How to Find App Store Keywords: A Step-by-Step Guide

To find App Store keywords, start with seed terms, expand them with App Store autocomplete and competitor metadata, then validate each term with popularity, difficulty, country data, and rank tracking. The goal is not a bigger keyword list. The goal is a short list of searches your app can realistically win.

App Store keyword research is not just a brainstorming exercise. Brainstorming is where you start, but the real work is finding the searches your users already make, checking whether you can realistically rank, and then putting the right terms into your app name, subtitle, and keyword field.

The goal is simple: rank for searches that can turn into downloads. Not vanity keywords. Not the broadest category term. The searches where your app is relevant, the demand exists, and the top results are not impossible to beat.

If your organic downloads are flat, this is usually the first place to look.

If you are starting from a blank sheet, use the free App Store keyword tool checklist first. It shows what to check before you spend title, subtitle, or keyword-field space on a term.

What makes a good App Store keyword?

A useful App Store keyword has three traits.

It matches intent. If someone searches the term, your app should feel like a natural result. A habit tracker can target "habit tracker", "daily routine", or "streak counter". It probably should not target "calendar" unless calendars are a core part of the app.

It has enough demand. A keyword with no search volume will not move downloads, even if you rank first. Popularity scores are estimates, but they help you avoid spending your 100-character keyword field on terms nobody searches.

It is winnable. This is where a lot of developers get stuck. A keyword can be relevant and popular, but still useless for you if every top result has years of authority, thousands of ratings, and a strong brand. For a smaller app, a lower-volume keyword with weak competition often beats a huge keyword where you sit on page five.

The best early targets usually sit in the middle: enough demand to matter, low enough difficulty that your app has a path to the top 10.

Build your first keyword list

Start by writing down the obvious terms. Use plain language, not internal product language.

For a meditation app, that might be:

• meditation
• breathing
• sleep sounds
• calm music
• mindfulness timer
• stress relief
• guided meditation

Then add terms based on the problem the user is trying to solve:

• fall asleep faster
• stop anxiety
• focus at work
• morning routine

After that, use the App Store itself. Open search, type the first few letters of each seed term, and write down the suggestions Apple shows. Treat those suggestions as language clues, not search-volume data. They help you find phrasing to investigate, but each term still needs to pass the demand and competition checks below.

Finally, look at competitors. Do not copy them blindly. Read their names, subtitles, screenshots, and descriptions. You are looking for repeated patterns. If several good apps in your niche use "routine", "planner", and "streak", those words deserve investigation.

At this point, you should have 40 to 80 possible keywords. That is enough raw material.

Score the keywords before you use them

Do not put a keyword in your metadata just because it sounds good. Score it first.

For each keyword, check:

1. Popularity. Is there enough search demand?
2. Difficulty. How hard is it to break into the top results?
3. Current rankings. Which apps already rank in the top 10?
4. Business fit. Would a user searching this term be likely to download your app?
5. Country fit. Does the keyword matter in the country you are targeting?

This is where a tool helps. In AppSprint keyword research, you can search any keyword, pick a country, and see popularity, difficulty, targeting labels, rank data, competitor apps, download estimates, and revenue context in the same view.

If you just want a quick first read before opening the full app, use the free App Store keyword checker to check a keyword's popularity, difficulty, and opportunity by country.

The labels are there to speed up decisions:

• Sweet Spot: strong demand with manageable competition.
• Hidden Gem: lower competition with enough demand to be worth testing.
• Quick Win: easier to rank, often useful for newer apps.
• Competitive: possible, but you need a reason to fight for it.
• Very Competitive: usually dominated by stronger apps.

You can still make your own call. The label just stops you from treating every keyword like it has the same risk.

Worked example: reduce a broad list to a test

Suppose you are researching keywords for an instrument-practice app. Do not choose the term with the biggest apparent demand and stop there. Compare the intent and the result page first.

This is the decision the score should support. The exact numbers will change by country and over time, but relevance, demand, and the strength of the current result page should all be visible before a keyword earns metadata space.

Put keywords in the right fields

Apple says text relevance can come from the app name, subtitle, keywords, and primary category. The three fields you write directly have different limits and jobs.

App name, up to 30 characters. This field is indexed and visible throughout the App Store. Use it for your brand plus an important descriptive phrase when it fits naturally. A name like "Streaky Habit Tracker" is clearer than "Streaky" alone.

Subtitle, up to 30 characters. This field is also indexed and visible. Use it to add context or a distinct search phrase instead of repeating the app name. "Daily Routine Builder" usually explains more than "Make every day count."

Keyword field, up to 100 characters. This field is hidden from users but indexed for search. Separate terms with commas and no spaces after the commas. Spaces can still be used inside a phrase, such as meal planner. Do not repeat words already used in the app name, subtitle, or category.

Apple also recommends avoiding duplicate singular and plural forms, generic terms, filler words, and special characters that do not belong to your brand. Do not use competing app names, unauthorized trademarks, or terms that are irrelevant to the app. Promotional text does not affect App Store search ranking.

Your description matters for conversion and can appear in web search, but it is not a place to stuff keywords. Write it for people.

Apple documents these rules in its current App Store search guidance and App Store Connect field reference. The exact ranking weights are not public, so treat any precise weighting claim with caution.

Use competitors to find gaps, not copies

Competitor research is useful when it shows you what users in your niche already search for. It becomes dangerous when you simply copy the biggest app in the category.

The top app can rank for broad terms because it has authority, ratings, and download velocity. You might need to win more specific searches first.

Look for gaps:

• Keywords where smaller apps rank in the top 10.
• Terms with decent popularity but weak-looking results.
• Countries where the same competitor is strong in one market but weaker in another.
• Keywords your competitors rank for that are missing from your metadata.

AppSprint competitor analysis helps here because you can inspect a competitor's ranked keywords, rankings, downloads, revenue estimates, similar apps, and country data across 66 countries. The useful question is not "what are they using?" It is "where are they beatable?"

For the full gap-analysis process, use the competitor App Store keyword workflow. It explains how to choose a reachable competitor, infer useful terms from public rankings, and reject gaps that do not fit your app.

If you are still deciding which competitors deserve attention, the free app revenue checker gives a quick public read on revenue and download ranges before you open a deeper competitor workflow.

From the trenches

The obvious keyword is often the expensive one.

For a small practice app, "music timer" looked right at first. It had demand, and it described the app. The problem was the result page. Bigger music apps already owned the strongest positions.

The better route was a cluster of smaller intent terms: practice log, instrument tracker, daily practice. Less glamorous, but much easier to rank for. Those terms matched the user's problem more closely, and the competition was not as brutal.

That is the job of keyword research. It gets you away from the obvious term and closer to the term you can actually win.

Track keywords after every change

Keyword research and keyword tracking are different jobs.

Research tells you what to target. Tracking tells you whether the target is working.

After you update your title, subtitle, or keyword field, give Apple time to reindex. Then watch the next few weeks:

• Did your ranking improve?
• Did impressions move?
• Did downloads from search move?
• Did a competitor enter the result page?
• Did the keyword behave differently by country?

If a keyword sits unranked for weeks, replace it. If a keyword climbs from nowhere to the top 20, keep watching. If it reaches the top 10 and impressions grow, you may want to support it with your subtitle or Apple Search Ads.

For country expansion, pair this with the free App Store localizations tool so you know which storefront languages Apple supports before you build a localized keyword set.

A simple two-week ASO loop

Use this loop when you do not have a dedicated growth team:

1. Pick 10 to 20 keywords to track.
2. Replace weak terms with stronger candidates from your research list.
3. Update your subtitle or keyword field.
4. Wait for indexing.
5. Check rankings, impressions, and search downloads.
6. Keep winners, remove dead terms, repeat.

This does not need to become a full-time job. A focused 20-minute review every two weeks is enough for most indie apps.

What to do next

Start with one country and one app. Build a keyword list, score it, update your metadata, and track the result.

If you want to do that without spreadsheets, try AppSprint's keyword research tool. It gives you popularity, difficulty, targeting labels, competitor rankings, download estimates, and country data in one place, then connects the research to the metadata editor so you can act on it.

FAQ

How do I find App Store keywords?

Find App Store keywords by brainstorming seed terms, checking App Store autocomplete, studying competitor metadata, validating popularity and difficulty, comparing countries, and tracking rankings after each metadata update.

Where should App Store keywords go?

For iOS apps, put the most important keywords in the app name and subtitle when they fit naturally, then use the 100-character keyword field for supporting terms, variants, and extra search intent.

How many App Store keywords should I track?

Most indie apps should start by tracking 10 to 30 keywords across their main countries. Track enough terms to see movement, but not so many that the weekly review becomes noisy.

Should I target high-volume App Store keywords?

High-volume keywords are useful only when they match your app and have a realistic path to ranking. For smaller apps, lower-volume keywords with weaker competition often produce better early results.

References

• Apple App Store Search - Apple's current guidance on search factors, keyword limits, prohibited terms, categories, ratings, and performance monitoring
• Apple App Store Product Page - Apple's documentation on product page metadata and discoverability
• App Store Connect platform version information - Apple's field limits and keyword requirements
• App Store Connect Analytics - Apple's analytics for impressions, downloads, and source data
• Apple Product Page Optimization - Apple's A/B testing workflow for product page elements