We recently held a fantastic webinar where experts from popular ASO tools AppFollow, AppTweak, App Radar, and Mobile Action answered a lot of App Store Optimization questions.

In this post, we have included some of the most burning ASO questions discussed in the webinar. So, get ready to read many great tips shared by the experts, and be sure to watch the full discussion for more insights:

What is the impact of keyword optimization in terms of overall App Store Optimization?

All ASO experts agree that keyword optimization is a must, but it is not enough on its own. If you want to increase app installs, you should not overlook the importance of graphic optimization and keep an eye on user reviews and ratings.

Having a high quality app page is as equally important as finding the right keywords. On the one hand, your app has to be visible in the search results, on the other hand, you have to convince people that your app or your game is exactly what they need to install on their smartphone.

Should one opt for low search volume but easy to rank keywords or high search volume but difficult to rank keywords?

The number one thing, for all keywords, is relevance. You can't pursue keywords that have a high volume, but lack relevance.

For example, in the sports or fitness sectors, you don't want to target the word fitness. Everyone is targeting that word. You will need to find words which probably have some lower search volume, but are more specific. Those are the ones which will give you a higher conversion. And conversion is one of the main elements that impact keyword ranking.

How important is keyword density?

Experts agree that several years ago keyword density was a thing in Google Play. To win in search results ASO people just needed to put as many keywords as possible in the app description. It doesn't work anymore.

Right now, to improve the chances of your app being recommended to Google Play users, you need to write the description using Google Natural Language.

Of course, you may and should include all your strategic keywords in the description, but keep keyword density between 2% and 3%. Going over 3% is definitely keyword stuffing, and you will be punished for it.

Is there a way to index more keywords for iOS other than the title, subtitle, and keywords field?

One way is to use additional locales. For example, the English UK locale is universal and apps can be indexed for it in every country. If you target a local market, for example France, you can add keywords in French to the English UK locale and your app will start ranking for them.

If you target multiple markets, the only way to cover more search terms in the App Store is to use search ads.

If an app has zero downloads, what can be done to get keyword rankings?

When launching a completely new app or game, you can and should do ASO. But experts admit that if you have zero downloads, it may take an endless amount of time until you rank organically. 

As mentioned above, conversion is one of the most important ranking factors in both Google Play and the App Store. So, if your app has zero downloads, stores’ algorithms won’t give it the weight to rank on a specific keyword.

One user acquisition channel that can give downloads an initial boost is teaming up with influencers and micro-influencers who are targeting the audience you want to attract to your app or game. And from there, you can take it organically.

How does ASA impact ASO?

ASO and ASA are working hand-in-hand, especially in the App Store.

If you are doing a good job on ASO, you will have really good TTR and CR numbers. Thanks to that, Apple will rank you higher in search ads, so you will pay less for the same impressions.

And vice versa, you will see an uplift in organic downloads when you are getting downloads through ads. If a particular keyword is driving downloads for your app, the App Store algorithm will pick up that your app is somehow relevant for this keyword. Therefore Apple will rank your app higher in the search results as well.

Are burst campaigns a good idea at app launch?

Burst campaigns give you the initial traffic that might help to lift up your app ranking. But experts say that it all depends on the budget that you have, and also on what happens in the long term.

For example, some gaming apps run a huge campaign and get into the top charts for two days or so. Then nothing else happens and their rankings just go down.

So, you need to make sure that you don't put all your focus on that specific campaign, but you do something that keeps generating more regular traffic as well.

How do you leverage custom store listings for ASO purposes and why is it important?

Custom store listings are definitely important. Google Play allows you to get an immediate data version of your app for a specific language. For example, in Latin America without custom store listings you could have the same icon, screenshots, and text for the whole region. But the countries across the region are very, very different.

So, if you target big markets that use the same language, you definitely need to use custom store listings. According to experts, it will help you to boost downloads by 30% and more.

What is the most critical metric that shows if you are doing ASO correctly?

If you are doing App Store Optimization correctly you will see an uplift in impressions, your downloads will increase, and your revenue will grow. At the end of the day, you want to do App Store Optimization because you want to drive more sales.

If you want to do a very quick sanity check, just go and look at a small set of really relevant keywords for your app that have good search volume. Make sure that you rank in the top positions for that set of keywords.

How long should one wait before doing another ASO update?

It is quite different for the App Store and Google Play. The App Store is really reactive — you have a one week boost and you see where you land.

Whereas with Google Play, experts suggest waiting from six to eight weeks before making any decisions. The Google Play algorithm picks up more elements and it is much more gradual.

If you are just starting with ASO, keep testing your keywords every 3-4 weeks for the App Store and every 6-8 weeks for Google Play, until you find a nice set of keywords that work. Once you have that set of keywords, don't change them every month or two just for the sake of it.

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Do you have any other burning ASO questions? If so, please share them with us via email or social media.