ASO Checklist: Title, Keywords, Screenshots and Ratings

What ASO is and what it consists of

ASO (App Store Optimization) is optimizing your app page in the App Store and Google Play. It has two goals:

• Visibility — the app appears for relevant searches and in featured collections.
• Conversion — someone who opens the page taps "Install".

Visibility depends on keywords, title, rating and install momentum. Conversion depends on the icon, screenshots, video, reviews and copy. Work on both: strong visibility with weak screenshots just wastes impressions.

Step 1. Keyword research

• Write down how users describe the problem, not how you name the product: "expense tracker", not "next-generation finance manager".
• Check search suggestions in the stores and competitor pages: which words appear in their titles and subtitles.
• Rate each keyword on relevance, rough demand and competition. Broad high-volume terms are nearly out of reach for a new app — start with narrower queries.
• Build a separate list for each language and country: translated keywords often differ from what people actually type.

Step 2. Metadata: what goes where

These limits have been stable for years, but check the store documentation before publishing.

Checklist:

• Title: brand plus your single most important keyword, no lists.
• App Store: don't repeat title or subtitle words in the Keywords field, separate keywords with commas and no spaces, and never use other companies' trademarks.
• Google Play: keywords should appear naturally in the short and full descriptions. Keyword stuffing breaks the rules, and terms like "best", "#1" or "free" in the title are banned by the metadata policy.
• Write the first lines of the full description for a human: what the app does and why it helps.

Step 3. Screenshots and video

Search results show only the first screenshots, and they decide whether the page gets opened.

• One screenshot — one benefit, with a large 3–6 word caption.
• Show the outcome ("budget under control"), not a settings screen.
• The first screenshot carries the main value; the next ones cover key scenarios.
• Prepare sizes for every required device; Google Play also needs a feature graphic.
• App Store preview videos autoplay muted, so the video must make sense without sound and open with its strongest seconds.

Step 4. Ratings and reviews

• Use the system APIs: requestReview (StoreKit) on iOS and the In-App Review API on Google Play. Both systems limit how often the prompt appears.
• Ask after a success moment: a completed order or finished level, not on first launch.
• Don't ask "Do you like the app?" before the system prompt — Google Play guidance explicitly discourages it, and Apple requires the built-in mechanism.
• Reply to reviews, especially negative ones: replies are visible to everyone reading the page.

Step 5. Listing localization

• Localize screenshots too, not just text: captions, currencies, sample data.
• Research keywords from scratch for each language.
• For CIS markets a Russian listing is usually the minimum; check the supported languages in the store console.

Step 6. A/B testing the store page

• The App Store offers Product Page Optimization (icon, screenshots, video tests) and Custom Product Pages for ad campaigns.
• Google Play offers Store listing experiments and custom store listings for countries and audiences.
• Change one variable per test and wait for enough data, not the first "winner" after two days.

Common mistakes

• A slogan title with no keywords.
• Screenshots that are bare UI with no captions.
• One English listing for every country.
• Asking for a rating right after install.
• Doing ASO once and forgetting it: revisit metadata with every notable update.