5 Ninja Tips on ASO (AppStore Optimization)

So you can’t afford buying your app/game a nice and cozy top10 AppStore rank?

No big review page gives your game the attention you are desperately looking for?

Your AppStore ranks are bad and no one even finds your great new app/game?

What to do?

Here’s a handy, fast, cheap and easy list to increase your app’s/game’s AppStore visibility in just one day of work:

1. Get an awesome icon

Increase the contrast of the icon’s colors and give it a golden or shiny frame.
Somehow icons with frames are more likely to get clicked than icons without.
It costs no more than $5 if you know where to search: http://fiverr.com/gigs/search?order=rating&query=app+icon

2. Find the right keywords

Go to http://www.appcodes.com and sign up for about $15 a month to find & observe the best keywords for your app/game.
Also sign up for the free-as-long-as-beta http://www.straply.com to get keyword ideas with low competition you didn’t even think of - like keywords with typos.

3. Translate your keywords

In my game “Highway Run” (https://itunes.apple.com/app/highway-run/id492097046) I wondered why my rank in Germany was always the best of all countries. I only translated the description and parts of the keywords in German which made me much more visible in Germany. In my last update I translated the most powerful keywords into several languages - especially Asian ones.

4. Make your first screenshot look awesome

The first screenshot is the first thing the user will see when the AppStore spotlight falls on your app/game. Show the user what your game is about. Maybe even put more screenshots into one or put a text on it with your core feature. Use it as advertisement!

5. Focus on the first 4 lines of your description & update

The text of your description and update message will be cut to the first few lines. That means you have to tell the user why your game is awesome in just that space. Use your update messages to sell your game, too. Don’t write things like “bugfixes” or other technical stuff no one understands or cares about.

That’s it for now!

I hope I could help you a little bit with this list. If anything is missing here or if you have any feedback or questions, feel free to contact me!

Contact:
Gabriel Morgenstern
Owner of vidiludi games
http://www.vidiludi.com
https://www.facebook.com/vidiludi
http://www.gabrielmorgenstern.de