App Store keywords: how to choose them for your app

What exactly is ASO?

ASO, or App Store Optimization, covers everything you do to make an app show up in App Store search and make people want to download it. Two groups of fields matter: the ones that get you found (title, subtitle, hidden keyword field) and the ones that turn a visit into a download (icon, screenshots, description, promotional text).

For a first app, there's no need to jump straight to a paid tool. The method below works with a notebook, the App Store itself and a bit of discipline.

Find keywords before writing your listing

Start with what your audience actually types, not what you imagine they type. Three sources are enough for a first list.

The App Store search bar. Type the beginning of a query related to your app and look at the autocomplete suggestions. They reflect real user searches, not a theoretical estimate.

The apps your target audience already has installed. If you know apps similar to yours, look at their title, their subtitle and the words they repeat in their first screenshots. You're not copying their listing, you're observing the vocabulary they use.

Your first users' words. If friends, family or early testers have tried your app, write down the exact words they use to describe it to someone else. That's often closer to a real search than your own vocabulary as the creator.

Then sort each candidate keyword by what it describes: the problem solved, the main action and the app category. Never another app's name: Apple forbids it in keywords (rule 2.3.7). An ambiguous keyword that pulls in searches unrelated to your app is worth less than a precise keyword with less apparent volume.

Title and subtitle: the two fields that carry the most weight

On the App Store, the title and subtitle are the two visible fields that count the most in search. Apple caps their character count, so every word has to earn its place.

The title should be readable at a glance: your app's name, then maybe a short note on what it does, never another app's name (guideline 4.1). Avoid stacking several keywords with no real phrasing. Apple discourages it, and it hurts human readability as much as ranking.

The subtitle is where you sharpen the promise in a few words: the main action or the concrete benefit. Write it for a human scrolling fast, not as a list of stacked keywords, which Apple's guideline 2.3.7 rejects.

The hidden keyword field: don't repeat what's already elsewhere

App Store Connect gives you a separate keyword field, invisible on the public listing, that also feeds indexing. The common mistake is repeating words already in the title and subtitle: Apple has already counted them there, so it wastes limited space.

Use this field for variants, synonyms, common typos and words related to your use case but missing from the title. Separate words with commas and no extra spaces, and don't systematically add the plural of a word already there in the singular: Apple links close variants of the same keyword.

Screenshots matter too

Once people find your listing in search, it has to convince them, and you can spin off custom product pages for each audience. Screenshots are often the deciding factor, even before the description. Show the app's concrete benefit, not just a series of interface screens: someone scrolling quickly should understand what your app changes for them by looking at the first two or three images.

To put them together without design software, the App Store Screenshots Kit bundles my templates and the skill that builds your screenshots from your app's screens, in the sizes Apple requires.

A real example from the studio's portfolio

Vigie is the studio's ASO app: it reads the rankings, reviews, keywords and screenshots of any app, in one hundred sixty-one countries, from Apple's public data, without connecting anything. It's a good starting point to see how apps similar to yours are positioned before you finalize your own listing.

Measure afterward, not before

You don't judge ASO by gut feeling. Once your listing is live, App Store Connect shows you impressions and downloads by search term, with a bit of delay. Wait several weeks before drawing conclusions: the listing was just indexed, and the numbers need some volume to be meaningful. Change one thing at a time, title or subtitle for example, so you know which one actually has an effect.

To go further in preparing a complete App Store listing, beyond keywords alone, the App Store ASO page covers the rest: title, subtitle, screenshots and one listing per language.

And before ASO, an app that holds up

ASO, like an Apple Search Ads campaign, helps an already built app get found. It doesn't replace a clear core feature or a solid onboarding. If you're still building your first version, the from idea to App Store guide gives you the full method, from the idea all the way to submission.

For your listing, the ASO Kit bundles my keyword method, listing templates and the skill that translates it into 30 languages. It's also included in the iOS Kit.

If you want us to look at your listing together, title, keywords and screenshots, book an hour with me over video call.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find the right keywords for my app on the App Store?

Start with what your audience actually types. Three sources are enough: the App Store search bar suggestions, the vocabulary of apps similar to yours and the exact words of your first users. Then sort each keyword by what it describes: the problem solved, the main action or the app category, never another app's name. Pick a precise word over an ambiguous one.

What tool should I use to find App Store keywords?

For a first app, you don't need a paid tool: a notebook, the App Store itself and a bit of discipline are enough. To see how apps similar to yours are positioned before finalizing your listing, there's Vigie, the studio's ASO app. It reads their rankings, reviews, keywords and screenshots from Apple's public data.

What should I put in the App Store keyword field?

In the App Store Connect keyword field, put variants, synonyms, common typos and words related to your use case but missing from the title. This field is invisible on the public listing, but it feeds indexing. Don't repeat what's already in the title and subtitle, since Apple has already counted it. Separate words with commas and no extra spaces.

Which fields matter most for getting found on the App Store?

The title and subtitle are the two visible fields that count the most in search. The hidden keyword field in App Store Connect also feeds indexing. Apple caps the character count of the title and subtitle, so every word has to earn its place, and it discourages stacking keywords with no real phrasing.

How do I know if my keywords are working?

App Store Connect shows you impressions and downloads by search term, with a bit of delay. Wait several weeks before concluding: a listing that was just indexed needs some volume for the numbers to be meaningful. Change one thing at a time, the title or the subtitle for example, so you know which one actually has an effect.