How to choose App Store keywords: volume, difficulty and the rank you can reach
A practical method for picking the keywords that go in your app name, subtitle and keyword field, and for checking a week later whether they worked.
On the App Store, three fields decide which searches your app can rank for: the app name (30 characters), the subtitle (30 characters) and the hidden keyword field (100 characters). That's 160 characters for everything you want to be found for. Choosing what goes in them is most of ASO.
This guide is a method you can repeat every few weeks. It doesn't need a large budget, but it does need real numbers.
Step 1: Start from what people search, not what you call your app
List the jobs your app does in the words a user would type. A habit tracker is found through "habit tracker", "daily routine" and "goal planner", not through its brand name. Read your own reviews and your competitors' reviews: the words happy users use are usually the words that rank.
Step 2: Get search popularity from Apple
Apple Ads (formerly Apple Search Ads) shows a search popularity indicator for App Store terms, based on App Store searches. It's the closest thing to first-party demand data. Estimates from other sources can be useful for direction, but they disagree with each other, and small differences decide what goes in a 30-character subtitle.
Step 3: Measure difficulty against your direct rivals
A term's difficulty for you depends on who ranks for it. If the top results are apps with hundreds of thousands of ratings, a new app won't break in through metadata alone. If the top ten includes apps similar to yours in size, it's winnable. Compare yourself with the apps that compete for your keywords, not with the whole category.
Step 4: Weigh it against where you rank today
The best opportunities are often terms where you're already on the edge. A mid-popularity term where you rank #14 is usually worth more than a huge term where you're #180, and a term where you're already #1 is no opportunity at all. Score every candidate on all three: popularity, difficulty and the gap to page one.
| Term | Popularity | Difficulty | Your rank | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| habit tracker | High | High | #62 | Long-term target |
| daily routine planner | Medium | Medium | #14 | Best next move |
| streak app | Low | Low | #3 | Already won |
The figures in this table are illustrative.
Step 5: Spend the 160 characters
- Put your most valuable term in the name, where it carries the most weight, and keep the brand short.
- Use the subtitle for the next most valuable phrase, written for people: it shows in search results.
- Fill the keyword field with single words separated by commas, no spaces. Don't repeat words already in the name or subtitle, and don't add plurals of the same word.
- Never use competitors' trademarks. Apple rejects metadata that does.
Step 6: Ship, wait a week, then read the result
Rank changes take days to settle. Note the date you submitted the new metadata, then compare ranks, impressions and downloads in the week before and the week after. If a term didn't move, it was probably too hard; swap it for the next candidate on your list.
Doing this in App Traction
Keyword Opportunities scores terms on Apple Search Ads popularity, difficulty against your direct rivals and your current rank, per storefront. ASO Studio drafts the name, subtitle and keyword field around a shortlist inside the limits, and the Data Bank marks the change on your rank chart and reads the before and after.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters does the App Store keyword field have?
100 characters. The app name and subtitle have 30 characters each.
Should I put spaces after commas in the keyword field?
No. Spaces count against the 100-character limit and aren't needed.
How long does it take for a keyword change to show?
Ranks usually take several days to settle after a new version is released. Give a change about a week before judging it.