App store optimisation basics that most founders ignore
You spent six months building your app. You sweated every pixel, tested every flow, squashed every bug. Then you uploaded it to the App Store with a title you came up with in 30 seconds, three screenshots you took on your phone, and a description you copied from your pitch deck.
And now you're wondering why nobody's downloading it.
Here's the thing. The App Store is a search engine. 65% of all app downloads come from search. If your listing isn't optimised for how people actually search, you're invisible. Doesn't matter how good the app is. Nobody will ever find out.
App Store Optimisation (ASO) is the unglamorous work of making your listing discoverable and compelling. Most founders treat it as a post-launch checkbox. The ones who get it right treat it as a core growth lever from day one.
Your app title is prime real estate
Apple gives you 30 characters for your app title. Google Play gives you 30 as well. Every character counts.
Most founders waste this space on their brand name alone. "Soothify" tells Apple's algorithm nothing about what the app does. "Soothify - Baby Sleep Tracker" tells it everything.
The formula is simple: Brand Name - Primary Keyword. If your brand isn't well known yet (and it isn't, you just launched), the keyword is doing all the heavy lifting.
Look at what the top apps in your category do. Headspace doesn't just say "Headspace." It says "Headspace: Sleep & Meditation." Canva says "Canva: Design, Art & AI Editor." They're all doing it. Because it works.
A few rules:
- Front-load the most important keyword. Apple's algorithm weights the beginning of the title more heavily.
- Don't keyword-stuff. "FitApp - Workout Fitness Gym Exercise Training" looks spammy and Apple will reject it.
- Keep it readable. A real person has to look at this and think "yes, this is what I need."
The subtitle is your second chance
On the Apple App Store, you get a 30-character subtitle that appears directly under your app name. This is indexed by Apple's search algorithm, so it's another opportunity to rank for relevant keywords.
Don't repeat what's in your title. Use different keywords that capture another angle of what your app does.
If your title is "Soothify - Baby Sleep Tracker", your subtitle might be "White Noise & Bedtime Routines." Now you're ranking for both "baby sleep tracker" and "white noise" and "bedtime routines." Three keyword groups instead of one.
Google Play doesn't have a subtitle field, but it does have a "short description" (80 characters) that serves a similar purpose. Use it wisely. Most founders leave it as a generic tagline. Pack it with relevant search terms instead.
Keywords field (iOS only, and most founders waste it)
Apple gives you a hidden 100-character keyword field. Users never see it, but the algorithm uses it to determine what searches your app shows up for.
The rules are counterintuitive:
- Separate keywords with commas, no spaces. "sleep,baby,tracker,white,noise" not "sleep, baby, tracker"
- Don't repeat words that are already in your title or subtitle. Apple already indexes those.
- Use singular forms. Apple matches both "tracker" and "trackers" from "tracker."
- Don't include your app name or your competitor's name. Apple will reject it.
- Skip prepositions and articles. "for", "the", "and" waste your 100 characters.
How to find good keywords? Start with Apple Search Ads. Even if you're not running ads, the keyword suggestion tool shows you search volume and competition data for free. Also look at what keywords your competitors rank for using tools like AppTweak or Sensor Tower.
For the Australian App Store specifically, keep in mind that search volumes are roughly 1/15th of the US store. A keyword with 50,000 monthly searches in the US might only have 3,000 here. That's fine. Lower competition means you can actually rank for terms that would be impossible in the US.
Screenshots sell harder than you think
70% of people who visit your App Store listing will never scroll past the first three screenshots. They make a download decision based on what they can see without tapping "read more."
Yet most founders upload bare screenshots of their app with no context. Just a raw screen capture. That's like putting a photo of a house with no description in a real estate listing and wondering why nobody books an inspection.
What actually works:
- Lead with the outcome, not the feature. "Fall asleep in under 10 minutes" beats "Sleep tracking dashboard" every time.
- Use text overlays. Each screenshot should have a bold headline that explains what the user is looking at and why they should care.
- Show your best screen first. The first screenshot gets 10x the attention of the fifth one. Put your most impressive, most differentiated screen there.
- Use all available slots. Apple lets you upload 10. Use at least 6. More screenshots give the algorithm signals that your listing is complete.
- Design for the format. On the App Store, screenshots display in a horizontal scroll. Design them as a visual story, not a random collection of screens.
If you're launching in Australia, design for iPhone 15 Pro Max dimensions first (6.7 inch). That's the mandatory size, and smaller sizes auto-scale from it.
Your description matters less than you think (but still matters)
Here's a weird one. Apple's algorithm does not index the long description field on the App Store. You could write the word "pizza" 500 times and it wouldn't affect your search rankings.
Google Play does index the long description, so for Android it matters a lot. Use natural language with your target keywords woven through the first 2-3 paragraphs.
For both platforms, the description still matters for conversion. Someone who taps "read more" is considering your app seriously. Don't waste their time with corporate waffle.
Structure it like this:
- Opening hook (2-3 lines): What problem does this solve and for whom? Be specific. "Tired of lying awake at 2am while your baby screams?" beats "Soothify is a comprehensive sleep management solution."
- Key features (bullet points): 4-6 features, each one benefit-led. Not "Smart alarm system" but "Wake up during your lightest sleep phase so you actually feel rested."
- Social proof: If you have ratings, press mentions, or user numbers, put them here.
- Pricing clarity: If you have a free tier, say so. Ambiguity about pricing kills conversion.
Ratings and reviews are your growth engine
An app with a 4.6 rating converts at roughly 2x the rate of an app with a 3.8. That's the difference between 100 downloads a day and 200, from the same traffic.
Most founders do nothing about ratings. The proactive ones ask for reviews at the right moment, and it changes everything.
The right moment is immediately after a positive experience. The user just completed their first workout. They just hit a personal milestone. They just successfully used your core feature for the third time. That's when you trigger the review prompt.
Apple's SKStoreReviewController gives you three prompts per year per user. Three. So don't waste one on day one when the user hasn't experienced any value yet. Wait until they've had a genuine win.
When you do get negative reviews, respond to every single one. Publicly. Politely. With specifics about what you're doing to fix the issue. Apple surfaces apps that actively engage with reviews, and potential users can see that you actually care.
Localisation is free traffic
If you're only targeting Australia, you're already localised. But if you're planning to launch in the UK, US, Canada, or New Zealand, don't skip localisation.
I don't just mean translation. Even English-speaking markets use different terms. Americans search for "color" not "colour." They say "stroller" not "pram." Localise your keywords, title, subtitle, and description for each market.
Apple lets you localise your listing for 40+ countries. Each localisation gets its own title, subtitle, keyword field, and screenshots. That's 40 different keyword fields. Most of your competitors won't bother. Free advantage.
For Australian founders specifically, make sure you have both "en-AU" and "en-US" localisations set up. The Australian App Store defaults to en-AU, but many Australian users have their phones set to en-US. Cover both.
Track, test, repeat
ASO isn't a one-time setup. It's an ongoing process. The apps that win at organic discovery are testing their listings constantly.
What to track:
- Impression to page view rate: Are people tapping on your app when they see it in search results? If not, your icon and title need work.
- Page view to download rate: Are people converting once they land on your listing? If not, your screenshots and description need work.
- Keyword rankings: Where do you rank for your target keywords? Track weekly.
Apple's App Store Connect gives you basic analytics for free. For anything deeper, tools like AppTweak, Sensor Tower, or AppFollow will cost you $50-200/month. Worth it if organic search is a meaningful channel for you.
Run A/B tests on your screenshots. Google Play has built-in listing experiments. On iOS, you can use Custom Product Pages to test different creative treatments against different audiences.
The founders who treat their App Store listing like a landing page, constantly testing and iterating, consistently outperform the ones who set it and forget it.
The bottom line
ASO isn't complicated. It's just tedious enough that most founders skip it. And that's exactly why it's an opportunity.
You don't need a massive marketing budget to get discovered. You need a listing that's properly optimised for search, visually compelling enough to convert browsers into downloaders, and maintained over time as you learn what works.
Do the boring work. Your competitors won't. That's your edge.
If you're building an app and want help thinking through your go-to-market strategy, including ASO, we cover this in our free game plan sessions. Happy to walk through what good looks like for your specific category.
