IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Tutorial 11 Google Play Store ASO
Keyword Research & Icons
This tutorial introduces:
• How to prepare your ASO elements for your Group Project mobile application
Part I: Implementing ASO for Your Google Play Store Listing
When talking about implementing an App Store Optimization strategy for Google Play, we should keep
in mind two factors: on-metadata and off-metadata:
• On-metadata are the factors or elements that are 100% under the control of the developer: title,
developer name, short and long description, icon, screenshots.
• Off-metadata factors are not controlled completely by a developer, but can be influenced, for
example installs volume, ratings, and user reviews.
Optimizing a listing for Google Play Store can improve rankings in search, conversion rate to install and
drive more organic downloads – so if you haven’t done it already, now is a great time to start.
Having an ASO-optimized Google Play Store listing can help you not only to boost visibility in the store,
but also in Google Web Search and App Packs.
Add keywords in the title (30 char), short description (80 char), description (4,000 char). Google indexes
almost all text that appears in the store listing. Google Play, when it comes to Search, is much more
similar to SEO.
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Title
Title is the first and one of the most important ASO on-metadata factors, because it influences both
search results and conversion rate to install.
Since June 2017, Google permits to include up to 50 characters in the Title (while Apple has shortened
the App Name, instead, from 50 to 30 characters). To maximize the use of this space for your
optimization and improve keywords rankings, add some of your most powerful ones to your
Title alongside brand name.
Keep your brand name short, clear, and easy to spell for your potential users, and try to add emoji to
instantly grab users’ attention when they are browsing on the Google Play Store.
A few examples of an optimized Title:
• Brand name – Keyword(s)
• Brand name: Keyword(s)
• Keyword(s) – Brand name
• Keyword(s): Brand name
Don’t ignore localizing your store listing – you can add one Title for each language where you wish to
localize your app. Mobile world is global, and having a localized app can help you understand where the
demand for your product is coming from (and the results can surprise you)
Below you can find a few examples of a great, ASO optimized Titles:
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IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Short Description
A short description on Google Play Store affects search and conversion rate.
You can include up to 80 characters in the short description field, and it is very important to keep the
balance and provide a clear description, including some of your main keywords that you want to rank
for.
A well-composed short description provides a highlight about the virtues or a purpose of your app,
clearly delivers a message about its value and catches attention so the user can expand it and go to see
the full description. Just like it is true for the Title, adding some emoji to Short Description will help 😉😉
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Description
Description is an extremely important factor, affecting both Search and Conversion.
Google's algorithms now tend to prioritize relevant, concise content rather than pure keyword stuffing.
You have up to 4.000 characters (use as much as possible) to include as many keywords and keyword
combinations as possible. Use your most important ones a few times, especially in the first and the last
lines of text, but please – no keyword stuffing. It is not only penalized by Google, but will also have a
negative effect on the users and discourage them from trying your app.
Secondly, the description must be organized and well-structured, containing clearly all the information
valuable for the user and convincing him to install (convert into your user) with a powerful call-to-action,
so your Long Description must be actionable.
Here is a great example of a nicely structured and ASO optimized Long Description for Android app:
Tips for a great and optimized description on Google Play:
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• Use as much space provided for a Long Description as possible (at least 3000-3500
characters).
• Localize your description to all possible languages. Preferably, use the help of a
professional instead of a blind translation.
• Describe the virtues and all the best features of your app – it is okay to brag.
• Find mid and long-tail keywords (keyword combinations) to add to your description.
• Use bullet points or Unicode symbols like ✔❖➜ (get them here) for a clear and visual
organization.
• Don’t overload your description with a lot of text – write in short paragraphs.
• Include emoji 🔥🔥 or use HTML and Rich Formatting (read our guide for more tips on
that.).
• Mention your awards or contests to encourage your users to give it a shot.
• Include a powerful call-to-action, containing a sense of urgency (e.g., “Download and
start saving money today”)
• Mention your social media profiles or user communities.
• Check Google requirements and learn what NOT to do 😉😉
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Icon
Icon is the first visual element that the users see when they come across it in the search results page or
Top Charts. Therefore, an icon plays directly affects click-through rate (how many users visit your listing
after seeing a preview in Search / Top Charts), and of course, conversion rate (how many users will
download the application after visiting listing).
There is no doubt that the icon is an element that has the most influence on user decision whether to
look and install or not. So, icon is an on-metadata factor responsible for Conversion.
Here you can see the view that the users get in the Google Play Top Charts and search results. A striking,
distinctive icon is what can really influence the users to try out your product.
For publishing a store listing on Google Play Store, you need a high-resolution image for your icon. These
are Google’s requirements for icon:
• 32-bit PNG (with alpha)
• Dimensions: 512px by 512px
• Maximum file size: 1024KB
A few tips on how to optimize your icon:
• Make sure your icon is clearly reflecting the main purpose of your app – don’t confuse
the users unless you already have a strong brand.
• Find your “style” – colors, typography, etc. – and stick to it, so your icon goes in alliance
with the other elements of your app.
• Look at your competitors and do something different.
• Use vibrant and harmonizing colors and clear shapes, don’t overload your icon with too
many elements.
• Avoid having text in your icon.
• Try adding borders to the icon to make it more eye-catching.
• Innovate and follow the design trends – remember when everyone got crazy about flat
design? 🙂🙂
• Don’t try to guess what icon your users will choose – use A/B testing tools to know
exactly what icon performs best.
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Video
You can also create a YouTube video about your Android app or game. In this case the video preview
thumbnail will become a feature graphic. This is how it looks like on the listing and in search results:
Video is a very simple to use, yet very powerful tool. To add a video, just paste the YouTube URL in the
“Promo video” field on your Google Play Store listing. Keep in mind these requirements:
• Make sure to use an individual video’s YouTube URL, not a YouTube playlist or channel
URL.
• Don’t use an age-restricted video as your promo video.
You can localize your video in all the languages that your app is available for. Upload one video for
each language, or just use transcripts in different languages, which Google will automatically show
depending on user location or device settings.
One of the coolest things about adding a video to your store listing is that the views from Play Store
count as YouTube views. This gives you higher YouTube rankings, and therefore, higher positions in
Google web search results.
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Screenshots
Like other graphic elements of listing, screenshots are the on-metadata elements that are responsible
for Conversion Rate. They don’t have such a huge visibility on Google Play (comparing with App Store),
because the user must scroll through listing to get to see them. But still, the screenshots remain to be
essential for the users to see how the app looks like from inside.
Just taking a glance at the screenshots, users will already decide if they want to try the application or
not, so it is extremely important to make a great first impression on the users. Make sure you showcase
your best features on the first two screenshots.
On Google Play Store you can add up to 8 screenshots, with a minimum of 2 (but never stop on 2
screenshots) and has the following requirements:
• JPEG or 24-bit PNG (no alpha)
• Minimum dimension: 320px
• Maximum dimension: 3840px
• The maximum dimension of your screenshot can’t be more than twice as long as the
minimum dimension.
Follow these tips to rock your screenshots:
• Put your best features or the most important messages into the first 2 screenshot slots.
• Use all available screenshot slots, don’t stop on the 2 minimum required ones.
• Use text to explain the information on the images to the users.
• Follow your app’s general style and theme, experiment with creating storylines.
• Provide a challenging copy to encourage users to install.
• Show special offers or discounts to give them more visibility.
• Localize screenshots 🌍🌍
• And never forget to A/B test them to find the best ones for your product.
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Part IV: Submit your work
• You can use your group project mobile app to complete and submit the
following table to Canvas under “Tutorial 11 Submission Link”. (Deadline: 1
week time)
Listing Tools you may use / hints Your Student
elements Input in
charge
20 Keywords: Google Keyword Planner
https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/
AppTweak https://www.apptweak.com/en
Sensor Tower https://sensortower.com/
CityUHK-GPT
App title: https://businessnamegenerator.com/mobile-app-business-
name-generator-ideas/
https://namify.tech/app-name-generator
Category: https://www.statista.com/statistics/279286/google-play-
android-app-categories/
Short About this app and its main features
description:
(80 characters)
Description: The app description needs to bring a message.
(4000 The keywords placed on top will have more relevance for
characters) Google than the ones placed at the bottom.
You have to repeat the keywords throughout your short and
long description so that Google understands that it is a
keyword. The keywords should be used at least 3 times to be
seen as a keyword.
You shouldn’t repeat a keyword more than 8 times.
Don’t be shorter than 800 characters.
Icon: https://www.brandcrowd.com/maker/tag/app
(32-bit PNG with Alpha) 512px x 512px, file size: 1024KB
TWO https://www.appstorescreenshot.com/
Screenshots:
https://placeit.net/app-store-screenshot-generator
(JPEG or 24-bit PNG, no alpha) 320px-3840px
Video: https://creatoracademy.youtube.com/page/lesson/editing
(YouTube https://www.veed.io/
video URL) And many others…
Done!
Reference:
https://thetool.io/aso-app-store-optimization#practices
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
IS2023 Mobile Application for Business
Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong
