ASO Metrics: What to Measure and What Each One Means

The ASO metrics worth measuring fall into two groups: visibility metrics (keyword rank, search volume and keyword difficulty), which show whether people can find your app, and conversion metrics (impressions, product page views, conversion rate and downloads), which show whether the people who find it install it. You track the first group in a keyword tool such as Wow Keywords and the second in App Store Connect or Google Play Console.

Visibility metrics

Keyword rank

Keyword rank is your app's position in the search results for a phrase in one country. Position 1 is the first result. Rank is the most direct ASO metric, because most search installs go to the first few results: moving from position 30 to position 5 for a relevant phrase usually matters more than any other change.

Rank is always tied to a phrase, a store and a country. "Water reminder" in the United States and "Wassererinnerung" in Germany are two separate ranks. Wow Keywords checks the local phrase in each market you choose and keeps the daily history, for your app and for competitors.

Search volume

Search volume tells you how many people are behind a phrase. Apple and Google do not publish search counts for every phrase, so ASO tools estimate it. In Wow Keywords, Volume is a 0–100 estimate of the audience behind a phrase, based on the apps that match it rather than on Apple's search counts. Use it to compare phrases, not to forecast installs.

Keyword difficulty

Keyword difficulty measures how hard it is to get into the top 10 for a phrase. It is high when the apps already ranking are large and well established, and low when the top results are small apps or loose matches. Wow Keywords scores Difficulty 0–100 per phrase and per country. The best targets combine useful Volume with a Difficulty your app can beat; see the guide to app keyword difficulty.

Audit score

A single score helps when you track many phrases in many countries. The Wow Keywords audit gives a 0–100 score per country, plus a summary across them, from three things: your rankings for keywords with demand, how well your name, subtitle and keyword field target them, and how beatable the apps above you are. Use it to see which markets need work first.

Conversion metrics

These come from the stores themselves. On the App Store they are in App Store Connect under App Analytics; on Google Play they are in Play Console's store listing reports.

Impressions

An impression is a time your app was shown to someone in the store, in search results, on a browse page or on its product page. Impressions rise when your keyword ranks rise, so they are the bridge between visibility and installs.

Product page views

A product page view is a visit to your full store listing. On Google Play the equivalent is store listing visitors. Views tell you how many people were interested enough to tap through from a search result or a link.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the share of people who saw your app and then downloaded it. Apple calculates it from downloads and unique-device impressions; Play Console reports the share of store listing visitors who installed. Conversion depends on your icon, name, subtitle, screenshots and ratings, not on keywords, so it is where listing changes other than keywords show up.

Downloads

Downloads are installs. App Store Connect separates first-time downloads from redownloads, and both stores let you filter by source, so you can see how many came from search rather than from links or ads. Search downloads are the outcome every other ASO metric feeds.

How to read ASO metrics together

Each metric answers a different question, so read them in order:

1. Can people find the app? Check rank for your chosen phrases in each country.
2. Are the phrases worth ranking for? Check Volume and Difficulty before you change a phrase.
3. Do people see the app? Check impressions from search.
4. Do they install it? Check product page views, conversion rate and search downloads.

If ranks rose but downloads did not, the phrases may bring the wrong audience or the listing may not convert. If conversion fell while ranks held, look at screenshots, ratings and the first lines of your listing. Compare the same phrases, countries and length of period before and after each listing update, and note the date the update went live.

For choosing the phrases to track, start with the App Store keyword research guide.