3.9 KiB
3.9 KiB
| name | description |
|---|---|
| aso-basics | App store optimization basics for a mobile app's or game's text - App Store keyword field rules (100 characters, commas without spaces, no repeats of name / subtitle words, fill 90%+), subtitle and name, cross-localization keyword room per storefront, screenshot captions with real keywords, Google Play title / short / full description keyword placement without stuffing. Use when the user writes or improves store listing text, keywords, or asks why the app or game is not found in store search. |
ASO basics
Audit: storebound check --aso (offline, over store/appstore.md + store/listing.md; errors exit 1). Keep claims
true; never use competitor or other apps' or games' names, "best / #1", or unrelated popular terms (both stores reject it).
App Store
- Indexed fields: app name (30), subtitle (30), keyword field (100). The description is not indexed for search.
- Keyword field: comma separated, no spaces around commas (they cost characters), singular or plural not both, no words already in the name or subtitle (they are indexed anyway), no "app" / "game" / category names, no duplicates. Use at least 90 of the 100 characters. Single words combine on their own ("match,puzzle" also finds "match puzzle"), so prefer words over phrases.
- Name and subtitle: the strongest words; the name is the brand plus at most one core term, the subtitle is the promise in plain words.
- Localizations and storefronts: each storefront supports several localizations (Apple's "App Store localizations" table; the US storefront lists English (US), Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil), French, Korean, Chinese Simplified and Traditional, Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese). Apple states a localization's keywords are searchable in every storefront that supports its language. That the keyword fields of several localizations stack in one storefront (e.g. extra English words in the es-MX field for US search) is community ASO knowledge, not an Apple statement: if you use it, the localization must still be a real translation for its own users.
- Screenshot captions: write them with the words people search for ("Budget planner with shared lists", "Match 3 puzzles offline", not "Fun awaits"). Claims that Apple reads caption text for search ranking are unverified; good captions help conversion either way.
- Changing keywords needs a new version (submitted with it); promotional text (170) changes any time but is not indexed.
Google Play
- Indexed: title (30), short description (80), full description (4000). There is no keyword field.
- Put the core phrase in the title (brand + term), again in the short description, and in the first lines of the full description where it reads naturally. Repeat important terms a few times across the full text, not in every line.
- No stuffing: a word in more than ~3 % of the full description, keyword lists, ALL CAPS titles, emoji in the
title, or "best / top / #1" break the metadata policy.
check --asowarns on these. - Localize every listing you can; Play machine-translates otherwise, which ranks and converts worse.
Workflow
- List 20-30 candidate terms with the owner: what people would type to find this app (the job it does, the problem it solves; for a game: genre, mechanic, theme, setting, mood). No paid tool needed to start; store search suggestions are a free signal.
- Put the best 1-2 in name / title and subtitle / short description; the rest in the keyword field per locale.
storebound check --aso, fix errors, read warnings.- Push with
apple listing/play listing; measure after a few weeks (App Store Connect / Play Console acquisition by search term;storebound analytics snapshot+analytics compareline impressions and conversion up with each committed listing change, store-analytics skill) and change a few terms per release, not all at once.