There some people you need to read in this industry. Shane Barker is one of them.
Although I love his content, it seems Shane is one of recent writer to use the words “ASO will Kill SEO” in a headline. I guess he’s just stirring up some controversy – link bait?  😉
Whatever his reason, the phrase has become cliché and tired, and I say that with this post, let us never see the words “SEO,” “Kill,” “Dead” in a headline ever again.
Disclaimer:  I’m a huge fan of Shane’s work, and every time I read good App store optimization content, written by smart people I become hopeful that ASO is starting to achieving some level of maturity. (I have been doing this for the last 3 years and every day I do a daily facepalm with the utter garbage some “ASO experts” post in their blogs. Good to know there is some light at the end of the tunnel. )
 

ASO Won’t Kill SEO

SEO will only die as soon as the search engine dies. As long as we have Google or other search engines, people will continue to figure out how search engines work in order to get business from them.
ASO won’t kill it. I have been doing SEO for 10 years and every year SEO is dead. Every year we think magically people will stop searching in Google.
In the article in question, I don’t think that “killing” is the right term to use for his analogy. Yeah, mobile is to be sure the fate of everything as most of us now begin utilizing a bunch assortment of savvy gadgets that come in numerous shapes and sizes. iPhones, Smart Phones, Tablets, Smart TV, iWatches, iCars, you name it…
But SEO will continue to exist as long as websites and search engines do. Web wins over Mobile any day of the year..  and believe me I will love to say the opposite but unfortunately we are not there yet. Mobile still has a lot to go…
In fact organic search from the web, is not decreasing…  this is also the reason the search giant’s algorithms have adjusted accordingly to these distinctive utilization patterns at general interim’s.
And yeah, mobile compatible and mobile user experience is going to play a huge role in ASO and SEO this 2016 and in the years to come… but SEO simply brings a more clear ROI than ASO still does.
From a biz point of view. SEO is superior. (And I’m the ASO guy saying this)
 
Penguin, Panda, or any other update done by Google in the past hasn’t change the fact that we all still performing activities designed to get our business from the natural search results in search engines, and, therefore, Search Engine Optimization will be alive and kicking for year and years to come.
Why?
Traffic:
The traffic of Google compared to the App store is like comparing the population of Monaco vs China… there is no comparison. (Although Monaco is beautiful in the Summer)
 
But don’t get me wrong…
I find his post very informative. I appreciate him for sharing good ASO content (finally some decent ASO content), like the chart showing the number of apps in the popular app stores like Google Play Store, iOS App Store, and Amazon Appstore (though the chat does not include zombie or death apps).
His SEO/ASO forecast and tips for me are impressive and I believe that finally we are seeing a serious approach towards ASO.
However, I would like to reiterate that in ASO vs SEO has some huge challenges.
ASO is very limited.  Let me repeat it: VERY LIMITED. Specially when you compare it to what we can can do in SEO… with ASO we that we can’t really increase ranking per specific keyword as we are limited to the nightmare of editorials approvals every time we do an update in The Apple App store.
This is why constant ASO is not possible – or super proactive ASO is not a reality just yet.
In SEO the future is wider than ASO, we can work hands on and detecting GOOD quality sites that deserve ranking is easier than ASO.
Although this may sound crazy to SEO professionals out there…. the  SEO  world has more “justice” than the ASO. ASO is a jungle where every day we see more hyenas on top of the real Lions.
ASO at the moment,  especially for IOS is limited to Apple constant approvals and bureaucracy…  and Google Play is subject to Chinese copycat doing very nice BlackHat ASO, in both Google and Apple their glitchy algorithm reminds me of a student coding project created by a 1st year IT student.
 
So yes… ASO has a tough way to go…
 
and there will be more challenges to come, believe me. And as mobile searches outnumber desktop searches, we must think “mobile” in all of our digital dealings, and we must always have a mobile marketing strategy in place.
Also it’s important to include that SEO will only get stronger with  “Voice search” and “direct answers” as part of a huge traffic that will come from WEB vs the App store directly.
These search factors should not be taken for granted as this will affect the SEO activity in the near future.
I guess 2016 and the next year to come will be the year to start altering our ASO/SEO strategy. Content marketing, SEO, and ASO should also go together to make your site or app a source of authoritative information.
So what we need to do?
Mobile is definitely the future, and we “digital marketers and developers” must gradually move towards it. If you’re an SEO expert, and you haven’t done ASO already, it’s about time that you think about including app discoverability as part of your marketing efforts.
We all need to cope and adapt to the constant changes in Google’s search display. No longer is SEO restricted to websites; we now need to consider a more holistic approach for greater visibility, whether the data is on a website or a mobile app.