to read. The cover of the ASO Book was designed Florentin Zachary from AppTweak for enriching this
your work—and everything in between. AppTweak’s ASO blog to learn more about our by Gawie Joubert. book with unique and fresh data.
companies and stay up-to-date on the latest ASO
content.
Georgia Shepherd, editor (left)

and Catarina Rosa, designer
(right).
634 635
CREDITS
Last but not least, we have a list of other folks we would

like to thank and acknowledge for helping us create this
amazing book:
Phiture Contributors AppTweak Contributors

We would also like to thank the engaged and
• Kahnar Abdulqader, Head of Marketing • Georgia Shepherd, Digital Marketing Specialist wonderful ASO Stack Slack community that has
• Chun Yee Julia Li, ASO Consultant • Eloïse Clement, Marketing Designer blossomed from just a few folks to now hundreds
• Gabe Kwakyi, Director of Acquisition Strategy • Sarah B. Touimi, ASO Manager of ASO practitioners from all across the world.
• Parv Bhargava, ASO Consultant • Florentin Zachary, Product Manager Click here to learn more and join!
• Andrew Hart, ASO Consultant • Jonathan Frisch, Head of Data Science
• Azusa Hatano, ASO Consultant • Alexandra De Clerck, Head of Marketing Lastly, we would like to thank you, our readers, for
• Catarina Rosa, Senior Designer • Simon Thillay, Head of ASO whom this whole book was created. Thank you for
• Sofia Nardone, Designer reading! We hope that you will accomplish great things
• Mariano Briozzo, Designer Haystack Reviews Contributors in the world of app marketing, and we look forward to
• Gawie Joubert, Designer hearing from you.
• Andrea Raggi, Performance Marketing Lead • Sebastian Gallese, Co-Founder
• Jorieke van den Broek, Senior Performance • Thomas Schultz-Wenk, Co-Founder
Marketing Consultant Cheers!
• Haitam Boulaich, Performance Marketing
Consultant
• Natalie Rozenblat, Senior Performance ASO Book 2018 Contributors Moritz & Maggie
Marketing Consultant
• Mateusz Wrzeszcz, ASO Consultant • Daniel Peris
• Pablo Penny, Managing Director • Emily Grossman
• Anton Tatarynovich, Senior ASO Consultant • Pablo Penny
• Paul Malicki
• Peter Fodor
• Sylvain Gauchet
• Thomas Petit
636 637
“The ASO Book is like the bible for
App Store Optimization fanatics.”
– Maggie Ngai
Head of ASO, @Phiture

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302 354 392 438 566 634

4.5 Introduction to Seasonality

Authors of the 2018 edition

Maggie Ngai, co-author of the

Get to Know Our

With content divided into 8 main

From This Book Optimization

Drive app awareness by leveraging a solid keyword

Increasing Conversion Learn how to structure your conversion rate

Localization and Seasonality Address a global audience through localization to

Ratings and Reviews Learn how to create a convincing strategy to improve

Tips for Your

Case Study: Understand the activities we’re

Data Study: Unique data you won’t find Happy reading!

Introduction to App Store

Brief History of ASO

At the time, “boost” campaigns were

Definition of Modern ASO

ASO Team Structures

The Task Force The Coordinator The Studio

ASO Team Structures

Paid User Acquisition

The App Store

Become familiar with the ASO Stack,

The 4 Building Blocks of the ASO Stack

Check out Chapter 3 for a deep dive into

The ASO Stack Report Card

Advice You’re probably excited to act on your ASO Stack

Of course, there will always be some effort required

Browse & Explore Store Ads

Asking the following questions can help assess

app? If so, your app can benefit from this category

Apple’s Shortcomings When Ranking Plural or

On the other hand, we see a huge

The Week-Long Keyword Boost

The first week of your app’s launch is

For Apple, it is a guessing game to

The week-long boost is To take full advantage of this keyword

The next step would be to decide how

Other possible ranking factors: “Free”Ranking Keywords on the App Store

• While we don’t (yet) have evidence of • A test was run to determine if a

Keyword Ranking Strength

Primary Ranking Signals for Apple & Google

Additional, unconfirmed algorithm factors

User engagement with app indexing Video assets

The Keyword Optimization Cycle

For those apps and games that do

Based on “The Keyword Optimization Cycle” framework developed by Phiture.

K E Y TA K E AWAY S The four steps of the KWO Cycle

Step 1: Keyword Research

Brainstorming Competitor Keywords

App Store Autofill Apple Search Ads Search Terms

Google Play website keyword search.

Some ASO tools also offer autofill data:

Google Keyword Planner Tool

Long-tail keywords are typically less competitive which also

Step 2: Keyword Prioritization

Apple’s Search Popularity Score