Maximizing Organic Growth with App Store Optimization — Ariel Michaeli, Appfigures

Treat name, subtitle and keyword list as one string: Apple concatenates them and weights keywords by position, from the start of the name to the end of the keyword list. Put the most relevant keywords at the very start of the name, either before or after the brand ('Keywords - Brand' or 'Brand - Keywords'). Continue in order of importance through the subtitle, then the keyword list. Keep phrase word order the same across name and subtitle (flipping it loses weight). Split multi-word names into separate words ('Weather Up', not 'WeatherUp'). Don't use quotes, repetition or two-word phrases in the keyword list; single words combine automatically. Work in keyword 'sets' and experiment by swapping a set or reordering within it.

Each keyword should appear once across name, subtitle and keyword list. Apple doesn't penalize duplication, but when a word appears twice it uses the last (lowest-weight) position, so a word from the start of the name repeated at the end of the keyword list loses its strong placement. Duplicating between different localization sets is fine.

Special characters (ampersand, some dashes) count as two characters to the ranking algorithm, which truncates the name at 30 even though App Store Connect accepts it. Avoid them in the name; if you use them, keep the name to 26-27 characters so the last keyword isn't chopped. Guest saw a recipe app ranking #1 for half of a keyword and not at all for the full keyword because of this.

Promote an in-app purchase on the App Store (works better for subscriptions than consumables); give the promoted IAP a name containing a target keyword. Also run in-app events, which Apple allows even for updates. Guest sees apps ranking higher than their ratings justify after doing this, though the effect is fading as more apps do it.

Ratings (positive or negative), not reviews or downloads, tell Apple people care. Compute each ranking competitor's downloads-per-rating (DPR): how many downloads it takes to produce one rating. Use it to estimate how many downloads you need to reach their rating count, promote the app to that point, and optimize to turn as many downloads as possible into ratings. Don't buy ratings.

Check the popularity score of every keyword before using it instead of trusting intuition (e.g. 'weather widgets' was tiny, 'weather alerts' 31). Target keywords where your current or planned rating count is in line with the top 5 results. Look for keywords rivals optimize badly; niches often copy one app's wrong choice, so doing it right outranks them all. Sources: competitors' keywords (where they rank and where they don't), keywords you already rank for but too low, and words users use in competitors' reviews, which capture intent.

Don't leave the name as the brand only, but when you are new to a category, the keyword is very competitive, or the app is weak/hasn't done ASO for a long time, keep the name focused on one core keyword (plus brand) instead of filling all 30 characters. Later, with more ratings and downloads, expand to other keyword combinations. Watch the ranking afterwards: if you move the keyword out of the name, learned rank fades faster in keywords competitors actively optimize.

The US App Store indexes the English listing plus Spanish (Mexico), and now Russian and a few other localizations (about five sets). Fill each set's name, subtitle and keyword list: real translations if you localize, otherwise more English keywords. Each set is combined separately, so you can repeat a keyword between sets but not within one. Downside: users with that device language see that name.

Once you know the keyword people search (e.g. 'weather alerts'), put it and its promise on the screenshots so the page matches the search intent. Keep one message across icon, name, subtitle, keywords, screenshots, video and description. A/B test screenshots, including per localization; video previews help some audiences and hurt others. Spend as much time using keywords as finding them. Screenshot text is not indexed for search, per guest.

About a decade ago, host named his mirror app just 'Mirror' plus a Unicode symbol so it exactly matched the popular search 'mirror', which tens of thousands of people searched daily. The app itself was well rated (~4.9 stars). Guest confirms an exact name match still helps in 2023 (via 'focus'), but it no longer rockets an app to the top and he expects it to stop working eventually.

Ian from the BBC's app team used Appfigures' Competitors Keywords report to find a different way to say a keyword that weaker competitor apps were using. Because the BBC app was much stronger than those apps, adopting the phrasing ranked it quickly.

Dropbox changed its App Store name to lead with photo keywords (something like 'Photo Backup by Dropbox'), keeping the brand in the title since brand searches still find it. John Gruber criticized it; the guest argued it helps non-technical users searching for photo storage. Dropbox reverted a few weeks later.

New 1.0 apps get about a seven-day boost where ratings count doesn't matter, only keyword relevance. Settle keywords before launch so the boost lands on relevant searches; a good icon and screenshots turn that visibility into downloads and ratings, which keep rank afterwards. After that, expect to spend time up front studying competitors, then run four or five keyword iterations before judging results; most people who say ASO doesn't work have tried once or twice.