ASO competitor research helps an app growth team decide what to change in its own listing. Compare apps that solve the same user problem in the same store, language and market. Look for differences in the promise, metadata, screenshots and review themes, then turn those observations into hypotheses. A competitor’s public listing can show what it communicates; it cannot reveal which element caused its downloads or revenue.
Table of Contents
Check your own listing: our free ASO Checker scores your App Store or Google Play listing in about 20 seconds and lists what to fix first.
ASO Competitive Research and Analysis
Build a shortlist of direct competitors and a few alternatives your customers might choose instead. Record each listing’s title, first-screen message, screenshot sequence, visible review themes and the date inspected. Include your own listing in the same table. Separate observable facts from tool estimates and assumptions, so the team can see which changes are worth testing and which need more evidence.
Main Objectives of ASO Analysis
The goals of ASO are quite clear and obvious. The main goal of app optimization is to get a higher conversion rate.
❖ To get Ranked
Visibility can come from relevant search queries, browsing, referrals and other store discovery surfaces. Define the source and market you are trying to improve instead of treating a top-chart position as the only goal. A high rank for an irrelevant term may attract few valuable users.
❖ Increasing the no. of Downloads
Track discovery and conversion separately. More relevant impressions can increase the pool of potential customers, while a clearer listing can improve the proportion who download. Neither movement is automatic. After a change, compare the same store, market and traffic source, then check whether the acquired users activate and retain.
Step-by-Step Guide to ASO Analysis
Although ASO analysis and research is a breathtaking process. But here we will provide you with a step-by-step guide to how to perform this analysis to get the maximum outcome.
Select the right category and Subcategory
The first and foremost thing is that the apps you select for the competitor’s analysis must be relevant to your category and subcategory so that you may rightly assess all the facts and features that are needed for the optimization of your app. For instance, some apps may use a keyword similar to your app but the intent may be entirely different from your app. One app may be informational and another may be commercial, in this case, it is futile to assess the features of that app. Therefore, it is necessary to select the competitor’s app with the relevant category and subcategory to get the desired outcome.
Select a Standard or Benchmark
Before going into further analysis, select a benchmark or exemplary app whose features you want to follow and then perform a complete analysis of the app including its keywords, screenshots, description, and other factors. Sometimes there are also brand apps whose popularity is not just because of the app but the brand itself is the reason for their high conversion rate. So, such apps are not considered a benchmark.
Competitive Analysis of Relevant Top Apps
After identifying your direct competitors (probably the top 10 competitors), now thoroughly examine your competitive apps. It involves analyzing competing apps in the same category or niche to understand how they are optimized for the app store. This includes examining their titles, descriptions, screenshots, and other metadata to identify areas for improvement in your own app. From text optimization to the ratings and reviews compare each and every single detail of the competing apps with your own mobile app.
Keywords Research Analysis
Collect candidate terms from your app’s real features, customer language and relevant competing listings. Prioritize relevance before estimated popularity: a high-volume term that attracts the wrong audience is not a useful win. Treat third-party search-volume and difficulty scores as estimates, and record the store and locale they describe. Our ASO keyword research guide explains how to turn the shortlist into metadata work.
App Metadata Analysis
Compare what each listing promises with what the app actually delivers. Record the visible fields and their limits separately for each store, and identify one message your own listing needs to make clearer. Avoid copying competitors or repeating terms simply because they appear in several listings. Better metadata is a hypothesis to evaluate, not an automatic increase in tap-through rate.
Graphical Analysis of the App Product Page
The graphical illustration is another critical factor in the conversion of an app. App’s graphics include icons, screenshots, videos, and banner promos in some cases. Icons are the specialty of an app that attracts the attention of potential users. While comparing your app’s icons with the competing app be certain that your app’s color doesn’t blend with the competitors. Your icons must always be unique, compelling, and clear which leaves a lasting impression on the user’s mind. The other important graphics include the screenshot, which must have a complete description of how to use the app. Because most of the users don’t read a complete long description of an app. They simply see the screenshots and if they found them easy and helpful they swiftly click the download button. Some apps also have a video uploaded with their app that explains the basic features of an app. As most of the users don’t watch the entire video, they only watch the first 7-15 seconds of the video. So, all the necessary detail should be embedded in the early seconds of the app. And try to keep as much shorter as possible.
Analysis of User’s Reviews and Ratings
While performing the competitor’s analysis, never neglect the ratings and reviews given by the users. The audience mostly praises the feature they like the most. So it will help you in collecting the good feature or the features that helped those apps to get ranked. In contrast, some apps get the most downloads but have negative reviews. Because they fail to provide the users with what they promised. This will help you to know the shortcoming of these apps. And you will be able to fulfill them in your app. This will be your unique selling point which helps you get ranked and get a better conversion rate.
App Performance Analysis
If you use an intelligence tool for competitor downloads or revenue, label those figures as estimates and record the period, market and store. Public listing changes and review themes are observable; competitor retention and the causal effect of their ASO work usually are not. Compare those observations with your own first-party performance before deciding what to test.
Perform A/B Testing
Test a clear hypothesis using the experiment controls available in the relevant store. Apple’s Product Page Optimization tests icons, screenshots and app previews; it should not be described as a title or description A/B test. Google Play’s store listing experiments have their own supported assets and settings. Decide the primary metric and evaluation rules before launch, and label a simple before-and-after comparison separately from a randomized experiment.
Abstract
Finish with a short, prioritized backlog: the observed problem, the proposed change, the expected user behavior and the evidence that would support keeping it. Competitive research should help your team make better choices, not promise a ranking or a fixed uplift. Where execution needs ongoing ownership across metadata, creative and tests, see our ASO service scope.
