App Store Keyword Research: A Practical Method

App store optimisation, usually shortened to ASO, begins with a simple question: what words do people type when they need what your app does? Keyword research answers it. Done well, it shapes your title, short description, full description, and the way you describe features. Done badly, it produces a listing that reads like a list of search terms. This guide gives a repeatable method that needs nothing more than the store apps themselves and a spreadsheet.

It sits alongside our ASO checklist for organic installs, which covers the wider picture. Here we focus on how to find and choose the words.

How store search works, in broad terms

Both stores match a person’s query against the text of listings and weigh it with signals such as relevance, quality, and engagement. The exact ranking systems are not public, and anyone who claims to know the precise weighting is guessing. What you can rely on is the general principle: a listing needs to be clearly relevant to the query, and it needs to convince people to install once they see it. Keyword research handles the first part. Visuals and ratings handle the second.

Field limits and indexing rules differ between Google Play and the App Store, and they change. Check the current limits for title, short description, subtitle, keyword field, and long description in Play Console and App Store Connect before you write.

Step 1: Define what the app is, in the user’s words

Write a one-sentence description of the app as a user would explain it to a friend. Then list the following:

• The main job the app performs.
• The audience, if narrow.
• The platform context, such as widgets, offline use, or a specific device type.
• The alternatives people use today, including non-app solutions.

Avoid your internal product vocabulary. A feature name you invented means nothing to a searcher.

Step 2: Collect seed terms

Seed terms are the broad words that describe the app. Gather them from:

1. Your one-sentence description.
2. Reviews of your own app and of similar apps, where users describe the app in their own language.
3. Support emails and feedback you have received.
4. Synonyms and spelling variants, including regional spelling differences.

Put everything in a spreadsheet with one term per row. Do not filter yet.

Step 3: Expand with store search suggestions

Type each seed into the store search bar and note the suggestions that appear as you type. These autocomplete phrases reflect what people actually search for, and they are free. Add the letters of the alphabet after a seed to surface more variations. Record each suggestion as a new row and note which seed produced it.

Repeat in each language and country you target. Direct translation of English terms often misses how local users phrase a need, so ask a native speaker where you can.

Step 4: Find long-tail phrases

Short, broad terms are crowded and ambiguous. Long-tail phrases of three or more words are more specific, often easier to compete on, and tend to attract people who know what they want. Examples of the pattern, not of any real app: a feature plus an audience, a task plus a context, or a problem plus a platform.

To find them:

• Mine the autocomplete expansions from step 3.
• Read competitor reviews for complaints and requests that suggest unmet needs.
• Look at the “people also search” or related-suggestions areas where the store shows them.
• Turn your feature list into phrases a user might type.

Mark each phrase by relevance first. A term you cannot honestly fulfil is not worth targeting, since users who install and find a mismatch will uninstall or leave a poor review.

Step 5: Review competitor listings

Open the top results for your most important seeds. For each competitor, note:

• The words in the title and short description.
• Features emphasised in the first lines of the long description.
• Terms repeated in screenshots’ captions.
• Recurring words in their positive and negative reviews.

You are not copying. You are learning what vocabulary the category uses and where there is a gap. A phrase that nobody uses well but that many users type is an opportunity. Keep a note of which competitors are realistic rivals; an app with a very large install base may be out of reach on a broad term but beatable on a narrow one.

Step 6: Score and choose

Give every candidate term a rough score on three questions, using simple High, Medium, Low labels rather than invented numbers:

1. Relevance: does the app truly do this?
2. Demand: does the suggestion appear readily, and do related terms appear?
3. Competition: are the top results strong, well-matched apps?

Prioritise terms that are highly relevant, with moderate demand and manageable competition. Keep a primary term, a handful of secondary terms, and a pool of long-tail phrases for the description. Resist the urge to chase the highest-demand word if the app is a poor fit.

Step 7: Place keywords naturally

Where a keyword goes matters, but readability matters more.

• Title: include the app’s name and, space permitting, the single most important descriptive phrase. The title must still read like a name.
• Short description (Google Play) or subtitle (App Store): one clear sentence stating the benefit, with a primary term worked in naturally.
• Keyword field (App Store): use the dedicated field for terms not already in your title and subtitle. Avoid repeating words across fields, since repeating usually wastes space; confirm the current guidance from Apple.
• Full description: open with a strong paragraph that covers the core use. Use headings and short feature lists. Mention secondary and long-tail phrases where they fit the sentence. Write it for a human reader first.

Never pad the text with unrelated popular terms, competitor names, or repeated phrases. Stores prohibit misleading metadata, and the current rules are in their developer policies. It also hurts conversion, because visitors see a confusing page.

Step 8: Measure and iterate

Keep a change log: date, field changed, old text, new text, and the reason. Then watch the official consoles for changes in impressions, store listing visits, and installs from search. Look for trends over a stable period instead of reacting to daily noise, and avoid changing several things at once so you can attribute results.

Both stores offer ways to test listing changes; see app icon and screenshot best practices for experiments on visuals. For text changes, compare periods carefully, remembering that seasonality, updates, and reviews all affect the numbers.

Revisit your keyword sheet on a regular schedule. New suggestions appear, competitors change, and your app gains features. Add new rows, retire stale ones, and update the listing in small, deliberate steps.

Keyword research across many apps

If you publish several apps, make the sheet a shared template with columns for term, language, relevance, demand, competition, where it is used, and review date. Avoid pointing several of your own apps at the same primary term, since they will compete with each other and may read as repetitive. The portfolio checklist shows how to keep per-app records tidy.

What to avoid

• Keyword stuffing in any field, including the title and developer name.
• Using another brand’s name to attract searches.
• Claiming features the app lacks.
• Translating keywords mechanically without checking local usage.
• Ignoring ratings and reviews, which affect conversion as much as text does. See asking for reviews the right way.

More on running a publishing business is in the publishers hub.