ESPN ASO Audit Report

Buse Kanal

1 August 2023

iOS

ESPN is among the live scores, highlights, and sports news in app stores today. With over a million people downloading the app, ESPN has enjoyed a relatively high ranking in the App Store. In fact, ESPN, by the time of this writing, is rated to be the #5 app in the Sports category.

While ESPN has already accomplished things that other live scores, highlights, and sports news apps haven’t achieved, there is still a way to maximize their app store visibility and therefore increase their chance of getting noticed.

After all, the biggest room is the room for improvement. No matter how great ESPN might already be, they can still do something to reach the number 1 spot and not be overtaken by competitors.

In this ASO audit, let’s take a look at how ESPN can improve its keyword ranking in the most efficient way possible.

Keyword research

We did a quick keyword research for ESPN. We have shared the details at the end of this post.

Looking at the research result, we can see that we are already ranking for some important keywords. Nevertheless, we have identified some great opportunities for us to take advantage of.

In this situation, ASO intelligence tools come in handy. These tools are effective in identifying popular keywords with the lowest competition. For example, in ShyftUp, we use Mobile Action to perform reliable keyword research.

Among the results we get is the term Search Score. Here’s a quick overview:

The Search Score ranges from 5 to 100. The score represents the number of users who are searching for a specific keyword compared to other keyword options in the App Store and Google Play.

To give you an example, one of the keywords with the highest ranking is the keyword “Facebook.” It has a search score of 100.

The lowest score is 5, which means no one is virtually searching for that keyword. Most keywords will never even see a score beyond 5.

Going back to the results that we got, here’s how ESPN’s ranking looks like:

“MLB” keyword has a search score of 64, which we rank at no. 17.
“Baseball” keyword has a search score of 63, which we rank at no. 60.
“Basketball” keyword has a search score of 58, which we rank at no. 59.
“UFC” keyword has a search score of 53, which we rank at no. 26.
“Streaming” keyword has a search score of 42, which we rank at no. 36.
“Entertainment” keyword has a search score of 39, which we rank at no. 69.
“Live score” keyword has a search score of 34, which we rank at no. 41.
“Soccer scores” keyword has a search score of 29, which we rank at no. 38.
“Football live” keyword has a search score of 27, which we rank at no. 40.
“Soccer news” keyword has a search score of 25, which we rank at no. 15.
“Live games” keyword has a search score of 25, which we rank at no. 37.
“Fantasy sports” keyword has a search score of 25, which we rank at no. 56.

We also did research on competitor keywords. We got the following results:

“Flashscore” keyword has a search score of 45, which we don’t rank.
“LiveScore” keyword has a search score of 40, which we rank at no. 40.
“FloSports” keyword has a search score of 38, which we don’t rank.
“365Scores” keyword has a search score of 35, which we don’t rank.
“NBC Sports” keyword has a search score of 31, which we don’t rank.
“365Scores” keyword has a search score of 35, which we don’t rank.
“Sports Illustrated” keyword has a search score of 27, which we don’t rank.

The results show us that there is a lot of work to do. To ensure that we climb up the rankings, we should use these keywords in our metadata.

Title

The title of ESPN in the App Store is this:

ESPN: Live Sports & Scores

ESPN already has a strong title. Take note that the App Store allows us to use up to 30 characters for the title. As of now, ESPN is using 26 characters.

Looking at the search scores of the keywords included in the title, the search score of “live” is 54, “sports” is 52, and “scores” is 28. As you can see, all of the keywords have high search scores, and we can conclude that ESPN has quite a strong title. However, there is a great opportunity for improvement.

To ensure we stay competitive, we must test the title and its keywords continuously. One way to improve the title is to go to the keyword pool. From there, we should continuously check how many keywords we are ranking for that are in the title. For instance, we could check the keyword “sports” in our keyword pool.

After starting to use the “sports” keyword, do we start ranking higher for these keywords? Do we start ranking for more keywords that include “sports”? If the keywords are not improving our ranking, we should test other keywords and their variations.

In this case, we can try a new title like:

ESPN: Live MLB, NFL & Soccer

As you can see, we have added the words “MLB”, “NFL” & “soccer” and removed “sports” & “scores”. This is a great move in terms of keyword ranking for the following reasons:

The term “MLB” has a high search score of 64.
The term “NFL” has a high search score of 54.
The term “soccer” has a high search score of 63.

By adding the term “MLB” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “MLB games”, “MLB network” & “MLB baseball”. All have good ranking scores, which are 38, 34 & 25, respectively.
By adding the term “NFL” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “NFL games”, “NFL fantasy” & “NFL football”. All have good ranking scores, which are 38, 34 & 19, respectively.
By adding the term “soccer” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “soccer games”, “soccer scores” & “soccer news”. All have good ranking scores, which are 61, 29 & 25, respectively.

All these changes to the title can potentially improve keyword ranking. However, please note that there are other combinations and possibilities when it comes to using keywords.

That’s the reason you need to constantly test these keywords. You should check your keyword ranking every week and see if the changes in your title bring better results.

Subtitle

The subtitle of ESPN in the App Store is this:

Watch Games, Highlights & News

Like the title, Apple allows us to use up to 30 characters in the subtitle. As of now, ESPN uses 30 characters.

Looking at the search scores of the keywords included in the subtitle, the search score of “watch” is 60, “games” is 77, “highlights” is 26, and “news” is 60. As you can see, all keywords have high search scores, and we can conclude that ESPN has quite a strong subtitle.

Even though, if we would like to test a new variation, the subtitle can be changed to:

Fantasy Football & Baseball

As you can see, we have added the words “fantasy”, “football”, and “baseball”, and excluded the words “watch”, “games”, “highlights”, and “news”. This is a great move in terms of keyword ranking for the following reasons:

The term “fantasy” has a high search score of 47.
The term “football” has a high search score of 58.
The term “baseball” has a high search score of 63.
By adding the term “fantasy” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “fantasy football” & “fantasy sports”. Both have good ranking scores, which are 58 & 25, respectively.
By adding the term “football” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “football games” & “college football”. Both have good ranking scores, which are 64 & 38, respectively.
By adding the term “baseball” we can potentially rank for longer search terms such as “baseball games” & “major league baseball”. Both have good ranking scores, which are 59 & 32, respectively.

To ensure we stay competitive, we must test the subtitle and its keywords continuously. One way to improve the subtitle is to go to the keyword pool. From there, we should continuously check how many keywords that are in the subtitle. For instance, we should check the keyword “sports news” in our keyword pool.

After starting to use the “sports news” keyword, do we start ranking higher for these keywords? Do we start ranking for more keywords that include “sports news”? If the keywords are not improving our ranking, then we should test other keywords and their variations.

Ratings

ESPN ratings

Looking at the ratings, we can see a lot of things to improve here. Take note that ESPN, at the time of this writing, has an average rating of 4.6 stars from more than 2.6M users.

Let’s compare that to their competitors:

CBS Sports App: Scores & News – 4.7 stars from 558K users
NBC Sports– 4.6 stars from 421K users

We do need to improve app features and overall user experience to raise the ratings up and get more positive reviews.

Screenshots

Screenshots can either make or break your app. Use the wrong screenshots and you’ll surely chase away users. Use the right screenshots and you’ll attract more users.

As we take a look at ESPN’s screenshots, we can see that they have chosen great images. However, ESPN can use more value-oriented headlines on the screenshots. It is super important to choose screenshots that show the value, features, and reasons why users should use your app.

In short, screenshots must convince users to choose your app.

The App Store allows us to use up to 10 screenshots. However, these screenshots don’t have equal exposure. As you may already know, potential users will initially see the first three screenshots. They need to open your page to see the rest of the screenshots.

With this in mind, you need to choose the best screenshots and place them on the first three screenshot slots.

To determine which screenshots give you the best result, A/B testing and Apple’s Product Page Optimization (PPO) are always the best way to go.

ESPN screenshots

Here are a few more things to consider:

Apple indexes the title, subtitle, and keyword list to determine app rankings in the App Store.
The app title, which can be composed of up to 30 characters, is considered to be the most important ranking factor. Thus, you should add the most crucial keyword to your title. When you do that, you’ll most likely get a higher ranking for that keyword.
Next to the app title is the subtitle in terms of importance for indexing. Thus, other more vital keywords should be added to your subtitle. Add as many relevant and high-ranking keywords as possible to ensure you increase your ranking. Moreover, if possible, maximize the 30 character-limit for the subtitle.
The keyword list is considered to be the number 3 most important ranking factor in the App Store. You are allowed to use a maximum of 100 characters. You need to add all the keywords that you believe are relevant to your app. You can even include brand names and competitors’ keywords. You have more flexibility to include whatever you see fit based on your keyword research. After all, users won’t be able to see this list. Only you, as the admin, can see them via the App Store Connect. But it affects your visibility significantly.

ESPN keywords