LIVE: How to Do Keyword Research for App Store Optimization #ASO with Appfigures
In this live stream, Ariel from Appfigures dives deep into the process of keyword research for App Store Optimization (ASO), demonstrating how to use tools like Keyword Inspector to find and evaluate keyword opportunities. He also answers audience questions, analyzes real app examples, and shares tips for improving app visibility in both the App Store and Google Play.
Introduction to Keyword Research for App Store Optimization
Today, we're diving into the world of keyword research for app store optimization (ASO). Whether your app is big or small, a game or a utility, brand new or established, or whether you have a huge ad budget or none at all, the process is the same regardless of your app's size, type, or budget. I want to show you exactly how I approach keyword research, and to make it even more practical, I'll be using real keywords and apps suggested by you, the audience.
The Goal of Keyword Research
When it comes to keyword research, there’s no magic formula—no “do this, put this keyword in your app’s name, and boom, you’re done.” Instead, it’s about exploring relevant keywords, understanding how your competitors use them, and figuring out how you can leverage them in your app’s name, keyword list, subtitle, and (for Google Play) the short and long descriptions. The aim is to show the algorithm all the different ways people might search for your app, then use those keywords strategically. Rinse and repeat—this is the core of ASO.
Introducing Keyword Inspector and Other Tools
Let’s jump into my favorite tool: Keyword Inspector. This tool pulls data from the App Store and Google Play for any keyword and overlays it with actionable insights—like popularity, competitiveness, estimated downloads, and revenue—which might be unexpected without such a tool.
For example, searching for “remote control” shows a popularity of 40 (decent) and a competitiveness of 94 (very competitive). This tells us we might want to look for less competitive keywords. Keyword Inspector also lets you analyze competitors, see keyword gaps, and find opportunities for optimization. You can do this for different countries and platforms, including iPad, though optimizing for iPad comes with its own challenges.
Another powerful feature is the related keywords section, where AI identifies relationships between keywords and apps, suggesting additional terms you might not have considered. For instance, “Vizio TV remote” is surprisingly popular, which you might not expect without this data.
Live Keyword Research: Audience Suggestions
Now, let’s put this into practice using your suggestions. Some of the keywords you’ve submitted include: crossword puzzle, holiday countdown, reaction time, posture/back pain, habit tracker, music and sound effects for tabletop games, goal tracker, budget manager, expense tracking, and weather.
For today, let’s start with a competitive keyword: “weather.” I’ve analyzed weather apps many times, so it’s a great example.
Analyzing the “Weather” Keyword
Searching “weather” in Keyword Inspector reveals a popularity of 72 and a competitiveness of 100—extremely competitive. The top 10 apps get about 530,000 downloads and $5 million in revenue in the US alone. The Weather Channel dominates, but other apps like Clim (a weather app making over $1 million), Not Boring Weather, and others are also doing well.
If you’re launching a new weather app, it’s going to be tough to compete for the main “weather” keyword, especially since you’re up against Apple’s own app and major brands. Apple’s apps used to always be #1, but now they’re often #2, possibly to avoid the appearance of manipulating the charts.
Understanding Ratings and Keyword Duplication
The Weather Channel leads not because of high ratings, but because it gets a large number of new ratings—good or bad, the algorithm just wants to see engagement. If your app is new, you’ll need to match or exceed this volume of ratings to compete.
A common mistake is keyword duplication. The algorithm only counts the last instance of a keyword, so duplication wastes valuable space and can hurt your ranking. For example, if “weather” appears in both your app’s name and subtitle, only the subtitle counts. Removing duplication can lead to an instant rank boost, especially for established apps.
Finding Longtail Keyword Opportunities
If you can’t compete for “weather,” look for longtail keywords—phrases with lower popularity (ideally above 20) and less competition. These are often multi-word phrases where the top results don’t include the keyword exactly in their app’s name. If you use the keyword specifically, you can rank high quickly with fewer ratings.
To find these, I use Keyword Inspector to analyze the top five apps and all the keywords they rank for. Filtering for medium popularity and checking which apps rank in the top 10 helps identify opportunities.
Q&A: Ratings, Buying Installs, and More
John: Do absolute numbers or DPR win out? If I have 100 downloads/day and 10 ratings/day (DPR 10), and my competitor has 2,000 downloads and 50 ratings/day (DPR 40), who wins?
Ariel: The absolute number always wins because that’s what the algorithm sees. DPR is a metric I use to estimate how many downloads you need to surpass a competitor. If your DPR is higher, you get ratings faster, so you can outpace competitors with fewer downloads.
Andrea: Do services that sell ratings and installs get penalized?
Ariel: Absolutely. Don’t buy ratings or installs. Apple and Google eventually catch on, and you risk being banned or removed from the store. It’s not worth the risk.
Digging Deeper: Weather Forecast and Localization Tricks
Looking at “forecast,” we see it’s less popular than “weather,” but still competitive. Interestingly, some top apps don’t have “forecast” in their name, which is an opportunity. You can use English keywords in up to 10 non-English localizations to expand your keyword reach. This trick is especially useful for niche apps with low-popularity keywords.
On Google Play, the description is more important for keyword relevance, and the algorithm works similarly but with some differences in how metadata is weighted.
More Audience Questions
Sunny: How would a new app compete in the trip planner category? Are there valuable longtail keywords?
Ariel: Yes. Think about specifics: trip type, duration, destination, etc. Use competitor analysis to find what others are targeting and look for gaps.
David: Does Appfigures count Chinese localizations for the US?
Ariel: It should. If you find a case where it doesn’t, let us know and we’ll investigate.
Leonor: What’s the influence of app categories on keyword rankings? Differences between Google Play and the App Store?
Ariel: For intent-based keywords, category rank doesn’t impact rankings much. For brand keywords, the algorithm may use category rank if there aren’t enough relevant results. This is similar across both stores, though Google handles clones differently.
Cther: Any resources on formatting app descriptions?
Ariel: On the App Store, description formatting doesn’t matter for ASO, but make it readable for users. On Google Play, the description is crucial for ASO, though formatting options are limited. We have tools to help preview and optimize descriptions.
Ban: Does plural vs. singular matter? (e.g., ‘podcast app’ vs. ‘podcasts player’)
Ariel: The algorithm treats singular and plural as the same word in English, so you don’t need both. If you want to target both forms, use different localizations.
Final Thoughts and Next Steps
I host these live streams nearly every other week. If you enjoyed this session, please like the video and subscribe. Let me know in the comments what topics you’d like to see next—whether it’s TikTok ads or something else. Don’t forget to enter the raffle for a chance to win an Appfigures shirt: comment “raffle,” your favorite app, and why.
If you have more questions, drop them in the comments after the stream. I’ll be here to answer them. And if you want to try the tools I used today, there’s a promo code available for a limited time—check it out before it expires.
Thanks for joining, and I’ll see you in the next one!
✨ This transcript was generated and enhanced by AI and may differ from the original video.
