Sarmad Sultan
App store optimization (ASO) specialist
Where to hear and read about Sarmad Sultan1 episode or test
Sarmad Sultan is an app store optimization specialist who walks through the ten factors that drive Google Play rankings and downloads. The most useful lesson is to split the work into metadata you control and signals you can only influence, then localize the listing into every available language.
one of my app add from the 5,000 downloads to the 25,000 downloads in just 10 days
App Store Optimization for Google Play: Top 10 Factors
Sarmad Sultan: the story and the lessons
1Sarmad Sultan's framework for Google Play optimization
Sultan splits the work into on-page metadata and off-page signals. Title, developer name, short and long description, icon and screenshots are fully under the developer's control. Installs, ratings and reviews can only be influenced.
He plans the work around both groups. He uses a logo maker app on Google Play as the running example for all ten factors.
He puts the main keyword in the title and uses all 50 characters. Google Play gives 50 characters for the title against 30 on iOS. He pairs the brand with keywords in a pattern such as brand, dash, keywords, or the reverse.
The title drives both search visibility and conversion. His example title carries 'logo maker', 'design' and 'creator'.
Sultan adds target keywords to the developer name. He suggests a pattern like 'Shopify Inc - your keywords'. He says most companies forget this field, Shopify included, even though it affects ranking.
He wants keywords in the package name before the first release. A name like com.company.logomaker.app has to be sent to the developer before the initial release, because it is set at upload. The keyword also shows up in the app page URL.
2How Sultan writes Google Play descriptions
Sultan uses the 80 character short description to rank and to sell. He includes the main keywords but keeps the text a clear picture of the whole app, since it also affects conversion. He says most big companies miss ranking keywords here.
A Google Play short description viewer browser extension shows competitors' short descriptions.
He repeats the main keyword four to five times in the long description. He places it in the first lines and again in the last five lines, and adds secondary keywords. The example app uses its keyword once in the title, twice in the short description and five times in the long one.
Google crawls the long description to decide which keywords the app ranks for. His warning: "don't overstuff the keywords as you will get penalized".
Sultan fills 3,000 to 3,500 of the 4,000 characters with structure. He uses short paragraphs and bullets listing every feature. Privacy policy, terms and social links can go in, and HTML bold text is allowed.
He says only about 2% of users read the long description, so its main job is keyword coverage for the crawler. Links work on mobile only.
3What Sultan changes to turn visitors into installs
He keeps text off the app icon. Words that read fine in a browser vanish at phone size. The example icon's word 'maker' is unreadable on a device.
He prefers a character or symbol that shows what the app does, because a user scanning ten icons clicks the most striking one.
Sultan tests screenshot sets and judges them by conversion rate. Screenshots that clearly show the main features drive installs. He tries different sets and watches the conversion rate in the console.
He adds a 30 to 120 second promo video. The video is a YouTube embed added through the console. He claims it gives 200% more chances to rank for targeted keywords.
Longer videos are allowed but he does not recommend them.
Sultan pushes developers to shrink the APK. Search results show app size, so a big app gets skipped before anyone sees the page. He says some users avoid apps over 50 MB and low-budget devices struggle past 30 MB.
His rule is not to be larger than your competitors: "your size does matter in the google play".
He builds reviews that carry the target keywords. Fewer crashes earn better reviews, and visitors read the top reviews before installing. His example app has 35,000 reviews, 27,591 of them five stars.
He suggests asking friends and family for five-star ratings. Users who type the keyword in their reviews help the app rank for it.
4Sultan's localization hack and update rhythm
Sultan localizes the listing into every language Google Play offers. He translates the app and the full store page into as many available languages as possible. One of his apps went from 5,000 to 25,000 downloads in 10 days.
He presents this as the main hack for boosting downloads and says he tested it on many apps.
He updates apps about twice a month. Frequent updates signal to Google that the developer is improving the user experience. He says this helps category page placement, keyword rankings and downloads from the Explore section.
App Store Optimization for Google Play: Top 10 Factors
Google Play optimization splits into on-page metadata you control (title, descriptions, icon, screenshots) and off-page signals you can only influence (installs, ratings, reviews). The episode ranks ten factors, with an ending hack where localizing one app took it from 5,000 to 25,000 downloads in 10 days.
Sultan splits the work into on-page metadata and off-page signals. Title, developer name, short and long description, icon and screenshots are fully under the developer's control. Installs, ratings and reviews can only be influenced.
He plans the work around both groups. He uses a logo maker app on Google Play as the running example for all ten factors.
He puts the main keyword in the title and uses all 50 characters. Google Play gives 50 characters for the title against 30 on iOS. He pairs the brand with keywords in a pattern such as brand, dash, keywords, or the reverse.
The title drives both search visibility and conversion. His example title carries 'logo maker', 'design' and 'creator'.
Sultan adds target keywords to the developer name. He suggests a pattern like 'Shopify Inc - your keywords'. He says most companies forget this field, Shopify included, even though it affects ranking.
He wants keywords in the package name before the first release. A name like com.company.logomaker.app has to be sent to the developer before the initial release, because it is set at upload. The keyword also shows up in the app page URL.
Sultan uses the 80 character short description to rank and to sell. He includes the main keywords but keeps the text a clear picture of the whole app, since it also affects conversion. He says most big companies miss ranking keywords here.
A Google Play short description viewer browser extension shows competitors' short descriptions.
He repeats the main keyword four to five times in the long description. He places it in the first lines and again in the last five lines, and adds secondary keywords. The example app uses its keyword once in the title, twice in the short description and five times in the long one.
Google crawls the long description to decide which keywords the app ranks for. His warning: "don't overstuff the keywords as you will get penalized".
Sultan fills 3,000 to 3,500 of the 4,000 characters with structure. He uses short paragraphs and bullets listing every feature. Privacy policy, terms and social links can go in, and HTML bold text is allowed.
He says only about 2% of users read the long description, so its main job is keyword coverage for the crawler. Links work on mobile only.
He keeps text off the app icon. Words that read fine in a browser vanish at phone size. The example icon's word 'maker' is unreadable on a device.
He prefers a character or symbol that shows what the app does, because a user scanning ten icons clicks the most striking one.
Sultan tests screenshot sets and judges them by conversion rate. Screenshots that clearly show the main features drive installs. He tries different sets and watches the conversion rate in the console.
He adds a 30 to 120 second promo video. The video is a YouTube embed added through the console. He claims it gives 200% more chances to rank for targeted keywords.
Longer videos are allowed but he does not recommend them.
Sultan pushes developers to shrink the APK. Search results show app size, so a big app gets skipped before anyone sees the page. He says some users avoid apps over 50 MB and low-budget devices struggle past 30 MB.
His rule is not to be larger than your competitors: "your size does matter in the google play".
He builds reviews that carry the target keywords. Fewer crashes earn better reviews, and visitors read the top reviews before installing. His example app has 35,000 reviews, 27,591 of them five stars.
He suggests asking friends and family for five-star ratings. Users who type the keyword in their reviews help the app rank for it.
Sultan localizes the listing into every language Google Play offers. He translates the app and the full store page into as many available languages as possible. One of his apps went from 5,000 to 25,000 downloads in 10 days.
He presents this as the main hack for boosting downloads and says he tested it on many apps.
He updates apps about twice a month. Frequent updates signal to Google that the developer is improving the user experience. He says this helps category page placement, keyword rankings and downloads from the Explore section.