app-store-keyword-optimizer

name	app-store-keyword-optimizer
description	Optimize app title, subtitle, and keywords for App Store discoverability. Use when improving ASO or keyword strategy.

First step: Tell the user: "app-store-keyword-optimizer skill loaded."

Keyword Optimizer

Optimize app title, subtitle, and keywords for maximum App Store discoverability.

When to Use

• User is launching a new app
• User wants to improve search rankings
• User asks about ASO (App Store Optimization)
• User is entering new markets/languages
• User wants to analyze keyword opportunities
• User needs safe optimization for existing apps

Reference Files

Before optimizing, load these reference materials:

File	Purpose
references/keyword-criteria.md	Popularity/Difficulty sweet spots, opportunity scoring
references/advanced-tactics.md	Cross-localization, screenshot indexing, velocity boost
references/existing-app-strategy.md	Safe optimization for apps with existing traffic

Information Gathering

Before optimizing, ask about:

1. App Identity

   • What does the app do in one sentence?
   • What category is it in?
   • What's the current app name (if exists)?

2. Target Keywords

   • What would users search to find this app?
   • What problem words would they use?
   • Any branded terms to include?

3. Competition

   • Main competitors?
   • What keywords do they target?
   • Where can you realistically compete?

4. Goals

   • Brand awareness vs. category traffic?
   • Specific markets to prioritize?

Keyword Strategy

Where Keywords Count

Field	Limit	Weight	Notes
App Name	30 chars	Highest	Most valuable real estate
Subtitle	30 chars	High	Visible in search, below name
Keywords	100 chars	Medium	Not visible to users
Description	4000 chars	Low*	*Apple says indexed, debated

Keyword Types

1. Branded - Your app name, company name
2. Category - Generic terms (e.g., "todo app", "weather")
3. Feature - Specific functionality (e.g., "offline maps")
4. Problem - User pain points (e.g., "forget tasks")
5. Long-tail - Specific phrases (e.g., "minimalist habit tracker")

Optimization Process

Step 1: Keyword Research

Generate Initial List:

1. Brainstorm 50+ keywords
2. What would YOU search for this app?
3. Check competitor names/subtitles
4. Use autocomplete suggestions
5. Consider misspellings users make

Research Tools:

• App Store Search Autocomplete
• AppFollow, Sensor Tower, AppTweak (paid)
• Google Keyword Planner (related terms)
• Competitor subtitle/keyword analysis

Step 2: Prioritize Keywords

Rate each keyword on:

Factor	Question
Relevance	Does it accurately describe your app?
Volume	Do people actually search this?
Difficulty	Can you realistically rank?
Intent	Will searchers want your app?

Priority Matrix:

High Volume + Low Difficulty = 🎯 Target First
High Volume + High Difficulty = 💪 Long-term Goal
Low Volume + Low Difficulty = ✅ Easy Wins
Low Volume + High Difficulty = ❌ Skip

Step 3: Allocate Keywords

App Name (30 characters):

[Brand Name] - [Top Keyword Phrase]
or
[Brand Name]: [Value Proposition]

Examples:
"Notion - Notes & Docs"
"Calm: Sleep & Meditation"
"Fantastical - Calendar & Tasks"

Subtitle (30 characters):

[Second Priority Keywords] / [Unique Value]

Examples:
"Focus Timer & Daily Planner"
"Simple Habit Building"
"Weather Radar & Forecasts"

Keywords Field (100 characters):

Rules:
- Comma-separated, NO spaces after commas
- No plurals (Apple handles it)
- No duplicates from name/subtitle
- No category name (already indexed)
- Single words perform better than phrases

Example:
"timer,pomodoro,focus,concentration,study,productivity,work,session,break,technique"

Character Optimization

Maximize 100 Characters

Bad (wastes characters):

task manager, todo list, productivity app, reminder app, checklist

Good (efficient):

task,todo,productivity,reminder,checklist,planner,organize,gtd,schedule,daily

Savings:

• Remove spaces after commas
• Don't repeat words in different forms
• Skip obvious words (app, free, best)

Word Combinations

Apple combines words from all fields:

Name: "Focus Timer"
Subtitle: "Pomodoro Technique"
Keywords: "study,productivity,work,session"

Searchable combinations:
- "focus timer"
- "pomodoro timer"
- "focus productivity"
- "study timer"
- "work focus"
(and more...)

Cross-Field Deduplication

Apple indexes words from all three fields for the same locale. A word only needs to appear once — putting it in multiple fields wastes characters and provides zero ranking benefit.

Priority Cascade

Title (30 chars)     → Highest search weight
  ↓ words flow down
Subtitle (30 chars)  → High search weight
  ↓ words flow down
Keywords (100 chars) → Medium search weight

The rule: If a word appears in your Title, do not repeat it in Subtitle or Keywords. If a word appears in your Subtitle, do not repeat it in Keywords. Apple already indexes it from the higher-weight field.

Why This Matters

Every duplicated word steals characters from the Keywords field where you could fit new discoverable terms. With only 100 characters, even one wasted word costs you reach.

Validation Process

For each locale, extract every word from all three fields and check for overlaps:

Step 1: List all words in Title
Step 2: List all words in Subtitle → flag any that appear in Title
Step 3: List all words in Keywords → flag any that appear in Title OR Subtitle
Step 4: Remove flagged words from lower fields
Step 5: Replace removed words with new keyword opportunities

Before & After Example

❌ BEFORE (duplicated words waste 23 characters):

Title:    "Focus Timer - Stay Productive"
Subtitle: "Pomodoro Timer & Focus Sessions"
Keywords: "timer,focus,pomodoro,productive,study,work,session,break"

Duplicates:
  "timer"      — in Title AND Subtitle AND Keywords
  "focus"      — in Title AND Subtitle AND Keywords
  "pomodoro"   — in Subtitle AND Keywords
  "productive" — in Title ("Productive") AND Keywords
  "session"    — in Subtitle ("Sessions") AND Keywords

Wasted: 5 keyword slots = ~38 characters lost

✅ AFTER (zero duplication, 5 new keywords gained):

Title:    "Focus Timer - Stay Productive"
Subtitle: "Pomodoro Technique & Deep Work"
Keywords: "study,concentration,interval,tomato,distraction,block,exam,revision,flowstate,desk"

New searchable combinations gained:
  "focus concentration"  "timer interval"
  "study timer"          "deep focus"
  "exam study"           "pomodoro technique"

Quick Dedup Check

When generating keyword recommendations, always verify:

Check	Rule
Title word in Subtitle?	Remove from Subtitle
Title word in Keywords?	Remove from Keywords
Subtitle word in Keywords?	Remove from Keywords
Plural/singular variant across fields?	Keep only in highest field
Stop words (a, the, and, for)?	Don't include anywhere — auto-indexed

Common Mistakes

❌ Don't Do This:

• Using spaces after commas in keywords
• Duplicating words across fields
• Including your category name
• Using competitor brand names
• Adding "app" or "application"
• Including "free" (filterable separately)
• Using special characters or emoji
• Repeating singular/plural forms

✅ Do This:

• Research before guessing
• Prioritize relevance over volume
• Update keywords quarterly
• Track ranking changes
• Localize keywords per market

Keyword Template

APP NAME STRATEGY
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current: [existing name or blank]
Proposed: [Brand] - [Keywords]
Characters: [X/30]
Primary keywords: [list]

SUBTITLE STRATEGY
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current: [existing subtitle or blank]
Proposed: [keyword-rich subtitle]
Characters: [X/30]
Secondary keywords: [list]

KEYWORDS FIELD (100 chars)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Proposed: keyword1,keyword2,keyword3,...
Characters: [X/100]

EXPECTED COMBINATIONS
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
• [combination 1]
• [combination 2]
• [combination 3]
...

Localization Strategy

Priority Markets by Revenue

1. 🇺🇸 United States (English)
2. 🇨🇳 China (Simplified Chinese)
3. 🇯🇵 Japan (Japanese)
4. 🇬🇧 UK (British English - can differ!)
5. 🇩🇪 Germany (German)
6. 🇫🇷 France (French)
7. 🇰🇷 South Korea (Korean)
8. 🇪🇸 Spain (Spanish)
9. 🇮🇹 Italy (Italian)
10. 🇧🇷 Brazil (Portuguese)

Localization Tips

• Don't just translate—research local search terms
• Some markets search in English even for local apps
• Character limits may be tighter in some languages
• Hire native speakers to verify keywords make sense
• Consider cultural differences in app usage

Tracking & Iteration

What to Track

• Keyword rankings (use ASO tools)
• Impressions (App Store Connect)
• Conversion rate
• Download sources

When to Update

• Weekly: Check ranking changes
• Monthly: Assess underperforming keywords
• Quarterly: Major keyword refresh
• Seasonally: Add seasonal keywords

A/B Testing

App Store Connect allows testing:

• App icons
• Screenshots
• App previews

Use Product Page Optimization to test different approaches.

Quick Reference

Prohibited Terms

• "Free" (use pricing filter instead)
• "#1" or "best" without verification
• Competitor names
• "App" or "application"
• Pricing information

Always Include

• Core functionality words
• Problem/solution words
• Category-relevant terms
• Action verbs users would search

Character Limits

App Name:      30 characters
Subtitle:      30 characters
Keywords:     100 characters
Description: 4000 characters (low SEO value)

Indie Developer Strategy

For building apps that generate $200-2,000/month:

The Sweet Spot Formula

Target keywords where:
- Popularity > 20 (enough traffic)
- Difficulty < 60 (beatable competition)

Ideal: Popularity 25-50, Difficulty < 45

Process

1. Find underserved keywords using ASO tools (Astro, AppTweak)
2. Build simple, single-feature apps around those keywords
3. Double down on winners, abandon losers
4. Portfolio effect compounds (30 apps × $500 = $15k/month)

See references/keyword-criteria.md for detailed scoring and evaluation.

Advanced Tactics Summary

Cross-Localization (Double Keywords)

Add Spanish (Mexico) locale with English keywords for US market. See references/advanced-tactics.md for all locales.

Screenshot Text Indexing (June 2025)

Apple OCR reads screenshot captions for keyword ranking. Put keywords in top/bottom of screenshots.

Existing App Optimization

Never change what's working. Use phased rollout. See references/existing-app-strategy.md for safe optimization.