📺 Optimizing Your Keyword List in App Store Connect for Better App Store Optimization (Live Keyword List Teardown)
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Full Transcript
Hello everyone, welcome to a brand-new live stream! Today, I'm doing something interesting that I don't think I've ever done before. I've conducted many teardowns, but I've never focused solely on a keyword list teardown. This is going to be fun! If I haven't seen you in a week—well, I don't really "see" you, just a camera—let's start with tradition: What's in your cup, and where are you from? I'm drinking simple Earl Grey tea, back to normal, and I'm here in New York where it's getting nice and warm. If you're in New York, hello! If not, come visit us. Tell me in the chat what's in your cup and where you're from. We'll wait for people to shuffle in, and then we'll dive into what I think is the most neglected part of your metadata that can really ruin your downloads. I see this every day—every single day.
We're doing something unique today: I asked people to submit their app and their keyword list—something I've never requested before. In the past, I guessed about keyword lists, but today we'll look at real ones and identify issues. I have tools, processes, tricks, and lessons I've learned in strange ways to share with you. Let's see what we have so far in the chat: Barcelona, Orlando, Florida—nice, probably sunny there, I hope—green tea in Poland, water in Greece. We're super international again; I love this so much! Eventually, I'll learn all the languages and chat in them—maybe in a million years. We've got black coffee in Canada, a hello from Iraq—wow, that's really cool—so all over the place! Georgia (Athens in Georgia), and Greece in the house too. Talk about cool!
Today, I'll drink my tea, but more importantly, I'll go over a guide I wrote years ago, recently updated with new information that negates what I said back in 2021 about the keyword list. It's really important, so pay attention. We'll cover tips, mistakes, and technical stuff that's simple. I'll show you a tool I use to correct mistakes, then we'll look at actual apps and keyword lists to see what's happening. Let's start at the beginning—ah, this tea is really hot, so I'll put it here and continue.
I have a treat for you today: people asked me to keep my face on screen as you see my computer, so I've done that. Hello, I'm still here! This guide, one of my first, highlighted a common set of mistakes everyone was making with their keyword lists in App Store Connect. The keyword list isn't the most important thing—I'd say it's the second-and-a-half most important part of your metadata. You have the name, subtitle, and then the keyword list. This is specifically for App Store Connect; Google Play will get a separate live stream analyzing the long description with the name and short description. For the App Store, you have these three elements, but they don't give you many characters, and Apple provides zero directions, especially for the keyword list. You need a name and subtitle that make sense, but when submitting your app—especially for the first time—you see this keyword list field and think, "I don't know what to do with this. What are keywords?" That's where mistakes happen.
I've reviewed many keyword lists, Apple's documentation, and analyzed everything to create this guide. We'll go through it quickly. If you have questions—like where my mouse is (I haven't lost it yet, but there's still time)—drop them in the chat. I'm watching it simultaneously from two spots. I selected eight apps randomly from about 70 submissions to see if they did a good job and what we can improve. There's a lot of text; we'll link the guide in the description later if you want to read it, but I'll give you the short version, most applicable here. If you've never done a keyword list, this might seem advanced—that's okay, you'll see soon. If you've done even one, you'll know what I mean.
One of the biggest problems is not using single words. In a sample list for a shopping app, the algorithm sees individual words—"shopping app" becomes "shopping" and "app." Repeating this wastes space because the algorithm doesn't recognize it as a single keyword. Second, remove all spaces; the algorithm doesn't use them meaningfully, and you're limited on characters. Don't pluralize words—I learned this through trial and error; the algorithm does it for you. There's a tiny caveat: if you need to compete on a highly competitive plural, you might consider it, but not in the keyword list—it's for your second-and-a-half most important keywords, not the most important ones. Eliminate stop words like "on," "and," "the," and "app"—Apple explicitly ignores "app." I've seen people make this mistake, and though it sometimes seems to work, it doesn't. There's a list of stop words at the guide's bottom in English; for other languages, use your favorite LLM like ChatGPT, Grok, Claude, or DeepSeek to get them easily—I should probably add that.
Don't include your app name, company name, or category name—they're already indexed elsewhere. There are rare cases where a super-competitive keyword might justify it, but those are narrow exceptions. Simplify complicated words; developers love big words, but users don't—keep it simple. Most importantly—and this might surprise you—don't use all 100 characters. I used to say use them all, and my guide said that until recently, but as you optimize, focus is key (also for your name and subtitle). If your keyword list is all over the place with unrelated keywords just to fill space, it hurts your ranking chances. Use all 100 characters only if the keywords are similar and maintain focus—then you win. If focus shifts away from main keywords, it'll hurt you. Lastly, sequence matters: in English, what's on the left gets more algorithm love; on the right, less—especially if using all 100 characters. I've seen ranks change based on sequence alone. I went through this quickly to get the technical aspect into everyone's heads. We'll link the guide later for details. I'm seeing chat questions about what to put in the keyword list—that's our focus today. Now that you know how to organize it, I'll show you a faster way in a few minutes. You can apply these tips manually, but a free tool can optimize your list, remove mistakes, and show keyword combinations to ensure you're targeting well. Let's take some questions first.
John asks, "What to put in the keyword list if I already have all relevant keywords in the title/subtitle in different locales indexed in the US?" Good question! I use localization for different focuses. Pick one focus per localization—name, subtitle, and keyword list together. For example, with "fitness," use "fitness at home," "fitness machine," "fitness routine" in the keyword list—not all fit in the name/subtitle. The algorithm merges them, prioritizing name, then subtitle, then keyword list. Put keyword stems (e.g., "fitness") in the name, supporting terms in the keyword list, but don't lose focus. Check keyword popularity to decide placement—important ones go in the name/subtitle, not the keyword list, and ensure competitiveness.
Leonardo asks, "Non-English languages consider irregular plurals as different words—what's your approach?" It's trickier; the algorithm is English-calibrated, less so for other languages. In English, you can skip plurals; in others, you might not have that luxury. Optimize for what's searched—use the plural if it's more popular, otherwise the singular. In non-English languages, especially eastward, aim for search trends since you won't get algorithmic pluralization benefits.
P asks, "What about keywords like ‘free to-do app'—should we remove ‘app' too?" A few problems: Apple dislikes "free"—it can lead to metadata rejection, though not always. "App" is problematic; if competitors target it, try it, but not in the keyword list—move it to the name if critical, despite being a stop word. Umberto asks, "Can you use not-similar words across regions?" Yes, each localization is its own island—name, subtitle, and keyword list merge within, not across, localizations. Focus within each one independently.
Gabriel asks, "If I share my keyword list, can you optimize it in real time?" With so many submissions, I can't do it live, but we'll see the process live with examples. Last question: "Does the order of title and subtitle matter too?" Absolutely—100%! In English, it reads left to right; in right-to-left languages, right to left. Put the most important keyword at the beginning based on language, for name, subtitle, and keyword list—they're sorted and merged that way.
Hopefully, this was a good starting point. Let's jump into the first app: "Surf Tracking - Surfing, Waves & Fitness Tracker." Already, there's a lot—surf, surfing, waves, fitness tracker. Too many words might confuse the algorithm, diluting focus. If "surf" is more important than "surfing," prioritize it; use "surfing" in a separate localization. In Keyword Inspector, "surf tracking" has a popularity of five—low, meaning few care. Even ranking number one won't drive much traffic. "Waves tracker" and "habit tracker" are also fives, less competitive but still low. "Fitness tracker" is popular and competitive, but adding it here confuses the algorithm—remove it from this localization.
Their keyword list: "tide, insight, surf fitness, surf training, surf analytics, ripple, curl, gp, windy, wind forecast, report." Problem one: "surf" repeats from the name, confusing the algorithm—it negates the name's priority. Repetition is the cardinal sin of ASO; it ruins everything. Optimizing it removes repetition and spaces, saving 17 characters. I'd keep only what aligns with "surf tracking"—"insight" (maybe "surf insights"), "analytics" (maybe "surf analytics"), "tide" (separate localization). "Fitness," "training," "gp" (two-character words are often ignored unless critical—move to subtitle if so), "windy," "wind forecast," "report" don't fit—test separately. This niche isn't popular, but ranking for multiple low-popularity keywords (fives to sevens) beats losing focus. Check competitors like Surfline for inspiration.
Next: "Panorama Scroll - Carousel Maker for Instagram, Photo Collage for Instagram." Instagram is huge—popularity 100, highly competitive. Niching down helps avoid giants like Snapchat. Keyword list: "car, scroll, swipeable, insta, grid, post, template, layout, story, picture, reel, photo, fit, swipe, mix, pic, art." Technically solid—one character saved (space or double comma). Focus is the issue—too much happening. "Car," "swipeable," "mix," "pic," "art" seem like competitors—don't waste characters on them; users won't download for a competitor's name (e.g., Twitter to X). "Insta" is critical—move it to the name (if allowed) or the keyword list's start. "Grid," "post," "template," "layout," "story," "picture," "reel," "photo" are fine; "fit" risks fitness confusion—remove it. "Carousel maker" is a five—not worth the name slot. Focus on high-opportunity keywords where top results lack the term in their name.
Third: "Tasks Timeline - Daily Organizer by Day Planner." Not too chaotic. Keyword list: "notification reminders wonder list plany daily planner time block reminders widget goal smas." Optimized, it saves 12 characters by cutting repetition and spaces. Don't target competitors ("wonder list," "plany")—unlikely to convert unless proven otherwise. Focus on what merges with "tasks," "timeline," "organizer"—"notification," "time block," "goal" could work; test "daily" separately.
Last: "Spend Atlas - Travel Budget App." Keyword list: "travel spending tracker expenses budget nomad solo expat spent expense tracker." "Expenses" repeats from the name—remove it, saving 17 characters with "expense tracker" duplication gone. "Nomad," "solo," "expat" feel separate—move to another localization. Keep "travel," "spending," "tracker," "budget" if they merge with "spend" or "travel" (e.g., "travel budget"—popularity five, so separate focus if not critical).
Finally: "Exist - Middle-Aged Community, Journaling Motivation Grief." Too many focuses—journaling, motivation, grief. Keyword list: "aware, cbt, mood tracker, headspace, competitor, depression, anxiety, stress, therapist, happier, ahead, said, calm, panic." Overloaded—split into localizations: "journaling" with "mood tracker," "cbt"; "grief" with "depression," "anxiety," "stress," "panic"; "motivation" with "therapist," "happier." Avoid competitors ("headspace," "calm"). Prioritize key terms in the subtitle, support in the keyword list—e.g., "journaling" in subtitle, "motivation" in keyword list, then flip in another localization.
Here's a trick: focus enhances everything—name, subtitle, keyword list. Use my free optimizer tool (under Tools > App Keyword List Optimizer) to clean technically, then refine for focus.
Happy optimizing!
