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6 min read

App Store Optimization (ASO) basics that actually move the needle

What to put in your title, subtitle, screenshots, and preview video so the App Store + Play Store rank you and the right people tap install.

ASO is the closest thing app marketing has to a free lunch. Your App Store listing is a 24/7 salesperson — small improvements compound over thousands of visitors.

The fields that matter, in order

  1. App name + subtitle (iOS) / title + short description (Play). Most important. Include your main keyword in the title if natural. Subtitle = second-most-searched keyword + a benefit. Total visible characters matter: 30 + 30 on iOS, 50 + 80 on Play.
  2. Icon. Decides ~25% of tap-through rate. Test 3 variations. Bold, simple, readable at 30 pixels. Avoid text in the icon.
  3. Screenshots (first 3 only). ~70% of visitors never scroll past the third screenshot. First one should sell the outcome, not show the UI. Format: large heading on top + 1 screen + 1-line caption.
  4. Preview video.Auto-plays on iOS. Show the "wow moment" in the first 3 seconds. Captions on, sound off (most viewers have it muted).
  5. Keywords field (iOS) / long description (Play). 100 characters on iOS, 4000 on Play. iOS: comma-separated, no spaces, no plurals (algorithm handles them). Play: keyword density in the long description still matters but less than it used to.
  6. Ratings + reviews. 4.5+ stars is the threshold most users filter for. Prompt for reviews after activation, not at launch.

Keyword research, 30 minutes a quarter

  1. Make a list of 20 keywords your ICP would search.
  2. For each, check 2 things in App Store search: how many competitors show up (saturation) and whether their reviews are satisfied (opportunity).
  3. Pick 5-8 keywords with medium volume + low saturation. Work them into title, subtitle, and the iOS keyword field.
  4. Use a tool: AppFollow free tier, or ASOMobile.

Screenshots — a template that works

Screenshot 1: bold outcome statement ("Build a 30-day habit streak") + screen. Screenshot 2: the simplest feature. Screenshot 3: social proof ("500K users" or a real quote). 4-10: deeper features for the curious.

Tools: Mockuuups, Previewed, or Figma + a free phone mockup. Don't spend more than a Saturday on screenshots v1 — ship them, iterate monthly.

The honest expectation

ASO produces compounding 5-30% improvements in install rate. It won't make a bad product good. But if your product is decent, ASO is the highest-ROI marketing work you can do.