44 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
44 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: aso-basics
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description: 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.
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---
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# ASO basics
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Audit: `storebound check --aso` (offline, over `store/appstore.md` + `store/listing.md`; errors exit 1). Keep claims
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true; never use competitor or other apps' or games' names, "best / #1", or unrelated popular terms (both stores reject it).
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## App Store
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- **Indexed fields**: app name (30), subtitle (30), keyword field (100). The description is **not** indexed for search.
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- **Keyword field**: comma separated, **no spaces** around commas (they cost characters), singular or plural not both,
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no words already in the name or subtitle (they are indexed anyway), no "app" / "game" / category names, no
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duplicates. Use at least 90 of the 100 characters. Single words combine on their own ("match,puzzle" also finds
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"match puzzle"), so prefer words over phrases.
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- **Name and subtitle**: the strongest words; the name is the brand plus at most one core term, the subtitle is the
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promise in plain words.
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- **Localizations and storefronts**: each storefront supports several localizations (Apple's "App Store localizations"
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table; the US storefront lists English (US), Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil), French, Korean, Chinese
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Simplified and Traditional, Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese). Apple states a localization's keywords are searchable in
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every storefront that supports its language. That the keyword fields of several localizations **stack** in one
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storefront (e.g. extra English words in the es-MX field for US search) is community ASO knowledge, not an Apple
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statement: if you use it, the localization must still be a real translation for its own users.
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- **Screenshot captions**: write them with the words people search for ("Budget planner with shared lists", "Match 3 puzzles offline", not "Fun awaits").
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Claims that Apple reads caption text for search ranking are unverified; good captions help conversion either way.
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- Changing keywords needs a new version (submitted with it); promotional text (170) changes any time but is not indexed.
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## Google Play
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- **Indexed**: title (30), short description (80), full description (4000). There is no keyword field.
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- Put the core phrase in the title (brand + term), again in the short description, and in the first lines of the full
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description where it reads naturally. Repeat important terms a few times across the full text, not in every line.
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- **No stuffing**: a word in more than ~3 % of the full description, keyword lists, ALL CAPS titles, emoji in the
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title, or "best / top / #1" break the metadata policy. `check --aso` warns on these.
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- Localize every listing you can; Play machine-translates otherwise, which ranks and converts worse.
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## Workflow
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1. 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:
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genre, mechanic, theme, setting, mood). No paid tool needed to start; store search suggestions are a free signal.
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2. Put the best 1-2 in name / title and subtitle / short description; the rest in the keyword field per locale.
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3. `storebound check --aso`, fix errors, read warnings.
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4. Push with `apple listing` / `play listing`; measure after a few weeks (App Store Connect / Play Console acquisition
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by search term; `storebound analytics snapshot` + `analytics compare` line impressions and conversion up with
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each committed listing change, store-analytics skill) and change a few terms per release, not all at once.
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