App Store optimization tactics

Copied from Cal AI's onboarding: a social-proof slide ('designed for people like you', five stars, member count, real reviews) that triggers the native rating prompt before users see the reviews. Placed after 5 minutes of reflective questions and free feedback, so users are happy when asked.

The app was originally just called 'Cardstock' with no subtitle, so it only got people searching the name. Apple's $100 free Apple Search Ads credit pushed Kyle to learn about keywords; he read Sensor Tower and Appfigures posts on ASO, brainstormed a list of terms, checked their popularity with a Sensor Tower free trial, and picked the highest-value ones that fit. Title became 'Cardstock Sports Card Scanner' ('baseball card scanner' didn't fit the character limit) with a subtitle along the lines of 'find value for baseball cards', ordering keywords by priority. It was the first baseball card scanner app. He now tracks keywords in Astro and suggests Sensor Tower's 1-month free trial ('with as many emails as you want') plus checking popularity before choosing a niche.

First goal after design was getting a two-tab, no-onboarding V1 approved by Apple so the app could be listed as a pre-order while it was still being built and marketed. Pre-orders auto-download at release and Apple emails users that the app is live. Kept the listing up ~2 weeks. Pitfall: pre-orders require a release date; he pushed it back every 2-3 days, forgot once, and the buggy build auto-released to ~1,000 users, so he had to revert to pre-order.

App already had 'wallet' in its title. In the iOS keyword field, the word 'Apple' was moved from somewhere on the right to the very first position, to target the combined term 'Apple Wallet'. Steve's rule: keywords further left in the keyword field tend to rank better.

Found a keyword (two variants, one word and two words, each ~30 search volume) that no competitor used in its title, based on an owned app ranking #1 for similar-volume keywords at 100-150 downloads/day. Asked a client with a new app idea to name the app exactly that keyword. Launched with no free trial.

Casper coordinated five creator friends to post on one day. Aim for a top-20 category rank so people browsing the charts find the app, plus the bragging rights.

Title: 'Green Noise App'. Subtitle: 'Green Noise for Better Sleep', the App Store autofill suggestion for 'green noise'. Keyword field: 'green,noise,app,free'. Aimed at every autofill variant of the main term (green noise free, free green noise, green noise for better sleep). Done quickly at launch without deeper optimization.

Title with literal, popular high-intent terms; brand name last (if at all); subtitle written to convert, not keyword-stuffed; ignore search volume at launch; simple icon from competitive analysis (test only to avoid a bad one); screenshots 'screenshot, message' with the hero showing what users want, updated with messaging learned from ads; extra custom product pages. Example: 'Bible Companion Chat', 'read scriptures, understand it'.

Start from categories with high revenue per install and 'painkiller' niches (green noise, migraine tracker vs meditation). Search a broad term and look for an app ranking high with few ratings (e.g. #3 with 138 reviews); put it into ASO Mobile to list every keyword it indexes for. Target keywords with search volume ~30+ where few top apps have the keyword in their title and the #2-#3 apps have only ~100+ reviews, ignoring tool difficulty scores. Check Sensor Tower/Meta Ad Library to confirm the outlier isn't driven by ads. Find the keyword first, then build the app.

On Instagram, uses ManyChat: 'Comment download and I'll send you your custom affirmations.' The auto-DM sends them to download the app, and also says 'Hey, if you review the app, let me know so I can thank you personally' to encourage App Store reviews.

After onboarding questions, a 'Leave a rating' screen triggers the native rating pop-up; to continue, users must tap an 'I rated' button (whether or not they rated). Same screen used on Sprout. Newest app dropped the forced button (co-founder uncomfortable) and uses a plain 'Leave a rating' + continue, which still works. Similar approach for the notification permission page.

Every link they post (ManyChat DMs, link in bio) goes to its own App Store custom product page, so App Store analytics show installs per source. On posting days they compare traffic through ManyChat links with organic installs. YouTube posts use a non-ManyChat CTA, so clicks there can't be seen; they rely on download spikes on posting days instead.