ASO – WHERE TO START ?

By: Gacon

About speaker

• 10 years playing in mobile and internet sector

• Foundation team of several startups since 2011

• Mobile game publishing team at VNG Corporation

• Game launched:

What is ASO?

• App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of improving the visibility in an app store

• Specifically, app store optimization includes the process of ranking highly in an app store's search results and top charts rankings

• Unlike SEO, app store optimization (ASO) is still a young and evolving field

• Some changes in 2015 includes:

- Store ads on CH Play

- Application search result on Google search

Why ASO important ?

• >1.5 mils app on CH Play/Apple Store + Thousands of new submissions daily

• 65% of app installs on CH Play comes from search

• ASO is a simple but powerful method to get Organic download for an app, especially indie and niche apps (and reskinned apps also ^^)

• Acquire Core Users for your app

• Easy to do, cost effective

What can affect on ASO?

• Main factors:

- Title – The keyword placed in the title should be the one with the heaviest search traffic

- Keywords – To improve your search rankings, you need to know which keywords are relevant and used most often by your target audience.

What can affect on ASO? (cont)

• Secondary Factors:

- Total # of Downloads – Your number of downloads are extremely important to ASO, but you don’t have complete control over them. However, there are ways to get incentive downloads

- Ratings and Reviews – Also important and difficult to control. However, there are ways to incentivize happy users to rate and review

What can affect on ASO? (cont)

• Other Factors:

- App Icon: An icon should immediately convey what an app is about, in the simplest (but impressive) manner possible

- Screenshots: The first 2 screenshots are the most important as they are the ones seen when scrolling through search results

- Video: Use of a short video to highlight the key features of the app

- Localization: Translating an app into different languages can greatly increase downloads and expose an app to a larger potential audience

- Developer reputation, keeping app ratio, number of crash,…

White vs Black hat ASO

• Incentive CPI: Using third party reward platform to bring incentive download and push rank on store chart

• Fake app: Completely fake -> Reskinned/cloned app

• Blowjob: Normally using bots to increase download, comment, rating to make an app more reliable/fancy

• Store hacking: Often top chart hacking (Fast and furious ^^)

• Manipulate top paid app/grossing: Using stolen credit card or refund term on store to push rank

How to do market research for ASO?

• Product research -> Understand your app

• Customer research -> Understand your customer’s behavior

• Competitor research -> Understand your competitors

• Trend research -> Understand your communities

Product research

Customer research

Trend research

• Top trend store• Top growing app on chart • Understand what is going on out there• Finding upcoming events• Viral trend on social network• …. (Predict the next big thing ^^)

=> Source: Google trend, social media/network or professional market research/report

Competitor research

Some Tools

• App Annie, Sensor Tower

• Google: Google search autocomplete, Google trend, Google keywords planner

• App store search bar

• Appcodes, Tune, Straply, Digitalturbine

• ….

Thank you!