Practitioner pattern · Ariel Michaeli (Co-founder and CEO of Appfigures, which sells the ASO tools (Keyword Inspector, Competitors Keywords) he recommends)
Keep your app name to 26-27 characters if it has an ampersand or special dash
Avoids the last word being cut; one recipe app ranked only for a half-word
Workedaso
What they did
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.
What happened
Prevents losing the last keyword in the name to truncation.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Maximizing Organic Growth with App Store Optimization — Ariel Michaeli, Appfigures“if you're using characters that are not alphanumeric, so an ampersand, or one of those characters, even a dash in some cases, if it's one of those special dashes, it takes up two characters, as far as the algorithm can see.”
“So if you look for the keyword and cut it in half, they're number one. But if you look for the proper keyword, they're not even in the selection.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
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- Never repeat a keyword between your app name, subtitle and keyword listGuest calls duplicates the worst ASO mistake: the word only counts at its weakest spot
- Promote an in-app purchase with your keyword in its name to boost search rankImmediate rank boost; keyword-in-name part works about half the time
- Count how many downloads competitors need per rating, then out-rate themGuest says more ratings beat more downloads in App Store search
- Pick keywords where your rating count matches the top 5, using competitors' keywords and reviewsGuest says new apps can reach top 5 on big keywords when rivals optimize badly
- If you're new to a crowded keyword, name the app around just that keywordGuest says fewer name keywords concentrate ranking weight; broaden once ratings grow
- Fill the Spanish (Mexico) listing with extra keywords to rank in the US storeDoubles keyword space; guest sees the same ranking weight as the main listing
- Show your target search words on your App Store screenshotsGuest says matching the searcher's words cuts 'is this for me?' doubt; no numbers
- Mirror: Name your app exactly the popular search word, like 'Mirror'4,000-5,000 downloads a day; guest says the exact-match boost still works, but weaker
- BBC: Check which words competitors rank for and use the phrasings you missedSaw results right away, per the guest; no numbers
- Dropbox: Put 'photo backup' words before a famous brand name in the app titleUndone after a few weeks; guest thinks that was a mistake. No numbers
- Pick launch keywords carefully, then try 4-5 keyword versions before judgingGuest says most who quit ASO stopped after 1-2 tries; results come later