App Store Optimization
Keywords, metadata, screenshots, product page tests
Start with the playbook: app-store-optimization — the rules that matter most, with links into these notes.
- Boosting new keywords with a download burst after an ASO updateSteve P. Young's optional tactic of running a 2-day free lifetime offer promoted on Indie App Santa or Reddit right after a metadata change, to spike download velocity for new keywords.
- Checking keyword difficulty by reading the actual search resultsHow to verify an ASO tool's difficulty score by searching the App Store yourself — count ratings of top results and check whether they carry the keyword in their title.
- Custom product pages — matching the App Store page to each adHow Steve P. Young uses Apple custom product pages (CPPs) — one per audience/ad angle for Meta ads and per ad group in Apple Ads — and why it's a phase-2 optimisation.
- Finding international ASO opportunities and localizing listingsWhy Steve P. Young expects localization to matter more in 2026, how to compare a keyword's search volume across countries (ASOMobile Worldwide Check), and how to localize screenshots quickly.
- How much to rely on ASO, and how it fits with Apple Ads and MetaSteve P. Young's view (2026) that ASO is a slice of the acquisition pie, not the whole — when it can carry an app, why to pair it with Apple Ads first, and how it validates a funnel before Meta.
- How to pick ASO keywords (search score, difficulty, relevance)Steve P. Young's thresholds for choosing ASO keywords — 6–10 relevant terms around search score 30 with low difficulty, no competitor brand terms — plus what search popularity scores actually mean.
- Mining competitors' keywords and listing history (ASOMobile workflow)Step-by-step competitor keyword research in ASOMobile — App Keywords, New Indexation, App Report comparison, Keyword Suggest and Update Timeline — with the Cal AI / Calorie AI example.
- Producing screenshots and running Product Page Optimization testsStep-by-step from screenshot creation (AppScreens templates, AI captions, device frames) to uploading and launching an Apple Product Page Optimization test, with the App Store Connect gotchas.
- Screenshot A/B tests — themes to test and published resultsWhat to A/B test on App Store screenshots (order, design, seasonality, orientation, callouts, video) and results from cited cases — +30%, +13.8%, +45%/+61% in two phases, Angry Birds seasonal loss.
- The low-volume keyword quantity strategy (search score 5)When score-30 keywords are out of reach, rank
- Using extra localizations to add keywords on the US App StoreThe US App Store indexes several localizations (incl. Spanish Mexico), so English keywords placed in those localizations' title/subtitle also rank in the US.
- What App Store screenshots should say (first three, keyword, USP, faces)Screenshot copy rules from a +30% download test — lead with the searched keyword, then unique selling points and social proof; focus on the first three screenshots; show a human face.
- Where to put keywords in App Store and Google Play metadataWhich metadata fields carry ranking weight on iOS and Google Play, why target keywords belong in title and subtitle, and the one-title-change case that turned a dead app into an exit.
- Which factors actually move App Store rankings (2026)Steve P. Young's 2026 ranking of ASO factors — metadata and download volume first, ratings next; conversion, sales, retention secondary; updates, installs and backlinks least.