本文选取自pocket gamer网站，译者游戏邦ciel chen

应用市场是目前世界上竞争最激烈的一个市场。

除了竞争激烈，这个市场还相当拥挤——这里有的IOS App Store应用有200万、Google Play Store应用250万（这是2016年六月App Annie Store所公布的数据）。

net ease（from gamesindustry.biz）

被夹在大量的app和直冲云霄的广告成本之间挣扎，想要获取与留存用户的希望越发渺茫了。从此，有效的营销策略掌握了应用行业的生杀大权。

而你，作为一名（app）营销者，你有义务披荆斩棘将app呈现在合适的用户面前——这样你才能增加下载量、提升app商店排名从而最后在业务上获取更多的收益。

制定一个能增加长期曝光度的高价值策略正是App Store优化方案。

App Store优化方案（ASO）可以定义为：以提高产品曝光度和下载量为目标前提，对App Store市场资产的更新不断进行测试和评估的动态过程。

因此，想要拥有成功的ASO，除了关键字，你有以下8个关键的基本步骤。

密切关注竞争对手

在你要深入研究该为应用归哪种分类之前，先研究你最接近的竞争对手在做些什么。

这会帮你选定哪种应用类别将成为你的竞争战场，你会因此知道用户在相似的应用分类里看重哪些方面的内容。选择一个竞争较小的应用分类来开发有助于提高应用的可发现性。

选择合适的应用类型从而增进应用的可发现性。

这跟匹配程度、用户行为和你的竞争对手有密切关系。在为应用挑选分类之前，考虑一下合适你应用本质上的分类是什么，还有了解目标用户群对应用最在乎的是哪些方面内容。如果要得到更多的灵感启发，可以看看你的竞争者对手、还有相似的应用都在是怎么做的。

让用户评论评之有效

对用户的评价用心对待。实时跟踪自己应用的排名和评论，看看用户对新更新内容和特色的反应。要记得把这些反馈放在心上。做到有求必应。

除此之外，为了解决用户在屏幕背后的反馈问题，你要多花点时间让用户知道你有在倾听他们的意见——通过博客或者发布声明、或者通过在Google Play直接回复。

积极鼓励用户提交反馈

目标要高远。可以趁着用户对你的应用体验良好的时候跟他们索取反馈，从而提高收到正面评价的可能性；你还可以试试找可信的评论家来评论；还可以考虑向BETA版应用体验用户和专业的同行来给出诚恳的评论。

当一款应用真正上线以后，评论区反而会变得贫瘠许多——与其等着未知用户根据第一印象给出的评论，不如让你信任的关系网去上传记录了他们真实想法的评论。

机智地选择关键词

对你的竞争对手上点心：要找到最合适的关键字意味着你要密切地追踪和监视你的竞争对手，去分析你的竞争对手是如何对某个关键词进行排名的，或者确定其他应用程序的关键字排名，这样你就可以有谋划地选择出能提高自己应用排名的关键词了。

知道如何估测自己所定策略对应用排名的影响

一旦你选好了关键词群，接下来很重要的事就是检测这些关键词对你的应用排名有怎样的影响。

除了观察关键词在关键表现指标上的影响，你还应该注意其他会影响排名的因素，比如：评级、评论数、下载级别以及下载速度。

设计最优app图标

要让这个图标保持简洁，因为要避免复杂的图标在比较小的设备（或者当被缩小到智能手机或者平板的应用文件夹里时）中难以被辨认出来。这个图标将会在应用平台的很多地方显示（以各种大小的样子），所以要一定要让你创作的图标具备辨认度、独特性以及设计良好的伸缩性。能找到这样图标的最快方法就是通过连续a/b测试法；然而要注意的是，要根据不同的平台来决定能不能执行这个方法。

安卓开发者要创作出一个他们理想的图标会更容易，因为Google Experiments可以让你很容易进行测试的设置，然后收集结果。而IOS系统开发者则必须通过第三方选项来达到相同目的。当然了，有时你需要平衡科学观和第六感，这样才能创作出一个具有标志性的应用图标。

让屏幕截图把关键特性和优点全部体现出来

用上所有可用的空间来放截图。你可以在IOS应用商城放5张截图、在Google Play商城则可以放8个。把这些截图位置全部都用上，尽可能地推销你的应用价值，最大化其可发现性。

要优先考虑关键信息；前两幅截图是最容易点开被看到的。事实上，这些截图甚至会出现在IOS应用商店的搜索结果中。所以要确保你选用的截图能在最大程度上体现应用中较为重要的卖点。

讲故事：你可以通过这些截图，在目标用户与应用交互之前，向他们讲述一个动人心弦的故事。保证你的截图能符合用户们的需求。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

The app market is one of the most competitive spaces in the world.

And it’s crowded – with approximately two million iOS App Store apps and 2.5 million Google Play Store apps (as of June, 2016 according to App Annie Store Stats).

Between the sheer number of apps and the skyrocketing costs of advertising, successfully acquiring and retaining users is more challenging than ever. Successful marketing specific to the apps industry has never been more valuable.

As an (app) marketer, your job is to cut through that clutter and get in front of the right audiences. Increasing exposure for your app helps increase downloads, boost store rankings and ultimately drive revenue for your business.

A highly valuable strategy to increase long-term exposure is app store optimisation. App store optimisation, or ASO, can be defined as the ongoing process of testing and measuring updates to app store marketing assets, with the goal of increasing visibility and driving more downloads.

So here are eight key steps to ASO success that go way beyond keywords.

1. Keep tabs on competitors

Before you dive into selecting the categories for your app, you should first research what your closest competitors are doing.

This will help you determine the competition in that category and show how users are searching for similar apps. Choosing a less competitive category could improve discoverability for your app.

2. Select the right category to improve discoverability

It’s about fit, user behavior and your competitors. Before selecting an app category, consider your app’s most natural fit as well as how your target users are most likely to find you. For additional inspiration, look at what competitors and similar apps are doing.

Finding the best keywords means closely tracking and monitoring competitors.

3. Generate organic reviews

Pay attention to what your users are saying. Track your rankings and reviews to see how users respond to new updates and features. Remember to mine this feedback for insights. Be responsive.

In addition to addressing user feedback behind the scenes, take the time to show that you’re listening. This can be done through your blog and release notes – or through direct response on Google Play.

4. Prompt user feedback

Target high points. Improve the likelihood of receiving a positive review by asking for feedback when a user is having a great moment with your app. Approach trusted reviewers. Consider asking beta users and professional peers to provide honest reviews.

When an app goes live the review section on your app page will be barren. Rather than waiting for an unknown user’s first impression, ask your trusted network to submit reviews documenting their honest thoughts.

5. Choose keywords smartly

Pay attention to competitors: Finding the best keywords means closely tracking and monitoring competitors. By analysing how a competitor ranks for a specific keyword, or determining which other apps rank for your app’s keyword, you can strategically select keywords to help your app rank higher.

Leverage user reviews: One of the best ways to describe your app uses language from user reviews – their words may resonate better with prospective users than the ones you had in mind.

6. How to measure the impact of your strategy on your ranking

Once you’ve selected a group of keywords, it’s important to review how these keywords will impact your ranking.

The quickest way to find the app icon that will perform best is through sequential A/B testing.

In addition to monitoring keyword impact on key performance indicators (KPIs), you should also pay attention to other factors that will affect ranking, such as: rating, number of reviews, download levels and download velocity.

7. Design the optimal app icon

Keep it simple; complex icons can be difficult to distinguish on smaller devices (or when nested in folders on a smartphone or tablet) and should be avoided. The icon is going to be shown in several places throughout the platform – and at several sizes – so it is important your creation maintains its legibility and uniqueness; design for scalability.

The quickest way to find the app icon that will perform best is through sequential A/B testing; however, note that the way you can execute on this will vary by app store.

Android developers have it a bit easier, as Google Experiments allows you to easily set up tests and collect results. iOS developers will have to use a third-party option. Of course, sometimes you need to balance science and intuition in order to create an iconic app icon.

8. Use screenshots to drive home the key features and benefits

Use all available spaces. You can include up to five screenshots in the iOS App Store and eight in the Google Play Store to promote your app. Use them all to maximise visibility and sell your app’s value.

Prioritise key messages; the first two screenshots are the most visible. In fact, they even show up in search results for the iOS App Store. Make sure your more important selling points are featured in these screenshots.

Tell a story; screenshots are your opportunity to tell an engaging story to your target audience before they interact with your app. Make sure your screenshots address their needs.（source：pocketgamer.biz  ）