App Store Optimisation (ASO): Ranking Higher on Apple App Store and Google Play

App store optimisation (ASO) is the work of making your app easier to find in the Apple App Store and Google Play, and more convincing once someone lands on its page. It is the app equivalent of search engine optimisation, with its own rules.

This article sticks to the fundamentals: the parts of a store listing that you control, how to handle them in each store, and a plan for the first 90 days. It is written for app owners and marketing managers in the UAE and GCC who want steady, unpaid downloads and do not have a specialist on the team.

No special software is required to follow it. A spreadsheet, the two store consoles and some patience will take you a long way.

How the two stores differ

The stores look alike to a customer, but they read your listing differently. Treating them as one is the most common early mistake.

The practical result: on Apple, a small number of short fields carry the weight, so every word matters. On Google Play, the full description needs to be written with care, using your main terms naturally. Both stores limit the length of these fields, so check the current limits in each console before you write.

Choosing a title and keywords

Start with how customers describe their need, not how you describe your product. A person looking for a salon booking app types “salon booking” or “haircut appointment”, not your brand name. List every phrase you can think of, in English and in Arabic, then check them by typing each into both stores and noting the suggestions that appear and the apps that rank.

Judge each phrase on three things: is it relevant to what the app really does, do people appear to search for it, and are the current results dominated by large brands you cannot realistically outrank yet? Early on, specific phrases with weaker competition serve you better than broad ones.

Then place them with care:

• Title. Brand name plus your most important phrase, for example a brand followed by “grocery delivery”. Keep it readable.
• Subtitle (Apple) and short description (Google Play). Your second most important phrase, written as a benefit.
• Keyword field (Apple). Remaining terms separated by commas. Do not repeat words already in the name or subtitle, and do not include competitor names.
• Full description (Google Play). Use your main phrases a few times where they fit. Repeating them unnaturally reads badly and can count against you.

Descriptions, icon and screenshots

Keywords bring people to the page. These elements decide whether they install.

Writing descriptions

Only the first lines show before a visitor taps “more”, so open with what the app does and for whom. Follow with short paragraphs or a brief feature list, then practical details such as supported languages, delivery areas or payment options. Write for a person in a hurry. Avoid claims you cannot support, and refresh the text when features change.

Icon

The icon appears in every search result, so it does more work than any other image. Use one simple shape and strong contrast, avoid small text, and check how it looks at a tiny size on both light and dark backgrounds, next to your competitors.

Screenshots and preview video

Most visitors look at the first two or three screenshots and no further. Lead with the main benefit, add a short caption to each, and show real screens. Each store has its own size requirements, and Google Play also asks for a wide feature graphic. If the store images need a rethink, it is often a sign the app screens do too, which is where solid UI and UX design pays off twice.

Ratings and reviews

Ratings affect both ranking and the decision to install. A visitor comparing two similar apps will usually pick the one with the higher score and the more recent reviews.

Asking at the right moment

Both platforms provide an official in-app rating prompt, and both limit how often it can appear, so use it carefully. Show it after a success: an order delivered, a booking confirmed, a level completed. Never show it on first launch, during checkout or straight after an error. Give unhappy users an easy route to your support team inside the app, so problems reach you before they reach the store.

Replying

Reply to reviews in both stores, especially the critical ones. Thank the person, address the specific problem, say what has been fixed or how to reach support, and reply in the language they wrote in. Keep it short and never argue. Many people update a rating once an issue is resolved, and future visitors read your replies as a sign of how you treat customers.

Localisation for Arabic and English

In the Gulf, a single English listing leaves part of your audience unserved. Both stores let you create a separate Arabic listing with its own title, description, keywords and images.

• Research Arabic keywords separately. Direct translation misses how people search. Check spelling variants, dialect words and English terms typed in Arabic letters.
• Produce Arabic screenshots. Show the app in its right-to-left layout with Arabic captions. English screens on an Arabic listing suggest the app itself is not translated.
• Match the product. Only publish an Arabic listing if the app works well in Arabic. A mismatch earns poor reviews quickly.
• Review by a native speaker. Tone matters, and machine translation shows.

Updates and seasonality

Regular updates signal that an app is cared for, and each release is a chance to adjust your listing. Use the “what’s new” notes to tell users something useful, not “bug fixes” every time.

Plan around the regional calendar. Ramadan, Eid, back to school, national days, summer travel and the big sales periods late in the year all change what people search for. Prepare seasonal screenshots, promotional text and any featured offers a few weeks ahead, and remove them promptly when the period ends. Both stores also offer ways to highlight in-app events and promotions on your listing.

A first 90 days plan and what to track

ASO rewards steady, measured changes. Change one thing at a time where you can, so you know what worked.

1. Days 1 to 30: foundations. Record your current position: impressions, page views, installs, rating and where you rank for ten to twenty phrases. Complete keyword research in both languages. Rewrite the title, subtitle or short description, keyword field and full description. Fix the icon if it is weak.
2. Days 31 to 60: conversion. Replace the screenshots, add the Arabic listing, set up the in-app rating prompt at a sensible moment and begin replying to every review. Start a first listing test on screenshots or icon using the stores’ own testing tools.
3. Days 61 to 90: review and refine. Compare against your starting figures. Drop keywords that brought nothing, try alternatives, apply the winning test result and plan the next seasonal update.

Track a small set of measures every fortnight:

• Impressions and product page views from search and browse
• Conversion rate, meaning the share of visitors who install
• Ranking position for your chosen phrases, in each language and country
• Average rating, review volume and common complaints
• Retention and uninstalls, since an app people keep tends to rank better

Expect gradual gains. Results build over months, and store listings work best alongside your wider digital marketing, which brings in the first wave of users and reviews.

How HelloPixels can help with your store listing

HelloPixels offers app store optimisation for businesses across the UAE and GCC, covering keyword research in Arabic and English, listing copy, screenshots and a reporting routine you can keep running in-house. Because we also build apps, we can fix product issues that hold back ratings. Cost depends on scope and is quoted in AED after a consultation.

To have your current listing reviewed, contact us and share your app links.