ASO KPIs: the 10 metrics that show whether your Google Play ASO is working
Which numbers to watch, where to find each one, what “good” looks like and how often to check. A practical measurement framework for visibility, conversion and quality — with a weekly and monthly routine.
Key takeaways
- ASO has three layers of metrics: visibility (are you shown?), conversion (do visitors install?) and quality (do people stay and rate you well?).
- Keyword rankings and a visibility score lead; installs lag. Watch leading metrics weekly.
- Compare conversion only within the same traffic source and country — mixing them hides real changes.
- Annotate every listing change and release so you can tell cause from coincidence.
- One page, same metrics every month: consistency beats a dashboard full of numbers.
Most developers judge ASO by one number: installs. The problem is that installs move for many reasons — ads, press, seasonality, a competitor’s outage — and they react to ASO changes slowly. To know whether your ASO work is paying off, you need a small set of metrics that sit earlier in the funnel and respond faster.
This guide gives you a measurement framework you can run in 20 minutes a week: what to measure, where each number comes from, and how to read it without fooling yourself.
The ASO funnel in three layers
| Layer | Question it answers | Key metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Is Google Play showing my app? | Keyword rankings, visibility score, top-10 count, store listing visitors from search |
| Conversion | Do people who see my listing install? | Store listing conversion rate by source and country |
| Quality & retention | Do users stay and rate me well? | Rating, review volume, crash and ANR rates, retention |
A problem in one layer looks different from a problem in another. Falling rankings with stable conversion is a visibility problem. Stable visitors with falling installs is a conversion problem. Both falling after a release often points to quality.
The 10 metrics
1. Keyword rankings
Your position for each target keyword, per country. Play Console doesn’t show positions, so you need a rank tracker. Track 10–30 keywords that matter to your business and check the trend weekly rather than reacting to single days.
2. Visibility score
A single number that summarises all your rankings, weighting top positions more heavily because they get far more attention. In ASODrift, #1 counts fully, #10 about half and #100 almost nothing, averaged over every keyword × country you track. It answers “are we more visible than last week?” in one glance.
3. Keywords in the top 10 (and top 3)
The count of keyword positions on the first screen of results. Movement into or out of the top 10 matters much more than movement from #60 to #45.
4. Store listing visitors from Google Play search
From Play Console’s acquisition reports. If rankings rise, search visitors should follow within days to weeks.
5. Store listing conversion rate
Installs divided by store listing visitors. Always segment by traffic source (search, explore, external) and country. Search traffic has high intent and converts differently from ad traffic.
6. Search terms that convert
Play Console lists the search terms that brought visitors and installs. Terms with many visitors and poor conversion usually mean your listing doesn’t match what people expected.
7. Rating and recent reviews
Your average rating is shown next to your app in search results. Watch it alongside the volume and themes of new reviews.
8. Android vitals: crash and ANR rates
Google documents bad-behaviour thresholds of 1.09% user-perceived crash rate and 0.47% user-perceived ANR rate overall. Apps above them are likely to be less discoverable.
9. Retention
Day-1, day-7 and day-30 retention show whether your listing sets honest expectations. Aggressive listings can lift installs but hurt retention and ratings.
10. Organic installs
The outcome metric. Read it last, over a month or more, and compare with the leading metrics above.
What “good” looks like
There is no universal benchmark: conversion rates vary widely by category, country and traffic source, and published averages mix very different apps. The most useful benchmark is your own past performance for the same source and country. Aim for steady improvement, not an industry number.
A weekly and monthly routine
| When | Check | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Every morning (optional) | Alert emails for big drops or top-10 exits | 1 min |
| Weekly | Visibility score trend, top-10 count, biggest gainers and losers, Android vitals | 15 min |
| Monthly | Search visitors, conversion by source and country, rating trend, search terms report, performance report | 45 min |
| After every change | Annotate the date; compare the same metrics 2–4 weeks later | 5 min |
- Segment conversion by source and country.
- Annotate listing changes and releases.
- Use the same metrics every month.
- Look at trends over at least a week.
- Judge ASO by total installs alone.
- Compare conversion across different traffic sources.
- React to one day’s ranking change.
- Change several listing elements at once if you want to learn what worked.
+What is the most important ASO KPI?
For discovery, keyword rankings summarised as a visibility score. For turning visitors into users, store listing conversion rate by source. Most teams need both.
+What is a good conversion rate on Google Play?
It depends heavily on category, country and traffic source. Compare against your own history for the same source and country rather than a generic average.
+How often should I check ASO metrics?
Alerts daily, trends weekly and a full review monthly. Checking rankings every hour leads to over-reacting to noise.
+Why did installs not rise when my rankings did?
Installs lag, and conversion or seasonality can offset ranking gains. Check search visitors and conversion for the same period before concluding.
Sources
- Play Console Help — Store listing performance and acquisition reports
- Android Developers — Android vitals
Specifications and figures are as published by Google and the listed sources at the time of writing; check Play Console for the latest.
Practise this lesson on your app.
Track keywords, run the listing audit and see what your changes do — free.