App Store Optimization is the art of optimizing your game in order for users to find it when browsing the App Store. Here are the factors that contribute to your apps visibility.

Main Factors:

• Title - The keyword placed in the title should be the one with the heaviest search traffic. Spend time researching which keyword that is, because changing your title often to include different keywords can be detrimental. As your app begins to rank higher and gain more reviews, news of your app will begin to spread by word of mouth. Changing the title can make it difficult for word to spread about your app.
• Keywords - To improve your search rankings, you need to know which keywords are relevant and used most often by your target audience. It is helpful to monitor competitors in order to realize how you compare week to week.

In addition to being the most important factors for ASO, the fact that the title and keywords can be modified easily means that you can regularly optimize them.

Secondary Factors:

• Total # of Downloads - Your number of downloads are extremely important to ASO, but you don't have complete control over them.
• Ratings and Reviews - Also important and difficult to control. However, there are ways to incentivize happy users to rate and review.
• Category Placement: App Store Game Sub-Categories:
  • Action
  • Adventure
  • Arcade
  • Board
  • Card
  • Casino
  • Dice
  • Educational
  • Family
  • Kids
  • Music
  • Puzzle
  • Racing
  • Role Playing
  • Simulation
  • Sports
  • Strategy
  • Trivia
  • Word

Possible (But Unknown) Factors:

I believe Apple would be silly not to incorporate the following signals:

• Social Signal/Incoming Links: What kind of ripple in the traditional web ecosphere is this app making?
• App age: Are users consistently and reliably using this growing app? (Think of MS Word as a desktop comparison)
• App Speed: Is the app responsive when compared to its competitors or is it a heavy experience?
• Brand Trust: Is the app released by a maker that has a trusted arsenal of popular/successful applications? This would likely ensure that the app has undergone a significant QA (quality assurance) process.

Check the tips section below for tools you can use to help you optimize your game for the App Store.