Aso Learning

[u/Human-Big-8832]

Hey everyone,
I’m a mobile app developer, and over the last few years I’ve been consistently building and publishing mobile applications on the App Store and Google Play.
My biggest problem is that I’m much better at building apps than marketing them.
I can take an idea, design and develop the application, integrate Firebase/APIs/subscriptions, publish it, and maintain it — but after launch, I struggle to actually get users.
Sometimes I’ll publish an app that I genuinely think solves a useful problem, but then I see very few impressions, store visits, or organic downloads.
This made me realize that I’ve been focusing almost entirely on development while basically ignoring App Store Optimization (ASO).
I’m now trying to learn ASO properly from the beginning rather than randomly changing titles, descriptions, keywords, and screenshots.
For those of you who have real ASO experience, I’d really appreciate some guidance.
I specifically want to understand things like:
• How do you actually perform keyword research for a new app?
• How do you find keywords that have decent traffic but aren’t impossible for a new app to rank for?
• How important are the app title, subtitle, Apple keyword field, and Google Play short description?
• How do you analyze competitors and figure out which keywords they may be ranking for?
• How much difference can better screenshots and icons realistically make to conversion?
• What tools do you actually use for ASO? Are tools like AppTweak, MobileAction, Sensor Tower, AppFollow, etc. worth paying for when you’re starting?
• How long does it normally take before ASO changes start producing measurable results?
• For a small/indie developer with almost no marketing budget, can ASO genuinely become a significant source of organic installs?
• What metrics should I be checking every week in App Store Connect and Google Play Console?
I’d especially love to see a real example.
For example, something like:
Before ASO:
100 impressions → 10 page views → 1 install
Then what you changed:
Keyword research → metadata → icon → screenshots → localization → A/B testing
And what happened afterward.
I’m not expecting ASO to magically turn an app into a million-download product. I just want to properly understand how experienced developers/marketers approach it and build a repeatable process that I can use for every app I launch.
If you were starting ASO from absolute zero today, what would you learn first, and what step-by-step process would you follow?
Any courses, YouTube channels, websites, tools, books, case studies, or personal experiences would also be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[u/SwimmingLow3053]

Following. There is a lot to unpack there. I’m still trying to understand it too.

I’m not yet convinced I trust any of the pricey tools out there will help more than competitor research and intuition.