App Store Optimization, or ASO, is the process of improving how an app ranks and appears in app store search and browse results, the mobile equivalent of SEO for a website. With millions of apps competing in the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, most installs still start with a search, so where an app lands for its core terms directly affects how many people ever find it.
The main levers are the app title, subtitle, and keyword field, which stores treat similarly to a page title and meta tags. Icon design, screenshots, and preview videos affect conversion once a user lands on the listing, and ratings, review volume, and download velocity feed into the store's own ranking algorithm the way backlinks and engagement feed into web search. ASO also has to account for store-specific review guidelines and periodic algorithm changes from Apple and Google, either of which can shift rankings independent of anything the app's own team changed. Getting the listing right matters as much as getting the app itself right, since an app nobody can find never gets the chance to prove its quality.
