📺 LIVE: Expert Answers Your App Store Optimization #ASO Questions

Videos

Ariel

Jan. 12

Transcript

Hello everyone, Happy New Year, and welcome to a brand-new live stream.

We have a really good one today: I'm going to answer your questions. I'm sure you have a bunch of questions about App Store optimization, and I think I have the answers—we'll see. Every time I send an email or tweet about this, I ask you to come with your hardest question. Let's see if anyone can give me a question I can't answer today!

Let's get started:

Paul is asking: “For a new app, how would you strategize about improving search visibility?” That's such a good question, because in most cases, you might not even think about it when you release a new app. But it's something you really should be thinking about—ideally before you release. That's for another live stream. But if I were making recommendations or building a strategy for an app that's about to launch, it's fairly straightforward.

There are two main components to App Store optimization that I talk about all the time: (1) having the right keywords, obviously, and (2) having enough ratings. That second part trips up a lot of people. They'll say, “I have all the right keywords, and I still can't compete.” The usual answer is: “Do you have enough ratings to compete with apps that also use the same keywords?” Usually, it's no.

So here's what I'd do: I'd use Keyword Inspector to start looking for relevant keywords for whatever my app does. I'd look through my competitors, or similar apps if there are no direct competitors, and then look for keywords where the top results don't have a lot of ratings. You don't have to look at just #1 or #2—even #3, #4, or #5. The App Store ranks more apps across more keywords, but not all apps use all the right keywords. That means there are still many opportunities to find a keyword where the top app has tons of ratings but #2, #3, and #4 barely have any. That's what you want to look for. Ideally, you'd also find keywords where the top apps don't have that keyword in their name. Between those two things, you can often get the most bang for your buck.

If you don't do that and just go with keywords that are either very relevant or amazing and very popular, you're probably not going to get that kind of visibility right out of the gate unless you have some other way to get new ratings, which usually means paid ads. You can do that, and it could work—but if you're not going to do it, or not going to do it at scale, you should definitely try those two things first. Hopefully you're all doing that. Let me know in the chat if you did it before launch, during launch, or if you ignored it altogether. I'm curious which stage you started.

All right, back to the chat. Musa is asking if we'll do App Store page reviews. Yes, but not in this live stream—this is all about questions and answers. I want to make sure that, as you go through your App Store optimization journey (especially this early in the year), you know what you're doing. We'll do live app tear-downs later this month or early next month, so be on the lookout. A lot of people ask me about that. Eventually, I might just have to do a live stream every week!

Unai is asking: “My app has ‘AI Image Generator' in the title without repetition, and it gets about 130 ratings per month. Can you analyze the results for that keyword and explain why we're ranking lower than position 80?” Let's take a quick look. The thing about “image generator”—and really anything AI-related at this point—is that it's incredibly competitive. You really have to focus on a specific angle. If you look at the results, you'll see the popularity is very high, the competitiveness is high, and you can see top apps get a lot of new ratings. If your app gets 130 ratings a month, is that in the U.S. specifically, or globally? Because App Store ranking is country-specific. Sometimes you'll see an app that has fewer ratings but is outranking you because it has the keyword in the name and the subtitle, or because it's generating a ton of new ratings very quickly.

When we do live app tear-downs, you should submit your app, and I might pick it. That could be really interesting to see in action. Hopefully you like these new changes in Keyword Inspector, which is my favorite tool and what I use all the time. Let's move on.

Dean is asking if it's a good strategy to use ASA (Apple Search Ads) to identify which intent is driving downloads, set a max cost per acquisition, and then work on ASO. The short answer is yes, no, maybe. Apple will say you should run a Discovery campaign on Apple Search Ads to see what keywords drive people, and then focus on those in a second Apple Search Ads campaign. That could work, but it can also be a waste of money, because Discovery campaigns on Smart Match might burn your budget quickly.

What I'd do is check your competitors. If you don't have direct competitors, look for similar apps. Several tools can show you which keywords those apps are paying for with Search Ads, but also the organic keywords they rank for. You don't want to pay to “discover” what's already out there to see. That's how I'd approach it: see what's working for competitors, don't rely too heavily on the automatic method from Apple, and refine from there.

Next question: “How long should you wait after making ASO changes before assessing if they were successful?” For a big, competitive keyword, I'd wait somewhere between three weeks and a month. Sometimes you see changes overnight or within a few days, but the algorithm might cause an initial spike that settles down. You want to give it two or three weeks to see how it all stabilizes. For smaller keywords or longer phrases, you might see results faster—maybe in two weeks. And if you see something tank your ranks, give it at least a day or two; sometimes it'll dip and then rebound. Don't confuse the algorithm by immediately reverting changes.

David asks: “What should I do if a competitor overpays for keywords in Apple Search Ads?” Realistically, you can't beat someone who has a massive budget. So the best strategy is to find the many smaller long-tail keywords your competitor might not think about. That's usually cheaper, and if you gather enough of them, you can still get meaningful results. I wrote about that in my Apple Search Ads guide, which I'll link to later.

Another Apple Search Ads question: “If you significantly invest and get a spike in ratings, how long before that's reflected in your organic positioning?” The algorithm doesn't like spikes, so it might take a while. Usually a steady upward trend gets recognized faster. It might take a few days or even a week for a big spike to settle in the algorithm. Remember, Apple considers the last 30 days of ratings, so a giant one-day spike may not do much if the rest of the month is empty. But yes, generating ratings with Search Ads to lower your DPR is a good idea.

Next: “In order to benefit from extra localizations in the U.S., how do we choose keywords for the metadata of other languages? Do we just copy and paste the U.S. metadata?” Great question. Apple indexes your name, subtitle, and keyword list in 10 localizations for the U.S. store. If you're not localizing, you can still use English words in those slots to get more keyword space. But you don't want to copy/paste the same keywords—you want new ones. For example, if you have an AI assistant, you might use certain keywords in the main U.S. listing and other keywords in the Spanish or Chinese listing. The key is to broaden your coverage. I'll link to my guide on how to do that later.

Another question: “I have a good-performing brand but bad-performing keywords. What do I do with the bad ones?” Well, “bad” usually means you can't rank for them. Maybe they're too competitive or not relevant enough. If you're not getting traction, consider longer-tail variants—e.g., not just “fitness” but “fitness at home” or “AI background generator” instead of “AI image generator.” And use your extra localizations to fit in those variations.

Taking a quick break here—my team says comments aren't open yet, so if you want to enter the giveaway, put “giveaway: [favorite app]” in the chat. We'll analyze it later, and that's how I'll pick someone to get the shirt. If you don't want the shirt, that's okay, but I think it's pretty awesome. Anyway, back to the chat!

Leonardo asks: “Any tips for Google Play search visibility for apps that already launched but have low downloads and ratings?” Google is a bit different from Apple. There are more opportunities. Ratings help, but keywords matter a lot. Google uses your long description to figure out if your app is relevant for certain searches. You need to repeat keywords in the description a certain number of times (not too many, not too few). The short description also matters, as does your title. Two interesting quirks on Google: (1) Keywords in user reviews help you rank (though it's easy to game and can be risky), and (2) inbound links to your app's Google Play page, with specific anchor text, can help. Finally, Google hates crashes and high uninstall rates. If people install and uninstall quickly, your rank can tank. So keep an eye on your user experience.

Brell is asking about multiple localizations: “In the main U.S. localization, I have ‘conversion calculator,' and in the Chinese localization, I have ‘convert units.' I feel like my app should rank higher. Are these extended localizations penalized?” To my knowledge, Apple doesn't penalize or deprioritize that. The question is whether you're truly out-competing the others on ratings, keywords in your name, etc.

Num says: “I'm having huge success with a hard paywall. Should I try a softer approach with higher pricing?” The only way to know is to test, because it depends on your user base. A hard paywall can generate a lot of revenue, but sometimes it hurts your brand or leads to quick churn. You have to find the balance.

Theon asks about running ad campaigns for a kids' app—where to run them (Meta, ASA, Google Ads, etc.). My answer is to figure out where your potential users are. For kids' apps, it's often parents, so Apple Search Ads can be great if they're already looking. Beyond that, you can expand to Meta, TikTok, Google Ads, etc. But each channel requires different creatives, so ASA is a simpler place to start if people are searching for what you offer.

Recorder asks: “How do I select the best keywords for different countries?” I do the same thing I do for the U.S., but for that specific country. I look at local competitors, see which keywords they use, mix of English and local language, and then use auto-translation (or a translator) to understand them. People are often surprised how many apps in non-English-speaking countries still rely on English keywords. Apple's algorithm will index them in local stores anyway. Don't just paste in your English keywords and auto-translate them. You want to find which local phrases are actually popular and relevant.

We have more questions, but remember to like the video if you're enjoying this or if you want to win the shirt. The hearts in the chat are nice, but the thumbs-up is what helps YouTube show this to more people.

A question from X: “What's the best single tip for someone launching an app for the first time?” I'd say: build an app that people actually want. Don't just build something you think might be cool. Make sure you have enough demand by checking if people are searching for that kind of thing, and whether there are competitors. That way, you're building an app with real business viability.

Atomic App asks: “Do apps with higher revenue rank better?” The short answer is no. I haven't seen any evidence that the amount of money an app makes helps its keyword ranking. Apple mostly relies on ratings (and your app's name/keywords), because ratings show popularity more directly. Revenue doesn't seem to factor in.

André asks: “What's a horrible DPR (downloads per rating)?” There's no single answer. In an ideal world, it's 1—every download yields a rating, but that never happens. If you can keep it under 30, you're doing well. Over 100 is pretty bad. A huge developer might not care, but if your DPR is too high, you're not getting enough ratings to compete.

Another simple question: “Which factors influence app ranking for a specific keyword?” It's basically how well you use that keyword (in your name/subtitle/keyword list) and how many new ratings you get. Apple and Google both weigh relevance plus performance. That's ASO 101.

Next: “How do we create the right keywords before publishing, since the app isn't in an ASO tool yet?” You don't need to be in a tool if the app's not published; just look at competitors and see which keywords they're ranking for. Use that research to build your own list ahead of time.

We're running low on time, so I'll pick up the pace. Someone asks if there's a way to find install conversion for specific keywords besides running paid ads. The answer is basically no—it depends heavily on user behavior, and you usually have to test it.

David asks about splitting a keyword across title and subtitle. For competitive keywords, don't break them up between name and subtitle—keep them intact. Apple's algorithm might ignore partial matches, especially if you're aiming for high-volume queries.

Dean asks if downloads or retention on-device affects iOS ranking. From everything I've seen, Apple does not factor in your on-device usage or retention. They're very privacy-focused and rely more on user-facing stats like ratings and relevance.

I see someone saying they only use one localization and get about a thousand downloads a day. It feels like using fewer keywords helps those specific keywords weigh more. That's absolutely right. We call that “focus.” The less you dilute your name/subtitle with extra keywords, the stronger your ranking can be for the ones you do include. But remember, you can still use multiple localizations to expand your coverage without cramming everything into one set of metadata.

One last question: “How do we avoid cannibalizing our organic keywords when we run Apple Search Ads?” I usually remove any keywords from my paid campaigns if I'm already ranking #1 or #2 organically. Then, if my organic rank dips, I put them back in. Yes, that's a little more work, but it's the best way not to waste money on keywords you already rank for. You can get fancy and only add paid coverage at certain times of day, but that's a nano-optimization most people won't bother with.

We're pretty much out of time. If you still want the shirt, subscribe, like the video, and put “giveaway: [favorite app]” in the chat. I might pick two people—I'm feeling generous. We have another live stream coming up in a couple of weeks with a guest, so keep an eye on your inbox. If you have additional questions, drop them in the comments once the live stream is done.

We have a busy year ahead with new products, features, and updates in Keyword Inspector. We're going deeper into Apple Search Ads insights, and we're working on a big project I can't fully talk about yet, but I think you're going to love it. It'll give you an even better picture of what's successful on the App Store and Google Play. Have a wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you in the next one!