The most effective App Store keyword research process has four steps: identify seed keywords from brainstorming and Apple search suggestions, expand using competitor metadata analysis, filter by popularity-to-difficulty ratio (aim for popularity 25-55, difficulty under 50), and iterate every two weeks based on ranking data. Place your strongest keywords in the app name and subtitle, and pack supporting terms into the 100-character keyword field.
Most indie developers pick App Store keywords by guessing. They type a few words into the keyword field, hope for the best, and wonder why downloads stay flat. This guide walks you through a repeatable app store keyword research process, the same one we use for our own apps, so you can stop guessing and start ranking.
If you ship iOS apps and your organic downloads feel stuck, this is for you.
What makes a good App Store keyword?
Not all keywords are equal. A "good" keyword sits at the intersection of three things: relevance, traffic, and competition.
Relevance means the keyword actually describes what your app does. If you have a habit tracker, "habit tracker" is relevant. "Productivity" is borderline. "Calendar" is a stretch. Apple's algorithm measures how well your metadata matches the search query, and irrelevant keywords won't help you rank even if you cram them in.
Traffic is measured by Apple's popularity score, a number from 5 to 100 that roughly represents how many people search for that term. Apple provides this data through App Store Connect analytics, though the exact methodology behind the score isn't publicly documented. A score of 50+ means meaningful traffic. Below 20, you're looking at a handful of searches per day. That said, low-traffic keywords aren't worthless. They're often where indie apps can actually rank.
Competition is the hard part. A keyword with a popularity of 60 sounds great until you see that the top 10 results are all apps with millions of downloads. You need keywords where you have a realistic shot at page one. For most indie apps, that means targeting keywords with moderate popularity (25-50) and fewer dominant players in the results.
Here's the rule of thumb: if you can't realistically reach the top 10 results for a keyword within a few weeks, it's not a good keyword for you right now. You can always target harder keywords later as your app gains authority.
How do you build a starter keyword list?
Start broad, then narrow down. You need raw material before you can filter.
Step 1: Brain dump. Open a blank doc and write down every word or phrase someone might type to find an app like yours. Think about features, problems your app solves, the category, and the audience. If your app is a meditation timer, you might write: meditation, meditate, breathing, calm, mindfulness, sleep sounds, focus timer, stress relief, guided meditation, daily meditation.
Step 2: Check Apple's suggestions. Go to the App Store, tap the search bar, and type the first few letters of your terms. Apple will autocomplete with real suggestions. These are terms people actually search for. Write them all down. This is free competitive intelligence straight from Apple.
Step 3: Look at competitor metadata. Find 5-10 apps that compete with yours. Look at their app names, subtitles, and descriptions. You won't see their keyword field (it's hidden), but the visible metadata tells you a lot about what they're targeting. If three competitors all have "daily planner" in their subtitle, that's a signal.
Step 4: Use a keyword tool. A brain dump and manual search gets you started, but you'll miss opportunities without data. You need popularity scores, difficulty ratings, and competitor analysis. This is where a keyword research tool built for indie developers pays for itself. You can see the numbers instead of guessing.
After these four steps, you should have a list of 40-80 candidate keywords. That's your raw material. Now you need to filter.
How do you evaluate and prioritize keywords?
You've got a long list. Now you need to cut it down to the ~25-30 terms that'll fit in your keyword field (100 characters, comma-separated) plus the keywords in your app name and subtitle.
For each keyword, you want to know three numbers:
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Popularity score. How many people search for this term? Aim for 20-55 as an indie developer. Above 55, you're probably competing with apps that have huge install bases.
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Difficulty score. How hard is it to rank? This factors in the strength of currently-ranking apps. A difficulty of 80+ means the top results are entrenched. Look for keywords where difficulty is below 50.
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Current top results. Look at who ranks #1-5 for each keyword. Are they billion-dollar companies or indie apps like yours? If you see other small apps ranking, that keyword is achievable.
Sort your list into three tiers:
- Tier 1 (primary targets): Popularity 30-55, difficulty under 40, relevant to your core feature. These go in your app name and subtitle.
- Tier 2 (supporting keywords): Popularity 20-40, difficulty under 50, relevant but more niche. These go in your keyword field.
- Tier 3 (long shots): Either too competitive right now or too low-traffic. Save them for later.
Don't just chase high-popularity keywords. A keyword with popularity 25 and difficulty 15 will get you more downloads than a keyword with popularity 70 and difficulty 90, because you'll actually show up in search results for the first one.
If you're making common ASO mistakes that hurt your downloads, keyword selection is almost always the root cause.
Where do your keywords actually go?
Apple gives you four places to put keywords, and each one carries different weight.
App name (30 characters). This has the strongest ranking signal. Your primary keyword, the single most important term, should be here. "Streaky - Habit Tracker" is better than just "Streaky" because "habit tracker" is a high-value keyword that will help people find you.
Subtitle (30 characters). Second strongest signal. Use it for your second-priority keyword phrase. Don't waste it on a tagline nobody searches for. "Build daily routines" is weak. "Daily Habit & Routine Builder" includes multiple searchable terms. Getting your subtitle optimization right is one of the highest-impact changes you can make.
Keyword field (100 characters). Hidden from users, indexed by Apple's search. This is where you pack in your Tier 2 keywords. Important rules:
- Separate terms with commas, no spaces after commas.
- Don't repeat words already in your app name or subtitle - Apple automatically indexes those.
- Don't use plurals if you already have the singular (Apple handles this).
- Don't include "app" or your category name - they're indexed automatically.
- Use every character. Leaving space unused is leaving keywords on the table.
Description. Apple does not index the description for search ranking. It matters for conversion (convincing someone to download), but not for keyword ranking. Don't stuff keywords into your description thinking it'll help search - it won't.
One thing to note: Apple's App Store product page documentation confirms these metadata fields but doesn't publish the exact algorithm weights. What we know about ranking signals comes from the ASO community's testing over the years.
How do you find keywords your competitors rank for?
Competitor keyword research is where the real opportunities hide. Your competitors have already done keyword testing, and you can learn from their results.
Method 1: Reverse-engineer their metadata. Look at the top 10 apps in your category. Write down every keyword you can extract from their app names, subtitles, and descriptions. Group overlapping terms. If four out of ten competitors target "sleep tracker," that's a validated keyword.
Method 2: Search and observe. Pick a keyword you're considering and search for it in the App Store. Look at the apps that rank. Now check their metadata for keywords you haven't considered. This chain of discovery (keyword leads to app, app leads to new keyword) is how you find terms you'd never think of on your own.
Method 3: Use keyword discovery tools. Tools like App Sprint's keyword discovery feature automate this process. You give it a competitor's app ID, and it pulls keywords they're likely targeting based on their metadata and ranking positions. This is the fastest way to build a competitive keyword list without hours of manual research.
The goal isn't to copy your competitors' exact keyword strategy. It's to understand what's working in your category and find the gaps: keywords they're missing that you could own.
From the trenches
When we first launched one of our apps, a simple music practice timer, we targeted obvious keywords: "music timer," "practice timer," "metronome." Popularity was decent (35-45 range), but difficulty was brutal. Every big music app already owned those terms.
After doing competitor analysis on smaller apps that were actually getting downloads, we found a cluster of keywords we'd overlooked: "practice log," "music practice journal," "instrument tracker." Popularity was lower (15-25), but difficulty was almost nothing. Within two weeks of switching our keyword field to focus on these terms, daily impressions jumped from about 30 to over 200. Downloads tripled from roughly 3/day to 9/day.
The takeaway: the obvious keywords feel right, but they're usually wrong for a new indie app. The less obvious, more specific terms are where the growth is.
How often should you update your keywords?
Keyword research isn't a one-and-done task. The App Store is dynamic. New apps launch, competitors change their metadata, and seasonal trends shift search behavior.
Here's the cadence that works for us:
Every 2 weeks: Check which keywords are actually driving impressions in App Store Connect. If a keyword is getting zero impressions after two weeks, it's not working. Replace it with something from your Tier 3 list.
Every app update: Treat each version release as a keyword optimization opportunity. You don't need to overhaul your entire keyword strategy, but swap out 2-3 underperforming terms with each update.
Seasonally: Some keywords spike during specific times of year. "New year goals" peaks in January. "Back to school" spikes in August. If your app is relevant to seasonal trends, plan your keyword changes in advance.
After major ranking changes: If you suddenly drop or gain rankings, investigate what changed. Did a competitor update their metadata? Did Apple change something? Reacting to ranking shifts is part of the process.
The biggest mistake we see is developers who set their keywords at launch and never touch them again. ASO is iterative. Each round of changes gives you data. That data informs the next round. Over 3-4 cycles, you'll have a keyword set that actually performs.
What's the difference between keyword research and keyword tracking?
They're related but different, and you need both.
Keyword research is the discovery phase: finding which keywords to target. That's everything we've covered above. You do deep research when you launch, pivot, or enter a new market.
Keyword tracking is the monitoring phase: watching your rank positions for chosen keywords over time. Once you've selected your keywords and pushed an update, you need to track whether your rankings are improving, holding steady, or dropping.
Without tracking, you're flying blind. You might swap out a keyword that was actually gaining traction, or keep one that's been dead for months.
What to track for each keyword:
- Rank position. Where you show up in search results (or if you show up at all).
- Popularity changes. A keyword's search volume can shift. A term with popularity 40 last month might be 25 now.
- Competitor movement. If a major app starts targeting your keyword, you'll see your rank drop. Better to know early so you can adjust.
Track at least your top 15-20 keywords. Check the data weekly. Look for trends over 4-8 weeks, not day-to-day noise.
What to do next
App store keyword research comes down to three things: finding relevant keywords with real traffic, filtering for terms where you can actually rank, and iterating based on real data.
Here's the short version:
- Build a starter list from brain dumps, Apple suggestions, and competitor analysis.
- Filter by popularity (25-55), difficulty (under 50), and realistic competition.
- Place your strongest keywords in the app name and subtitle. Pack the rest into the keyword field.
- Track your rankings and swap underperformers every 2 weeks.
- Repeat. Each cycle gets you closer to a keyword set that drives consistent downloads.
If you want to skip the spreadsheets and see keyword popularity, difficulty, and competitor data in one place, try App Sprint's keyword research tool. It's built for indie developers who want real data without the enterprise price tag.
References
- Apple App Store Product Page — Official documentation on metadata fields, character limits, and discoverability
- App Store Connect Analytics — Apple's built-in analytics for impressions, downloads, and source data
- Choosing a Product Name (Apple Guidelines) — Apple's guidance on naming and subtitle best practices
