ASO
Also known as: App Store Optimization
Short definition
App Store Optimization (ASO) is the practice of improving a mobile app's visibility and conversion rate inside app stores such as the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Detailed
ASO spans keyword research, store listing copy, screenshots, preview videos, ratings, and conversion metrics — every element a store surfaces to users browsing or searching. It is the mobile-app equivalent of SEO but operates inside Apple's and Google's closed discovery graphs rather than the open web.
Example
An indie developer shipping a habit-tracking app researches 'daily routine', 'habit tracker', and 'streak' as potential keywords, drops the highest-volume ones into the iOS keyword field (100 characters total) and the Android short description, redesigns the first two screenshots to show the streak UI prominently, and measures the resulting conversion rate in App Store Connect.
Primary sources
How Forvibe handles this
Forvibe's ASO Studio addresses this directly: app store optimization for indie developers.
See how it works →Related terms
- App Store ConnectApp Store Connect is Apple's web and API console for submitting, managing, and distributing iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS apps on the Apple App Store.
- Google Play ConsoleGoogle Play Console is Google's web and API console for publishing and managing Android apps and games on the Google Play Store.
- Promotional TextPromotional Text is a 170-character field on the iOS App Store product page that appears above the main description and can be updated without submitting a new binary for review.
- Subtitle (App Store)The Subtitle is a 30-character field on the iOS App Store product page that appears beneath the app name and contributes to the app's keyword index for App Store search.
- Short Description (Google Play)The Short Description is an 80-character field on the Google Play Store listing that appears above the 'Read more' fold and serves as the first text a user reads on the store page.