I found a post about App store optimization in Linkedin and as the stupid ASO geek that I am I decided to read it carefully.
Although I promote education of app store optimization it kills me when I read posts with wrong info – specially when they come from authorities in the industry.
So I though… should I go quiet and let it go… or be the typical cynical that people love to read….
Sooooo instead of ranting, I decided to CORRECT IT – the post was posted in Linkedin so I expect / predict the audience this post was aimed for had certain level of education and expect to receive accurate info..
Original Article Here
To all of you … here it goes
1) ASO keyword optimization is free and it is the only thing you have 100% control over. So take advantage of it. Strive for an A+ visibility score.
Clarification:
That A+ Visibility score is created by ASO Tools… companies – strive for their score means you are following their rules.
2) Users find you through keywords, so KNOW your user demographic, behavior and intentions.
Fair Point
3) You get 100 Characters with the iTunes Connect and 4000 Characters for Android. NOTE that characters are only allowed in description on Android.
Gab: mmmm Ok. Thanks 😉
4) There is a 255 character limit within an app’s name for iOS. 30 character limit within Google Play app’s name
Gab: mmmm Ok. Thanks 😉
5) Do Not Add More than 3 Keywords in your app’s name – It could get rejected by Apple if you do.
Gab:
WHAT ???????
Once again this type of statement lack testing and proof. First you need to specify what a keyword is, are you referring long tail keyword?
So if my app is called: Delicious Fashion Trendy Girl Hair Salon Simulator —> will this be rejected by apple?
Come on guys….
Thanks to Magnus Söderberg for sending me this pearl
6) Do not add more than 2-3 keywords in your description for Android. Android will penalize your rank for an overuse of keywords in your description
Clarification:
Android doesn’t penalize anyone Android is an operative system. You mean: Google Play right? OK… Google doesn’t penalize for keyword density. … and a penalty in ranking doesn’t exist yet for Google Play store.
Nice scarecity but just not 100% true.
7) Mobile Action’s ASO Keyword Optimization Formula: User Intention + Search Volume + Competition + Keyword Increase % + # of Apps Using your Keyword = Optimized Keyword
I like the formula… although there is no way to determine intention in the formula.
How can you determine the intention of a keyword…. ?
Like this?
8) Search Volume – For 1 month keep track of changes in keyword search volume and document the trends, that you see.
Gab:
Search Volume in keywords is not like the stock market.
It doesn’t change so often.. you will not see a search change on specific keywords
(example see the point number 9 – unless Russia sends a nuclear submarine to the USA my submarine simulator game will have the same demand give or take every month – unless is based on demographic changes like Christmas , summer holiday, etc)
9) Documenting the search volume for 1 month will give you a good idea on which keywords will be searched for the most in a particular day.
Gab:
Documenting the search volume how? Manually. Let’s presume my keywords are the following
submarine,simulator,navy,war,WWI,WWII,nuclear,boat,vessel
for me to document the search volume I will need to document literally every search daily for every potential combination
- submarine simulator
- navy submarine WWII game
- submarine war simulator
- WWII submarine sim
etc…
I could come up with around 80 different keywords that are the product of this combination….
I doubt this daily research will bring me any AMAZING DATA…
Oh people search more for Nuclear Submarine Simulator on Tuesday…. mmm ok… so what do we do next?
PARTY on Tuesday?
10) Studying your direct competitor’ keywords or ‘suggested search’ keywords are great methods to find keywords.
Gab : Yes.
11) Do not use generic or broad keywords. Ex: game, free, best, cool. This is an extremely common mistake in ASO 
Keyword Optimization.
Gab:
Wrong.
Again they are patronizing keywords, some type generic keywords bring enough variation to make your keywords NINJA keywords.
Example:
Best weather App
| Traffic | iPhone Difficulty | iPad Difficulty | iPhone Apps | iPad Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 129 | 88 |
vs
weather app
| Traffic | iPhone Difficulty | iPad Difficulty | iPhone Apps | iPad Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.8 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 7,073 | 4,226 |
12) Conduct searches in the app store and learn how many apps are using your selected keywords. This will help you gauge your keyword increase percent.
Right
13) Add your app’s name in your keyword list.
Gab:
What????
Wrong wrong wrong – PLEASE TELL ME YOU MADE A TYPO.
There is no point on doing that… the app store already index your app in the keyword list, adding it again makes no point… you are loosing new keywords possibilities.
14) Do not use spaces in your keywords when submitting to iTunes Connect. Another common ASO Keyword Optimization mistake
Gab: Yes
15) Using a keyword that has a low search volume is okay because it will eventually gain traction BUT do not use keywords that have no search volume.
Gab: Mmmm
This theory will be OK if the ASO tool has the capacity to determine LIVE search results. but any ASO tool is a guestimate tool. It doesn’t read data from Apple direct channel….
How does this theory will apply to a brand new trend? I upload a keyword that is just becoming popular.. the ASO tool provides zero volume.
Therefore we need to trust 100% the ASO tool vs our market research?
ASO can’t be determined just based on what App store optimization tools tell us. It is a tool not an ORACLE
16) Use plural keywords and do not duplicate keywords with singular terms.
Gab: Wrong
Use singular
Singular keywords include the ROOT of the word, therefor will appear for searches vs plural.
you will rank for plural with a singular….
17) Find keywords that have a high search volume but a low number of apps using it.
Gab: Right
18) Use Specific Keywords EX: bmx tricks instead of tricks
Gab: Right
19) If the search volume is high for long tail keyword; it is better to use that than a short tail keyword.
Gab:
Hold on… Not always.
Mainly because long tail keywords (extremely long) get auto suggested first…. so even if the user INTENT is to search for the long tail keyword the auto suggest will provide a quick short tail keyword….
Also it’s important to analyze the value of that long tail keyword and the sacrifice that is done in terms of characters (in Apple)
20) Short tail keywords help with combination keywords.
Gab: 😉 Like best, cool etc? right??? (See point 11)
21) Use commas to separate keywords in iTunes Connect.
Gab: Funny that this is a lesson…
22) Keyword Maintenance is very important in ASO Keyword Optimization. Update your keywords 2-3 times per month
Clarification:
No really.
If your app is an app about the world cup and you launched on on the world cup: Don’t bloody touch it… is too late… you had a specific time period , leave it as it is. Every time you update keywords you need reviews to boost it up… if your reviews are tiny, updating 3 times per month just for ASO purpose may not be the best option
23) Compare each keyword performance with each keyword updates.
Gab:
True but the performance can’t be measure exactly. We got 125 downloads yesterday for keyword A vs 94 for keyword B is not an option yet.
24) Keywords have a life cycle. Top keywords today may not convert downloads for you tomorrow.
Gab:
Right, although some niches have ever green keywords… I will love to talk about that but so little time… so much to cover.
25) Ranking in the Top 10 or higher in all your keywords will get you an A+ visibility score.
Gab:
But who really cares of a stupid score?
the A+ Score of what?
If I rank in top 10 for keywords that nobody searches for? what is the point. Why do I want a Score… shouldn’t we be talking about DOWNLOADS??
Deja-vu with the obsession for Page rank in Google… that by the way, it doesn’t exist any more.
Why?
It was useless. Just like a Visibility Score.
26) Getting Ranked as the Top 1 in your keywords, does not mean you are converting the impression as a download.
Specially if you use as reference an A+ score
27) Finally, If you have a 4+ star average reviews and rating, you can expect a daily download of 50-100 for each keyword that has a Top 1
Gab: WRONG WRONG WRONG – super wrong
This is based on what data?
If I have a keyword that has no traffic, how can I expect 50 downloads or 100 per each keyword.
Again this statements promote the wrong ideas… 50 to 100 downloads is the most random number ever.
Wait… is it 50 or 100? Because if I rank for productivity as a keyword: I should expect easily 3000+ downloads…
If I rank in 1st position for “ajiaco” a typical Colombian soup that my mum used to make… I may expect 1 download.
28) Using Keywords in your screenshot for Android will help increase your keyword visibility.
Gab: A bit tired to wonder what exactly they mean here… but let’s give them a YES.