3 ASO-Steps to launch your app in a new country

We’ve just added 16 new countries to our ASO tool, specifically for the Google Play Store. You can now carry out your keyword research, competitor analysis, and app optimization in these countries. Learn more about how to get your ASO started when launching your app in a new country below.

16 new available countries for the Google Play Store

The newly added countries are specific to the Google Play Store, since these are countries that do not have an Apple App Store as of today. The list of new countries is:

• Angola
• Bangladesh
• Bolivia
• Costa Rica
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Iran
• Iraq
• Cambodia
• Laos
• Sri Lanka
• Myanmar
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• El Salvador

It is now possible to follow apps in these countries in the AppTweak ASO Tool. You can track keywords to see how your apps rank on these words in a given country, follow competitors to compare your app’s performance with theirs, identify top leading apps in a specific country, and much more. Below are a couple of examples of the insights AppTweak can provide you when launching your app in a new market.

Rapidly identify high potential keywords for an app in a given country

When launching an app in a new market, you always want to conduct thorough keyword research beforehand. When doing so, you need to cherry-pick the keywords with the best potential for your app. This means keywords that are relevant to your app, but also that drive traffic and on which you have a chance of ranking in top positions (so not too competitive).

You also want to spot keywords for which your competitors rank high, and your app doesn’t, to make sure you’re not missing out on a good keyword.

More on how to conduct an In-Depth Keyword Research

Using our Keyword Tool, you can rapidly conduct this analysis. In the following example, we took the app Netflix in Guatemala and a couple of competitors or similar apps. We then added a list of around 100 related generic keywords. Using our volume indicator, you can rapidly spot the keywords that drive the most traffic. The Difficulty index gives an idea of how competitive a keyword is, and the Chance evaluates the chances your app has to rank among the top results of a keyword if you add it to your app’s metadata.

If you’re lost with all these indicators, check out the KEI. Basically, it shows you which keywords are a good match for your app in terms of volume (keywords that drive traffic) and competitiveness (so keywords that your app has a good chance to rank high on).

List of relevant keywords for the Netflix app in the Guatemala Google Play Store ordered by volume vs. ordered by KEI.

The keyword tool can also help identify high volume keywords on which your app is missing out. In the example below, we had a look at the keywords on which the app VIX was ranking among the top 10 results. As you can see, the Netflix app isn’t very visible on these words, maybe they are worth targeting.

Comparing how Netflix and other entertainment apps rank on related keywords for which VIX ranks in top 10 positions (Guatemala Google Play Store)

Finally, the Keyword tool can also help benchmark how competitor apps rank on your brand keywords, and how does your app rank on theirs.

Comparing how competing apps rank on each others brand names (Guatemala Google Play Store)

These quick tricks will help you rapidly gauge the visibility of your app against other competing apps in a specific country as well as identify opportunity keywords.

Compare an app’s performance with competitors in a country

Another important element you need to consider is the strength of your usual competitors in a new market. Some apps can be very powerful in certain markets, but not at all known in others. Make sure to identify against which of your usual competitors your app will be competing and evaluate the strength and visibility of each competing app.

Using AppTweak’s App Power Score, you can rapidly check which of your competitors have a strong presence in a particular market. For example, we had a look at a couple of worldwide known shopping apps, with very high App Power in the US (all above 90) and compared their App Power in Iraq.

All about our App Power indicator

As you can see in the graph below, all apps have a much lower App Power than in the US, but there is also a bigger gap between them. Amazon Shopping and AliExpress have the highest App Power with respectively 68 and 57. Wish and eBay lag behind with 19 and 17.

Comparing the App Power of top US shopping apps in the Iraq Google Play Store

It’s also interesting to compare the performance of big international brands with local players. Top Charts can help identify local apps (read further for more on Top Charts). In the graph below, we’ve added a couple of more local shopping apps.

OpenSooq is the best performing app, with an App Power level stable around 95. Two other local trending apps have recently seen an increase in App Power: iBazzar (+14 in app power over the last 3 months) and ZoodMall (+39 over the last 3 months).

Comparing the App Power of top US shopping apps and Iraq-local shopping apps in the Iraq Google Play Store

Comparing App Power and App Power history can help you pick out who are your most threatening competitors.

Discover the top leading and trending apps in a country

Imagine you’re about to launch a new game, and you’re looking into the Asian Market. We tend to think that neighboring countries have similar trends, yet, when we look at the top trending apps across close-by countries, it’s pretty clear that the trends are quite different.

Using our Top Charts feature, you can rapidly compare the Top Charts of neighboring countries and identify the leading apps in each market. This might help you get further insights into the specificities of each country and understand the different interests of mobile gamers.

Learn all about our Top Charts feature

In the example below, we compared the top 5 games of the Google Play Store in Cambodia, Lao, and Vietnam, only to find that few were in common. First of all, no game reached the top 5 in all 3 countries. The games Stack Colors! and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang are very popular in Cambodia and Lao, but not so much in Vietnam. The games Clue Hunter and Garena Free are both popular in Lao and Vietnam, but not so much in Cambodia. Finally, the game Fruit Clinic reached the top charts in Cambodia and Vietnam, but not in Lao.

Comparing the top 5 apps in the Google Play Store “Games” category in Cambodia, Lao, and Vietnam.

Top Charts can also help identify trending apps. In just a click, you can switch the charts to show the top growing apps in terms of ranking progression. Again, this can help you surf the trends that can be quite different from one country to another.

Again, we compared the top trending games across these 3 countries and the results were even more different. Homescapes is the only game that is trending in 2 of the 3 countries.

Comparing the top 5 most trending apps (highest rank increase) in the Google Play Store “Games” category in Cambodia, Lao, and Vietnam.

This is an interesting exercise to identify common interests and trends across countries, but also to understand the differences between markets that can be perceived as similar. It’s a great process to help finetune your target market and identify where is your best potential.

3 steps for ASO success

In short, you can now carry out your Google Play Store ASO routine in 16 new countries on AppTweak. If you’re looking to launch your app in a new market make sure to follow these tips:

1. Search for high potential keywords for your app, and keywords that work well for your competitors
2. Check the performance of your usual competitors and look out for local players
3. Identify top leading and trending apps to make sure you don’t miss out

We hope these tips will help you get started!