ASO

ASO is search and conversion optimization inside the mobile app stores rather than on the open web. It splits into two halves that are often confused.

Visibility is whether your app appears for a search. On Apple this is driven by the 30-character app name, the 30-character subtitle and a 100-character keywords field. On Google Play it is driven by the 30-character title, the 80-character short description and the long description, which is indexed in full.

Conversion is whether the people who see you install. This is driven almost entirely by the icon, the first two or three screenshots shown in search results, the preview video, the rating and the rating count. Conversion work usually returns more than keyword work, because a store listing that ranks and does not convert wastes the ranking.

Two structural factors sit underneath both: update recency, since both stores surface a last-updated date and treat freshness as a signal, and localization, where translating even the title, subtitle and first three description lines into a few secondary markets moves numbers.

ASO does not replace off-store work. A store listing is discovery for people already in a store; a landing page on your own domain and permanent directory listings are how people find you before they get there.