Keyword research in app stores is a different thing from web search. When users search “budget tracker” or “running” in the App Store or an Android market, the matching depends on the platform’s own indexing rules. Understand those rules, and your app has a chance of being found.
How to use the iOS keyword field
Apple gives developers a 100-character keyword field — one of the highest-weight spots for iOS search. It’s not shown to users, but it’s used for matching searches. Many people stuff the same word in repeatedly; actually Apple automatically splits and combines terms, so repetition only wastes characters. Fill it with as little overlap as possible: put “budget,” “finance,” and “planner” side by side rather than repeating “budget” three times — the combinations cover more than piling a single word. The name and subtitle carry the most weight, so core words must go there, with the field supplementing mid and long-tail terms — a pairing of “name catches head words, field catches variants.”
Android relies on description long-tails
Google Play doesn’t recognize a separate keyword field; it reads the text in the title, short description, and full description. So on Android, naturally write core words and long-tails into the description, relying on text coverage rather than field stuffing. Don’t force it into the description — Google Play reads semantics, and naturally working in conversational phrases like “jot it down” and “manage expenses” actually covers more. iOS and Android work differently, so prepare separate word lists.
Titles and subtitles carry high weight
Having the core word in the app name gives the most search weight, but title space is limited, and stuffing too much makes it look spammy and hurts the brand. The iOS subtitle is a good spot for the secondary core word. One-sentence principle: the name protects brand and head word, the subtitle adds scenario words — don’t put the cart before the horse.
Competitor names and feature words
Users often search competitor names directly to find alternatives, so putting the main competitors’ names as keywords can catch a batch of users currently comparing. Feature words like “budget tracker,” “meditation,” and “vocabulary” are the category entry points and must be claimed. These aren’t many but are extremely precise. Also, brand words have small search volume but extremely high conversion — you must hold your own name, or fakes and competitors will intercept. That traffic is small but worth defending long-term.
Don’t ignore localization
In different language markets, users search completely different words for the same app. The English market searches “budget,” and the Japanese market may use something else. Fill each language version’s keyword field with the local real wording; machine-translating Chinese words over basically doesn’t work. This is the same as multilingual keyword research — different markets use locals’ phrasing, and this step is the easiest for going-global apps to lazily skip.
High-frequency words in reviews
The words that keep appearing in user reviews are often how users position the app in their minds — and the words they might search with. For example, if many people write “works well but eats storage,” then “lightweight” might be a word worth adding. Reviews are a free sample of user wording.
One pitfall to avoid
Don’t stuff hot words completely unrelated to the app into keywords — like a budgeting app hard-inserting “game.” Platforms will flag it as a violation or even take it down, and the people who search it won’t stay anyway. ASO is about precise matching, not riding on traffic; random riding hurts conversion and ratings.
How to measure results
ASO doesn’t have ranking tools as intuitive as the web’s; you have to look at the store backend’s “search sources” and download conversion. Every time you adjust the keyword field, watch two weeks of search impressions and download changes — words that bring installs get more investment, and words that don’t get replaced. Store keywords don’t need daily changes; checking sources and download changes once a month is enough. Small frequent adjustments are steadier than one big semi-annual overhaul, and they avoid a single mistake damaging weight.
The relationship with web SEO
Many users first search for reviews online, then go to the store to download. So having your review articles rank on the web can indirectly drive downloads. Align the words in the store keywords with the words in web content, and users run into you all the way from searching reviews to searching the app — making the conversion path smooth. Brand and non-brand words carry different weight; putting the brand in the name and non-brand words in the field is more economical — the brand vs non-brand keywords article covers this; on difficulty, the keyword difficulty signals article shows which market is easier to crack.
Small-team priorities
With limited people, first protect the core words in the name and subtitle, then add description long-tails, and fill the tag field without obsessing. For localization, do the one or two biggest markets first instead of spreading thin across a dozen countries; make key markets thorough first. Follow the table in order; for the rollout rhythm you can reference the SEO launch checklist template — get the easiest high-impact item running first, then add items gradually.
| Priority | Action | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Protect name and subtitle | Core words must be claimed |
| 2 | Add description long-tails | Text coverage |
| 3 | Localize key markets | Start with 1-2 biggest |
ASO doesn’t have as many ready-made tools as web SEO; it runs on small-step trial and error plus backend data. Fill the keyword field, add description long-tails, do localization right, and store impressions will creep up. Check sources once a month — small adjustments are steadier than big overhauls.
Figure: Six Steps of App Store ASO Keyword Optimization (compiled by YunyingGO)
