Conducting an ASO audit is an important part of your overall app marketing strategy. While you may have the best app out there, if nobody knows about it, you will just end up fading into the background of app stores.
ASO, App Store Optimization, isn’t a one-time event. It doesn’t mean that if you have already set up your app store page with all the ASO considerations for keyword ranking, you are already done. No, you need to regularly perform ASO audits to ensure that you’re ranking for your primary and secondary targeted keywords.
However, how do you exactly perform ASO audits for app store keywords? That’s exactly what you will learn today.
What is ASO?
ASO, or App Store Optimization, is the process of optimizing your App Store page to make it more discoverable to users. This involves various strategies such as incorporating relevant keywords, creating appealing screenshots and videos, crafting persuasive descriptions, garnering positive ratings and reviews, and enhancing the overall presentation of your app store listing.
What are app store keywords?
App store keywords refer to the specific terms that users enter into the search bar when looking for apps on app stores. There are several app stores in the market today, but the two most popular are Google Play Store for Android devices and Apple App Store for iOS devices. These keywords are sometimes referred to as app store search keywords or simply keywords.
Identifying the right app store keywords is essential for the success of your app, as strategically using them in your app store listing can increase your app’s visibility and discoverability, ultimately leading to more installations by users.
What is an ASO Audit?
An ASO audit is a systematic and comprehensive analysis of your app’s listing on your chosen app store. It focuses on evaluating the factors that impact your app’s ranking within the store. Through an ASO audit, you can identify the elements that contribute positively to your app’s ranking and how to leverage them for better performance. Simultaneously, ASO audits help identify areas that can be improved to enhance your app’s ranking further.
In this article, we will primarily discuss ASO audits related to keywords people use in the Play Store and App Store.
How to Conduct an ASO Audit for App Store Keywords
Now that you have a grasp of the basics, it’s time to delve into the step-by-step process of conducting an ASO audit to assess the health and status of your App Store keywords. Here are the essential steps to follow:
1. Evaluate Your Current Keywords
Conducting an ASO audit for app store keywords involves a thorough examination of the keywords you are currently targeting and how well you are ranking with them.
In Google’s Play Store, there are three areas where you should add your keywords. These include the title, short description, and long description. Google indexes these places, which means that any relevant keywords found in them are considered when determining your app ranking.
In the App Store, you should strategically place keywords in the app name, app URL, app subtitle, and keyword field.
When you look at your keywords, please pay close attention to their presence or absence in these designated areas.
Make sure to include your strongest keyword in your app’s title. Subsequently, add the remaining targeted keywords to your keyword field for iOS or descriptions for Android.
Assess the performance of your current keywords, identifying which ones are performing best and which are underperforming. This evaluation will guide you in deciding whether to retain or change your keywords.
2. Find the right keywords
After evaluating your current keyword performance, you may have identified keywords that are not delivering satisfactory results. This underscores the importance of finding alternative keywords through comprehensive keyword research.
Begin by putting yourself in the shoes of your customers or users. Consider the search terms that individuals are likely to use when searching for an app similar to yours. Your selection of keywords should encompass both general and specific terms, with an emphasis on relevance and popularity.
Now, performing keyword research can be challenging if you’re doing it manually. You can invest in using keyword research tools, which you can easily find online. In ShyftUp, we use Mobile Action to perform reliable and effective keyword research and use our own proprietary tool Metrikal, to measure our KPIs.
3. Analyze your competitors’ keyword ranking
Now that you have identified the right keywords for your app, the next step is to analyze other apps also targeting these keywords. As you are likely aware, both Play Store and App Store are highly competitive platforms featuring millions of various apps. It’s crucial to understand what your competitors are doing and explore ways to incorporate these insights into your own ASO strategy.
Your primary objective in assessing your competitors is to examine the keywords they dominate and identify any opportunities they might have missed. By analyzing these keywords, you can gain valuable insights into how to refine your keyword usage and enhance your ASO campaign.
Perform Your ASO Audit with Confidence
Conducting an ASO audit is a vital component of continually enhancing your ASO strategy. Through an ASO audit, you can assess the effectiveness of your current ASO campaigns and uncover fresh opportunities to elevate your app’s ranking.
The good news is that conducting an ASO audit for keywords doesn’t need to be a daunting or intricate process. By partnering with ShyftUp, you’ll gain access to their expertise in evaluating the performance of your ASO efforts. What’s more, they specialize in assisting you in acquiring more downloads and engaged users for your app.
Take the first step towards enhancing your ASO audit today. Give them a call and discover how you can significantly improve not only your ASO audit but also the overall success of your app.
