Lazy ASOASO vs SEO: what is different
Updated 14 November 2026
ASO ranks your app inside the App Store and Google Play. SEO ranks web pages in Google. In the App Store the name matters most: a name starting with the search reached the top 10 in 5 to 10% of cases in our scan of new apps, against 2 to 3% without it. In SEO, body text and links carry the page. In the App Store, long descriptions did not.
Same idea, different machine
Both make a thing show up when someone searches. SEO works on web pages and Google. ASO works on an app listing inside one store, where Apple decides what is indexed.
| SEO | ASO (App Store) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Google, Bing | App Store search |
| What ranks | A web page | An app listing |
| Text that counts | Titles, headings, body text, links | App name, subtitle, keyword field (up to 100 bytes) |
| Long text | Core of the work | Description allows 4,000 characters, but is not shown to help ranking in our tests |
| Backlinks | Major signal | Not a listed field |
| Goal | Click to a page | Tap, then install |
What we measured in the App Store
We scanned 350,712 searches in 87 countries and followed 82,818 apps under six months old.
| Factor | Result |
|---|---|
| Name starts with the search | top 10 in 5 to 10% of cases |
| "Brand: search" after a colon | 1 to 3% |
| Search not in the name | 2 to 3% |
| Screenshots, 3 or 4 vs 9 or more | 12% vs 8% in the top 3 |
| Updated under 2 weeks ago vs over 4 months | 9.4% vs 10.7% in the top 25 |
An SEO habit says: write more text, add the keyword everywhere. In the App Store that does little. In one of our tests, description and screenshot text were not indexed at all, and Apple's help page says the description is used for web search results, not App Store search. The name is the strongest field. Details in what gets a new app to the top.
Where they meet
Apple says the description is used for web search results once the app is live. So your App Store page can show in Google. A clear description helps there, and a clear page on your own site can send people to the listing. The two jobs share a research step: find what people type. The tools differ.
What to do first
- Pick the search: real demand, open name. See how to find keywords.
- Put it at the start of the app name. See how to name an iOS app.
- Fill the subtitle and keyword field. See character limits.
- Then work on screenshots and the page for conversion, not for ranking.
The full ASO guide covers the rest. Lazy ASO measures the name step: check a name free.