ASO LabASO Lab guide
Google Play ASO checklist
Run through this list before you publish or update a store listing. Each step links to the tool that checks it.
Keywords
- Write one sentence describing what the app does and for whom.
- List 10–20 phrases people would type to find that, using keyword research for ideas.
- Check search volume and demand for each, and drop phrases for features you do not have.
- Open the apps that rank for your top phrases. If they solve a different problem, the keyword is not for you.
- Pick one main phrase for the title and two or three for the short description.
Listing text
- Title: up to 30 characters, brand plus your main phrase, read naturally.
- Short description: up to 80 characters, the main benefit in plain words.
- Full description: up to 4,000 characters. Describe real features; use your phrases where they fit, never as a list.
- Avoid words Google Play’s metadata policy restricts in titles, such as performance or price claims (“#1”, “best”, “free”), emojis and repeated keywords.
Graphics
- Icon: 512 × 512 PNG, readable at small size, distinct from the top results for your keyword.
- Feature graphic: 1024 × 500.
- Screenshots: lead with the main benefit in the first two; most people never swipe further.
- A short video if the app is easier to show than to describe.
Ratings and quality
- Ask for a rating after a success moment, with the in-app review API, never on first launch.
- Reply to recent negative reviews; fixes mentioned in replies often turn into updated ratings.
- Watch crash and ANR rates in Play Console: quality affects visibility.
Markets and measurement
- Translate the listing for your biggest markets, and research keywords in the local language, not by translating English ones.
- Add your app and keywords to the rank checker before you change anything, to have a baseline.
- Change one thing at a time and note the date.
- Compare rankings and store listing conversion two to four weeks later.