App Store Optimization: The Definitive Guide to ASO

App Store Optimization Guide photo

This page features tips and advice for how to grow your app audience through strategic App Store Optimization.

Did you know that nearly 70% of all new apps are downloaded via App Store search? Or that searching the App Store is the #1 app discovery method across all age groups?

My name is Chris Franco — the domain name probably gave that way. I’m the marketing mind behind some of the fastest-growing apps on the App Store. From my experience, App Store Optimization (ASO) is the most powerful way to market your app and grow your audience.

Chris Franco is quite simply the best in the business. He took a vague idea and molded it into a polished app with huge audience growth (classic hockey stick.) I’ve never had as many downloads in a startup as I have with him. No one knows more about App Store Optimization. No one. And he never sits on his laurels. He’s always experimenting and coming up with amazing ideas for the product. -Will Larche

What is App Store Optimization?

App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of maximizing your app’s visibility within the App Store’s organic search results. The ultimately goal of App Store Optimization is to get more organic downloads for your app.

By ranking higher for keywords related to your app, your app gets more organic visibility. More visibility means more traffic to your App Store product page. More traffic, when it converts, means more organic downloads, lower costs, and if you do ASO the right way, a higher percentage of loyal users.

Who should invest in App Store Optimization?

Marketing mobile apps is harder and more expensive than ever before. In October 2015, Fiksu reports that the cost to acquire one loyal user is $4.01.

Becoming one of the 27 apps requires strategic, cost-effective marketing. It requires putting your product in front of the right people at the right time. ASO makes this possible.

App Store Optimization, like Search Engine Optimization, is a form of intent marketing. Intent marketing means that the consumer is already looking for what your app offers. It is the most efficient way to attracts potential customers. With ASO, and other forms of intent marketing, you bypass the awareness phase of the Marketing Funnel.

ASO Links & Resources

My Quora profile is full of my answers to various questions about App Store Optimization.