gr-aso — ASO & App Cold Start

When to Use

• "My app is going to be launched on App Store / Play Store, how to do ASO"
• "Keyword rankings aren't improving"
• "Need a cold start solution (0 downloads → 10k)"
• "How to build a TikTok creator matrix"
• "How to distribute UGC from multiple content perspectives"

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Core 4 Layers

Layer 1: Metadata (Product Layer)

• App name ≤ 30 characters, place primary keywords at the front
• Subtitle ≤ 30 characters, secondary keywords
• Description ≤ 4000 characters (iOS) / 4000 characters (Android), the first 3 lines determine CTR
• Keyword field (iOS only) ≤ 100 characters, separated by ",", no duplicate words

Layer 2: Creative (Visual Layer)

• Screenshot 1: Core pain points / outcomes (CTR determines 80% of performance)
• Screenshot 2-5: Features + data + social proof
• Preview video 15-30s, the first 3s determine retention

Layer 3: Rating (Trust Layer)

• Aim for 100+ ratings in the first month (incentivize seed users)
• Respond quickly to negative reviews (developer response rate affects recommendations)
• Maintain a 4.5+ star rating consistently

Layer 4: Traffic (Traffic Layer)

• UGC Creator Matrix: TikTok / Xiaohongshu / Instagram, 50 mid-tier creators > 1 top influencer
• Multi-perspective UGC Distribution: Encourage different creators to produce content from their real perspectives, covering various usage scenarios (each creator produces independent content that meets platform originality requirements)
• TikTok Ad Delivery: Spark Ads > Feed Ads
• ASA (App Store Ads): Keyword bidding, start with low-competition long-tail keywords

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In-Depth References

• references/full-guide-zh.md

  — Complete Chinese guide (includes meeting minutes from Teacher Wang Hengjia in March 2026)

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30-Day Cold Start Rhythm

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Cascading Recommendations

• Keyword research requires SERP →

  gr-seo-patrol

  (run on mobile)
• Content creation →

  gr-blog-post

  (do landing page SEO for long-tail traffic)
• PMF feedback →

  gr-user-interview

• Competitor app analysis →

  gr-competitor

  (use actionbook to scan competitors' screenshots / descriptions)

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Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Only optimize metadata without doing UGC (pure ASO ceiling = Top 50 in industry category)
• ❌ Fake downloads (Apple's algorithm can detect this, leading to app removal)
• ❌ Copy-paste the same content across multiple accounts (platform will deduplicate and reduce weight; each creator must produce real, independent content)
• ❌ Ignore negative reviews (not responding to negative reviews will cause ratings to drop gradually)
• ❌ Spend ASA budget all at once (test in batches by keyword)