ASO, also known as app store SEO, shares many similarities with traditional search engine optimization. Both processes involve optimizing keywords and backlinking to improve visibility and conversion rates. However, the main difference lies in their ranking factors.
ASO focuses on optimizing mobile apps for their presence within app stores while SEO is geared towards improving website rankings on platforms like Google Search which involves hundreds of different ranking factors with varying weights.
By understanding these critical components of ASO and SEO, and implementing them effectively into your overall app strategy, you can improve your chances of achieving higher rankings and increased downloads.
1. ASO: What is it?
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ASO involves optimizing mobile apps for app stores like Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It aims to improve the visibility and ranking of your app within the app store by optimizing the title, description, keywords, screenshots, and videos. By optimizing these elements, you can increase the chances of your app being discovered by potential users who are searching for relevant apps in the app store.
2. SEO: What is it?
SEO, on the other hand, involves optimizing web content for search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. It aims to increase the visibility and ranking of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing various factors, such as website structure, content, keywords, backlinks, and more. By optimizing these elements, you can increase the chances of your website being discovered by potential users who are searching for relevant information or products in search engines
The topic, ending in 2023, is the differentiation between Search Engine Optimization and App Store Optimization. Since ASO is often called app store SEO (Search Engine Optimization), it brings confusion and wrong approaches to app store listing optimization. You need to remember that although SEO and ASO have some general similarities (for instance, keyword optimization, backlinking, and conversion optimization), however, the ranking factors and user intent are the main difference here.
Keep in mind that only about 20% of SEO and ASO data overlap. For App Store Optimization, you need to use the right tools and rely on data extracted from app stores.
The following checklist illustrates the main differences and similarities between ASO & SEO.
3. Which is better: ASO or SEO?
The answer depends on your business goals, the type of content you’re promoting, and the platform you’re using. If you have a mobile app and want to increase its visibility and downloads in app stores, ASO is the way to go. On the other hand, if you have a website and want to increase its visibility and traffic on search engines, SEO is the way to go.
However, it’s worth noting that ASO and SEO are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they can complement each other to create a more comprehensive marketing strategy. For example, you can use SEO to drive traffic to your website, and then use ASO to promote your mobile app to that traffic.
4. Factors
- ASO
When talking about ASO, two different types of factors can be identified: the on-metadata factors and the off-metadata ones. These also differ a bit between Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Let’s review them to have a general idea of what has an impact on visibility and conversion rate to download.
✅ On-metadata factors:
- App Name / Title
- Subtitle / Short Description
- Promotional Text (App Store)
- Description
- Keywords field (App Store)
- Visual assets: icons, screenshots, and videos
- App Listing localization
- Developer name (Google Play)
- URL (Google Play)
- In-App Purchases names (App Store)
✅ Off-metadata factors:
- Downloads
- Ratings & Reviews
- Backlinks (Google Play)
- SEO
When talking about SEO (normally, for websites), two different types of factors can be identified: the on-page factors and the off-page ones. Let’s review them to have a general idea of what has an impact on websites visibility and Click Through Rate on Google Search results pages (SERPs).
✅ On-page factors:
- Site architecture
- UX
- Page load speed
- Meta Title
- Meta Description
- H1, H2, H3… tags
- Content optimization (text, images, video…)
- Quality of content
- User Engagement
- Responsive / mobile design (Mobile first)
✅ Off-page factors:
- Backlinks (quantity, quality, speed, topic relevance…)
- Traffic
5. What are backlinks and why are they important for app marketing?
Backlinks are links from other websites or blogs that lead to your app or game listing on the app store. They are important because they can help improve your app’s visibility in search results, particularly for keywords that are relevant to your app’s content.
However, keep in mind 2 things:
Backlinks influence only Google Play Store ratings. Apple App Store doesn’t count on backlinks when it comes to rankings.
Only quality backlinks from authoritative websites can boost your app’s ranking. Low-quality domains might rather hurt your rankings than improve them.
Therefore, consider building a solid backlink profile for your Android app and pay attention to the domain rating of the linked website.
6. How do backlinks impact Google Play ASO?
Backlinks can help your app’s ASO efforts, particularly for keyword rankings in search results. However, it is important to note that the exact impact of backlinks on ASO is not fully understood. While we know that backlinks have an impact on search results, we don’t know if they affect the Explore/Browse sections of the app store. That said, it is safe to assume that backlinks play a role in ASO and can help your app rank higher in search results.
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7. Why is ASO crucial for this strategy to work?
If backlinks can help your mobile app or game rank higher in Search, it doesn’t mean that you can forget about ASO optimization and other Google Play ranking factors.
First, if someone gets to the app directly through a backlink, you could think that the job is done and that the user is most likely to download the app. However, it is definitely not that easy and if the listing is not optimized, the chances for this user to end up downloading the app are very low. Therefore, it is very important that you optimize your app and make its listing convertible, which means having the on-metadata factors optimized to convince the user to download.
8. Conclusion
ASO and SEO are two powerful marketing strategies that can help increase visibility and ranking of digital content. Although they have different objectives and techniques, they can complement each other to create a more comprehensive marketing strategy. Whether you choose ASO or SEO depends on your business goals, the type of content you’re promoting, and the platform you’re using.
