App Store Optimisation (ASO) for Business Apps

How each store reads your listing

The two stores work differently, so one listing copied across both underperforms on at least one. On the App Store, the fields Apple indexes for search are the app name, the subtitle (30 characters) and a hidden keyword field of 100 characters, comma separated with no spaces. The long description is not used for search ranking, so it should be written to persuade, not to stuff keywords.

On Google Play, the title (30 characters), short description (80 characters) and full description (up to 4,000 characters) are all read for search. Google rewards natural, readable descriptions and penalises repetition, so we write for people first and place the terms that matter where they count.

Keywords for business apps

Business apps rarely win on broad terms like "delivery" or "invoices". They win on specific phrases: your brand, your product names, the problem a customer types when they need you, and the terms trade users actually use. We gather candidate terms from your customer language, your website search data and competitor listings, then check them in each store's search suggestions and in Apple Search Ads keyword data where available.

For apps tied to a website, store search and web search support each other. If organic web search is also a priority, our sister site Search Engine Tuning handles SEO.

Screenshots, custom pages and testing

Most people decide from the first two or three screenshots. We design them to say what the app does in a few words each, show real screens and lead with the most valuable task, not the login page.

• Apple custom product pages. Apple raised the limit to 70 custom product pages in October 2025, and since July 2025 they can be linked to keywords so that a page tailored to that search appears in organic results. One app can show trade buyers a trade-focused page and consumers another.
• Google Play custom store listings target listings by country or by users arriving from a specific campaign.
• Testing. Apple's product page optimisation and Google Play's store listing experiments split real traffic between versions of icons, screenshots and copy. We run one change at a time long enough to reach a clear answer.

Ratings and reviews come from the app

Ratings affect both ranking and conversion, and the fix is usually inside the app. On iOS, the system rating prompt can appear at most three times in a 365-day period for each user, so wasting it on first launch is costly. Google Play's In-App Review API has its own quotas. We trigger the prompt after a success moment, such as a completed order or a delivered job, and route people with a problem to support first. Reply to reviews too: both stores let you respond publicly, and a clear fix noted in a reply often earns an updated rating.

Because we build apps, we can change onboarding, deep links and prompts directly. See iOS app development and Android app development.

Measuring what changed

ASO without measurement is guesswork. App Store Connect reports impressions, product page views and conversion rate by source, and separates search from browse and referrals. The Google Play Console shows store listing acquisition by search term and traffic source. We record a baseline before changing anything, make one significant change at a time, and compare like-for-like periods so a seasonal peak is not mistaken for a win.

We also look past installs. An app that gains installs but loses users on day one has an onboarding problem, not a listing problem. Retention, sign-up completion and the first key action tell us whether the listing is attracting the right people and whether the app keeps the promise the screenshots make. A short monthly note shows what changed and what we will try next.

Getting started

Send us the store links and tell us who the app is for. We will review both listings, the keyword position and the in-app prompts, then quote a fixed price for an ASO project or an ongoing test programme. If the app itself needs work first, app maintenance comes before polish. Get in touch.

What we deliver

• Keyword research for both stores, with search intent notes
• Rewritten app name, subtitle, keyword field, short and full descriptions
• Screenshot and preview designs for each device size
• Custom product pages and custom store listings for key audiences
• Listing tests on both stores with a written read-out
• In-app ratings prompts placed at the right moments

How it works and what it costs

Every project gets a fixed-price quote after a free initial chat and a short scoping stage. You own the code and the data.

1. Free chat

   Tell us the problem in plain English: what you do now, what goes wrong and what "better" looks like. No charge, no obligation.

2. Scoping

   We map the processes, systems and data involved, agree what is in and out, and write it down so there are no surprises.

3. Fixed-price quote

   You get a fixed price for the agreed scope, or a phased plan for bigger builds, so you can start small and prove it works.

4. Build and test

   We build in short stages you can see and try, test against real data, then go live carefully with a rollback plan.

5. Hand over and look after

   You own the code and the data. We can host it, support it and keep improving it, or hand it to your own team.

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