App Store Optimization is so important that it has its own acronym: ASO.

Basically, when you develop an app, and you’re ready to submit it to the App Store your work isn’t done.

In fact, some experts might say that some of the most important aspects of improving the chances of a successful app happen when you’re ready to submit it to the App Store.

First, you want to make sure you’re completely ready for submission. You can find an App Store submission checklist that will let you go through the details and make sure you really are at the point you think you are.

Once you’re there, the following are some tips that can help you optimize your listing this year.

Think About SEO

If you’ve ever had your own website, you should have some understanding of how search engine optimization or SEO works, and many of these principles apply to optimizing your app on the App Store as well.

You want to think about your customers first and foremost, and then from there consider their language and the words and terms they might use as a way to find your app.

You should also do things like looking at what your competitors are doing with their keywords and general wording.

To be successful in SEO, it’s not just about using the right keywords. It’s about understanding your potential user and how they’re going to be searching for things that could lead them to your app.

The Name

Also important regarding ASO and SEO is the name you pick for your app.

If you have a relevant keyword in your title, according to research cited on Moz.com, you’re more likely to rank higher as compared to those apps without a relevant keyword in the title.

When you’re naming your app, you also want to make sure it serves as a description of what it is. Unless you’re a highly recognizable brand already, this is important.

You should also make sure that you’re not using a title that’s similar to something else that already exists because it can feel like you’re trying to dupe users into downloading your app.

Choosing Categories                    

You can choose specific categories to list your app under, and it’s important that you think about the very core basis of what your app is and what its functions are, as opposed to trying to include the secondary functionality of the app.

Of course, your app may have multiple functions but go with the most basic elements of what your app does as you’re choosing categories.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is extremely important when you’re preparing your App Store listing. To do this, you’ll need to optimize two listings and then compare them.

You’ll be directing half of your traffic to one version, and the other half to another to see which gets the best results.

These aren’t the only things you need to know when it comes to ASO in 2018, but they are some of the key tenants of strong optimization when you’re ready to list your app on the App Store.