Practitioner pattern · Ariel Michaeli (Co-founder and CEO of Appfigures, which sells the ASO tools (Keyword Inspector, Competitors Keywords) he recommends)
Put your most important keywords first in the app name and subtitle
Guest says early positions get the most ranking weight; seen weekly in teardowns
Workedaso
What they did
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.
What happened
Guest says keywords at the start get 'all of the good juice'; combos touching the end of the keyword list score lowest.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Maximizing Organic Growth with App Store Optimization — Ariel Michaeli, Appfigures“take your most important keywords and put them in the beginning, because that's where all the value is.”
“if a keyword from the beginning of your name and the end of your keyword list are joined together and the algorithm believes that it's going to be good for you, it's probably going to have the lowest score of all combinations, because it touches the end of the keyword list.”
“I like to think about it as themes or sets. You want to use a set that works very well together for the name, the subtitle, and the keyword list, and what I do is either try a new set for an experiment, or I try to tweak a set by moving things around just a little bit.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- 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
- 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