Hire the best App Store Optimization (ASO) specialists

Rates can vary due to many factors, including expertise and experience, location, and market conditions.

• An experienced ASO specialist may command higher fees but also work faster, have more-specialized areas of expertise, and deliver higher-quality work.
• A contractor who is still in the process of building a client base may price their ASO services more competitively. 

Which one is right for you will depend on the specifics of your project.

You’ve designed and built a high-quality iOS app, and now it’s been accepted into the App Store. The question now becomes: How do you help people to find it? Obviously, validation from third-parties in the form of positive reviews, press attention, and partnerships can help. But there are also important strategies to increase the discoverability of your app within the App Store itself.

App name and keywords

App Store guidelines limit developers to 50 characters and prohibit terms and descriptions that are not the name of the app. When it comes to keywords, developers are limited to just 100 characters per app. With so few characters to work with, developers need a deliberate strategy. Ask yourself: What keywords are most important to you, and what are the keywords that will set you apart from your competitors? The best keywords are both relevant to your app and frequently searched, but the former outweighs the latter.

Lastly, some brass tacks:

1. Separate keywords with commas.
2. Break down phrases into individual words (i.e., “photo, editor” not “photo editor”)
3. Save characters by not pluralizing your keywords (i.e., “calendar” not “calendars”)

Getting featured

Getting an app featured in the App Store is the dream of many developers. Not only does it confer special recognition on your app, but it also gets you more prominent placement in the App Store. Getting featured also permits app developers to customize both their app and developer pages, further enabling them to stand out from the crowd.

So how do you get your app into this elite group? The best way to get an app featured is simply to build a great app. Apple’s curators are always looking for new apps that their users will be excited about. To that point, having a world-class user experience goes a long way.

Each of these editorial teams is dedicated to a specific category or region, and each makes its decisions about what apps to feature internally. That said, developers can pitch their apps to Apple’s marketing team, who may then choose to advocate for an app within Apple. Going to events like WWDC can also be a good way to raise awareness.

Another thing that Apple’s editorial teams consider when choosing what apps to feature is whether an app takes advantage of Apple’s newest and most exciting tech. Remember, promoting an app in the App Store is also about promoting features that set iOS apart. Taking advantage of the newest APIs and functionalities can make your app more timely and relevant when Apple is choosing what apps to feature.

App Store search ads

A relatively new product from Apple allows developers to promote their app at the top of search results. Given that nearly ⅔ of app downloads come from searching, Search Ads can be an effective way to give an app the bump it needs to get found.

Search Ads are built around an automated auction process similar to Google AdWords. Developers set a maximum price they’re willing to spend per tap, which is then compared against the bid of the next most relevant competitor. Developers only pay when a user engages with one of their ads.