# ASO keyword research, step by step

> A practical guide to App Store keyword research: what popularity, difficulty and relevance mean, which parts of your listing Apple searches, and how to tell whether your keywords work.

Updated 2026-10-30

ASO keyword research is finding the words people type into App Store search, choosing the ones your app can win and that describe what it really does, and putting them in the parts of your listing Apple searches.

Most App Store downloads start with a search, so the words in your name, subtitle and keyword field decide which searches you can appear in at all. This guide walks through the whole loop, from a blank page to a listing you can measure.

## The four things to know about every keyword

|  | What it tells you | Where it comes from |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Popularity | How often people search for it. | Apple Ads gives a popularity score for search terms, from Apple's own search data. |
| Difficulty | How hard it is to reach the top 10. | The strength of the apps already ranking: their ratings, reviews and how well their listings match. |
| Relevance | Whether someone searching it wants your app. | You. Only you know if the app does what the searcher is looking for. |
| Your rank | Where you appear today, in each country. | A search of the App Store in that country. |

The keywords worth working on are relevant first, then popular enough to matter and easy enough to win. A popular term you can't reach brings nothing; a modest one where you can be third brings installs every day.

## How to do it

1. **Write down what your app is for.** List the problems it solves and the words your users use for them: in reviews, support emails and how they describe the app to a friend. These are your seed terms.
2. **Widen the list.** Type each seed term into App Store search and note what it suggests. Look at the names and subtitles of the apps that rank for it. Ask Apple Ads for related terms. Aim for 30 to 60 candidates.
3. **Score every candidate.** Check popularity, difficulty and your current rank. Mark anything that doesn't fit the app and drop it. Longer phrases of two or three words are usually easier to rank for and convert better, because the searcher knows what they want.
4. **Place the best ones in your listing.** Your strongest keyword goes in the name, the next ones in the subtitle, and the rest in the keyword field. Apple combines words across these three fields, so a word only needs to appear once.
5. **Repeat for every language you sell in.** Each localization is its own name, subtitle and keyword field, and each storefront reads the listing in its own language. Translate the meaning, then research the local words; a direct translation is often not what people search.
6. **Track, then change one thing at a time.** Check your ranks in each country every week. Keyword changes go live with your next version, so change a few things, release, wait a week or two, and compare.

## Where keywords count

| Field | Searched | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| App name | Yes, and it weighs the most | 30 characters |
| Subtitle | Yes | 30 characters |
| Keyword field | Yes, and nobody sees it | 100 characters |
| In-app purchase names | Promoted in-app purchases can appear in search | 30 characters |
| Promotional text | No | 170 characters |
| Description | No | 4,000 characters |

- Separate keywords with commas and no spaces: spaces spend characters search doesn't need.
- Don't repeat a word that's already in the name or subtitle.
- Words like “app” and “free” rarely win a search on their own.
- Promotional text and the description aren't searched, but they're what people read before they tap Get, so write them for people.

## Mistakes that cost rankings

- Chasing only the most popular terms, where the top 10 belongs to apps with hundreds of thousands of ratings.
- Repeating words across the name, subtitle and keyword field, which wastes characters.
- Putting other apps' names or trademarks in your metadata, which App Review guideline 2.3.7 doesn't allow.
- Turning the app name into a list of keywords. Apple can reject it, and people don't trust it.
- Changing every field at once, so you can't tell what helped.
- Researching one country and copying the result to the rest.

## Doing it with AppDoctor

AppDoctor does each step on your Mac or PC. It reads Apple's popularity score through your own Apple Ads account, works out difficulty from the apps that rank today, and checks your rank in every country you choose, keeping the history. Its listing editor counts characters, flags repeated words and shows which tracked keywords your listing can't match yet, then saves the change to App Store Connect. An audit scores the whole product page, and your own AI (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI or a model in Ollama) can suggest the edits for you to review.

## Questions

### How many keywords should I track?

Between 15 and 30 per country is a good start: a few popular terms you're aiming for, and more specific ones you can win now. Track more once you know which kind works for your app.

### How long do keyword changes take to work?

Changes to the name, subtitle and keyword field go live with your next approved version. Rankings usually settle within a few days to two weeks after that, so compare ranks a week or two after release.

### Does Apple search the app description?

Not on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Search reads the app name, subtitle and keyword field. The description is for people deciding whether to download.

### Where does keyword popularity come from?

Apple Ads publishes a popularity score for search terms, based on Apple's own search data. AppDoctor reads it with your Apple Ads account, from your computer.

### Should I use the same keywords in every country?

No. Each storefront reads the listing in its own language and people search differently in each market. Research each language you sell in, and add a localization for countries where you have none.

Try AppDoctor: [download for Mac or Windows](/download.md).