App Store Optimization

The app store is a search engine with its own rules

App Store Optimization is the practice of improving an application's store listing so it ranks higher, is found more often and converts more of the people who find it.

Publishing an app is only the first step. A listing nobody sees performs exactly like an app that was never built.

Wink optimizes applications for both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, which behave differently and are not optimized the same way.

What App Store Optimization covers

Wink works across every element of the listing that the stores use to rank and that shoppers use to decide.

• App titles
• Keywords
• Descriptions and metadata
• Screenshots
• Preview videos
• App icons
• Feature graphics
• Localization
• Category selection
• Ratings strategy
• Review management
• Conversion optimization
• Competitor analysis
• Keyword research
• Store performance tracking

Keywords work differently in each store

Wink researches keywords per store, because Google Play and the Apple App Store read a listing in different ways.

The starting point is the same question in both: what does somebody type when they want what your app does, rather than what your app is called internally.

Competitor analysis is part of that research. The terms your competitors already rank for are evidence of demand that has been tested for you.

The listing has to convert, not only rank

Ranking brings people to the page and the creatives decide what happens next.

Wink optimizes app icons, screenshots, preview videos and feature graphics, which are what most people judge before reading a single line of the description.

The first two screenshots carry the most weight, because that is what is visible without scrolling. They should show what the app does, not a welcome screen.

Ratings and reviews are a ranking factor and a sales page at once

Wink builds a ratings strategy and manages reviews, because that section is read by the store algorithm and by the customer.

Ratings influence visibility. Reviews influence the decision to install, and a well handled negative review often reads better than no reply at all.

Both are within the store's control surface, which makes them part of optimization rather than a support afterthought.

Localization reaches the searcher in their own language

Wink localizes store listings so the app is discoverable in the language people actually search in.

An untranslated listing competes only for the terms it happens to contain. In a bilingual market that leaves an entire half of the demand uncontested.

Measuring whether ASO worked

Wink tracks keyword rankings, store performance and user behavior continuously, so the effect of each change is visible rather than assumed.

Reporting covers keyword tracking, performance reports, competitor analysis and recommendations for the next round of improvement.

ASO is iterative by nature. A listing is a set of testable assumptions, and the store gives you the data to settle them.

Who App Store Optimization is for

• Businesses that have published an app and are not getting installs
• Apps with strong retention but weak discovery
• Teams spending on user acquisition who want organic downloads to carry more of the load
• Bilingual markets where the listing exists in one language only
• Anyone preparing a launch, where the listing should be right before the traffic arrives

What ASO connects to

ASO is the visibility layer on top of mobile app development, and it uses the same intent research discipline as SEO applied to a different search engine.

The creatives it depends on come out of UI and UX design for mobile apps, and the ratings it works with are protected by app maintenance and support.

Where to start

Send us your store listings in both stores. Wink returns a keyword gap analysis, a competitor view and the changes ranked by what they are likely to move.