Practitioner pattern · Ariel Michaeli (Co-founder and CEO of Appfigures, which sells the ASO tools (Keyword Inspector, Competitors Keywords) he recommends)
Promote an in-app purchase with your keyword in its name to boost search rank
Immediate rank boost; keyword-in-name part works about half the time
Workedaso
What they did
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.
What happened
Immediate ranking boost; keyword in IAP name works about 50% of the time; losing relevance as more apps use it.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Maximizing Organic Growth with App Store Optimization — Ariel Michaeli, Appfigures“So if you promote an in-app purchase, you're going to get an immediate boost, and I think now enough companies do it that it's beginning to lose its relevancy, but still doesn't happen all the time, so if you have the ability, go and do it.”
“If you have a promoted in-app purchase that has the keyword in its name, you're also supposed to get a boost.”
“I know that in-app events are in the same boat, and once news came out that in-app events help you with ranks, almost every app that I've seen had some sort of an in-app event, including updates.”
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
- 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