Practitioner pattern · Ariel Michaeli (Co-founder and CEO of Appfigures, which sells the ASO tools (Keyword Inspector, Competitors Keywords) he recommends)
Pick keywords where your rating count matches the top 5, using competitors' keywords and reviews
Guest says new apps can reach top 5 on big keywords when rivals optimize badly
Workedaso
What they did
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.
What happened
Guest regularly sees new apps with few downloads ranking top 5 on important keywords because incumbents optimize poorly.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Maximizing Organic Growth with App Store Optimization — Ariel Michaeli, Appfigures“you want to identify keywords where your app can compete, which means the number of ratings that you're getting, or you're planning on getting if you're going to do any sort of push, kind of align with the top five results.”
“most apps try to copy other apps. And so if one does it incorrectly, but convincingly enough, almost everyone else will try to copy it in that particular niche, and that's really a great opportunity, because you can just do it right, and then you outrank all of them.”
“I love to read competitor reviews, and to see what their users are saying. Because that is their intent”
“You can launch an app tomorrow and expect to be in the top five results for a very successful keyword.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Put your most important keywords first in the app name and subtitleGuest says early positions get the most ranking weight; seen weekly in teardowns
- 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
- Keep your app name to 26-27 characters if it has an ampersand or special dashAvoids the last word being cut; one recipe app ranked only for a half-word
- 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
- 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