What is ASO and how to promote an app in the App Store and Google Play

How app store search works, which page fields affect visibility and installs, how ASO work is done and how it differs from SEO.

Most people find apps not through ads but through search in the App Store and Google Play: they type "delivery", "taxi" or "bank" and choose from the top results. ASO (App Store Optimization) is the work of getting your app into those results and getting it installed. Here is how store search works, which fields on an app page affect it, and where to start with ASO in Uzbekistan.

What ASO is

ASO means optimising an app's page in the store. It has two goals:

• visibility: the app appears for the right queries and in curated lists;
• conversion: a person who opens the page taps "Install".

Visibility depends on text fields: name, subtitle, keywords, description. Conversion depends on the icon, screenshots, video, rating and reviews.

App Store and Google Play: the fields that matter

Limits are from the App Store Connect and Play Console help pages. Google warns that repeated or irrelevant keywords in the name and description can get an app suspended, so the text must stay natural.

How ASO works

1. Keywords. We collect the queries people use to find apps in your category, in Russian, Uzbek and English. In Uzbekistan some users type "такси" and others "taksi" — these are different queries.
2. Texts. We spread the main queries across the name, subtitle and keywords without repeats and write the description for people.
3. Localisation. Separate Russian, Uzbek and English versions of the page, with translated screenshots.
4. Visuals. Recommendations on the icon and screenshots: the first two or three frames show right in search results and decide whether the page gets opened.
5. Reviews. Replying to reviews and asking for a rating at the right moment — after a successful order, not on first launch.
6. Analysis and iterations. We track impressions, page conversion and rankings, adjust texts and graphics, and repeat.

We launch the first iteration in 2–4 weeks. After that ASO is ongoing work: competitors update their pages, and stores change their results.

ASO vs SEO

SEO promotes a website in Google and Yandex; ASO promotes an app inside the App Store and Google Play. The principle is similar — keywords, texts, user trust — but the fields, limits and signals differ. If you have both a website and an app, the two can run in parallel, and their keywords partly overlap. More on website search in "SEO in Uzbekistan".

Common mistakes

• The same word in the name, subtitle and keywords — in the App Store that wastes characters.
• A page only in English when users search in Russian and Uzbek.
• Screenshots of the interface without captions, so it is unclear why the app is useful.
• Unanswered reviews, especially negative ones.
• Texts unchanged for years while competitors and queries change.

FAQ

What is ASO in simple terms?

It is work on an app's page in the App Store and Google Play so that people find it through search more often and install it more often.

How long does ASO take?

We launch the first iteration — keywords, texts and graphics recommendations — in 2–4 weeks. Changes in search show up after the new version of the page is published, and the work continues in iterations.

Do I still need ads if I do ASO?

ASO brings organic installs; ads bring a fast stream of users. They complement each other: ads bring people in, and a well-designed page raises the share who install.

How much does ASO cost?

It depends on the number of languages and platforms and the competition in your category. We calculate the cost on request, and the estimate is free.

Want people to find your app in the App Store and Google Play? See our ASO services. If your app is still being built, see mobile app design.

Read also: Telegram Mini App or mobile app: what to choose for your business; SEO in Uzbekistan: how to rank in Yandex and Google.