Your app is finally live on the Play Store. You searched for it with your own business name and found it, so you thought the job was done. A month later, the downloads are mostly your staff and your relatives.
This is where app store optimization comes in. It means setting up your app's store page so the right people find it when they search, and then choose to install it. This guide covers what to write, which pictures to use, how to get honest ratings, and the store rules that can get your listing rejected.
Quick answer
What is app store optimization, and why does it matter?
App store optimization (ASO) is improving your app's store page so it shows up in store searches and turns visitors into installs. It works like SEO (search engine optimisation, the work of getting a website found on Google), but inside the Play Store and the App Store. Both stores tell you what they look at, so you are not guessing.
What Apple says it looks at
Apple's own developer page says App Store search results depend on "a number of factors". It names two groups.
The first is text relevance: your title, subtitle, keywords and main category. The second is user behaviour: downloads, ratings and reviews.
What Google Play says it looks at
Google's Play Console help says apps are ranked by user relevance, app quality, editorial picks, ads and user experience. It also says search results are "heavily influenced by relevance to the user's query".
Top Charts, the most-downloaded lists, depend more on popularity. So a clear title and description matter most for search, and good reviews help everywhere.
How to rank your app on Play Store and App Store: the words
Your words are the first thing the stores read. Each store gives you a fixed number of fields, and each field has a limit. The table below shows the limits as written in Apple's App Store Connect help and Google's Play Console help, checked in October 2026.
| Field | Apple App Store | Google Play |
| App name | 30 characters | 30 characters |
| Subtitle or short description | Subtitle, 30 characters | Short description, 80 characters |
| Keyword field | 100 characters, hidden | No keyword field |
| Full description | 4,000 characters | 4,000 characters |
| Promotional text | 170 characters | Not offered |
Your app name: brand plus one plain phrase
A name like "Sharma Sweets" only helps people who already know you. "Sharma Sweets: Order Mithai" also tells a stranger what the app does. Google's help says long titles "may be shortened on some devices", so keep the main words near the start.
Do not stuff the name. Apple's review rules say not to pack your metadata (the text fields on your store page) with "trademarked terms, popular app names, pricing information, or other irrelevant phrases". Google's policy bans words like "#1" or "App of the year" in your title, plus emojis and ALL CAPS unless they are part of your brand.
The keyword field on Apple
Apple gives you a hidden field of 100 characters for search words. Apple's tips say to separate words with commas and no spaces. Do not repeat your app name or company name there, because Apple says your app can already be found by both.
Leave out plurals of words you already used, filler words like "the", and other companies' names. Apple's search page lists all of these as things to avoid. Think of the words your customer types, not the words your team uses inside the business.
The description on Google Play
Google Play has no hidden keyword field, so your short and full descriptions do that job. Google's help says to "focus on your users and what they will get from your app". It also warns against "repetitive or unrelated keywords" in its metadata policy.
Write the first two lines for a busy person. Say what the app does and who it is for. Put features further down.
Play store optimization: screenshots, icon and pictures
Most people decide from the pictures, not the text. Both stores have rules for these, and an app can be held back from release if it breaks them.
| Item | Apple App Store | Google Play |
| Screenshots | 1 to 10 per device size | Up to 8 per device type, at least 2 in total |
| App icon | Set inside the app build | 512 by 512 pixels, PNG, up to 1 MB |
| Banner image | Not used | Feature graphic, 1024 by 500 pixels |
What to show in screenshots
Apple's rule 2.3.3 says screenshots "should show the app in use, and not merely the title art, login page, or splash screen". So your first screenshot should be the most useful screen: the menu, the booking calendar, the order tracker. Add one short line of text on each picture that says what the customer gets.
Show real screens with real-looking content. If you sell sarees, show sarees, not grey boxes. If most of your buyers read Hindi, Google Play lets you add a store listing in Hindi as well as English.
Test before you guess
Both stores let you test pictures for free. Google Play's store listing experiments compare up to two new versions against your current page. Apple's product page optimization tests up to three versions of your icon, screenshots and preview videos, for up to 90 days.
Want one team to build the app and set up its store page? See how The Beyond Horizon builds and launches mobile apps for Indian businesses. A good team will ask you for real photos and the exact words your customers use.
How do you get more good ratings without breaking the rules?
Ask at a happy moment, using the store's own rating pop-up, and never offer anything in return. Apple says you can show its rating prompt up to three times in 365 days. Google says its pop-up has a time limit too, and may not appear if you call it more than once in a short period.
When to ask
Apple suggests asking "when they've completed an action, level, or task". For a business app, that is right after a successful order, a confirmed booking or a delivered parcel. Never ask right after an error or during sign-up.
Google adds two rules for its pop-up. Do not ask "Do you like the app?" before showing it. Do not put a "Rate us" button that opens the pop-up, because the user may have used up their limit and see nothing.
What will get you in trouble
One common shortcut breaks both stores' rules. Never offer a discount, coupon or cashback in exchange for a rating. Google Play's policy gives this exact example of a violation: a notification that "offers users a discount in exchange for a high rating".
Apple's guidelines say developers who "manipulate ratings or App Store discovery" will have their apps removed.
Reply to reviews
Both stores let you reply in public. Apple suggests replies that are short, polite and free of marketing. When an update fixes a problem from an old review, Apple suggests saying so in the release notes and replying to that review.
A simple ASO plan for a new business app
You do not need an expensive tool to start. These steps use only the free tools inside Play Console and App Store Connect.
- Write down ten phrases your customers would type to find you. Ask your counter staff, not your marketing agency.
- Pick the one phrase that best says what the app does. Use it in the app name after your brand.
- On Apple, fill the 100-character keyword field with the other phrases, separated by commas, with no repeats.
- On Google Play, write an 80-character short description that says what the customer gets.
- Put your most useful screen first in the screenshots, with one short caption on each.
- Add the rating prompt after a successful order or booking, not at launch.
- After a month, check the store reports for views and installs, then test one new set of screenshots.
A tip most first-time owners miss
Make sure your app is published under a Play Console and Apple developer account in your business's own name. If the developer publishes it under his account, you depend on him to hand it over later. Google Play does allow a transfer with ratings and reviews, but both accounts must be active and he has to send the request.
What app store optimization cannot do
Good ASO helps the right people find your app and trust it. It cannot make people keep an app that crashes or is slow. Google says apps with "strong technical performance and a good user experience are generally favored", so the app itself is part of the listing.
Nobody can promise a top spot in store search, because the stores decide using signals they control. What you control is clear words, honest pictures, and a steady flow of real reviews.
A closing note
Start small. Fix your app name, your first two screenshots and the timing of your rating prompt. These three changes cost nothing and follow both stores' own advice.
If you want help setting up your store page or building the app behind it, call or WhatsApp The Beyond Horizon on +91 75973 92744.