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8 Tips to Optimize Your Keywords List in App Store Connect

Once you submit your iOS or Mac app to the App Retailer Apple asks you for an inventory of key phrases that describe your app. Apple makes use of this checklist to determine when to point out your app in search outcomes and the place. Though that is not the one option to get present in search outcomes, the key phrases you submit could have loads of weight in your ASO so it is vital to get as lots of them as you possibly can in.

However the textual content field solely accepts 100 characters. Characters, not even phrases! That is not sufficient to actually describe your app. Fortunately, there are methods to optimize this checklist to reap the benefits of options in Apple’s search algorithm that are not marketed and squeeze extra worth out of these 100 characters.

Optimizing Key phrases for App Retailer Join

Below the hood, the App Retailer makes use of Full Textual content Search, which employs superior search matching to show the checklist of key phrases you present into search phrases customers kind into the App Retailer. In brief, it is good. The engine’s cleverness offers us a number of alternatives to get extra key phrases than the restricted 100 characters supply at first look.

Many builders start by typing “full” search phrases into the textual content field. For the sake of instance, here is what an unoptimized key phrase checklist for a buying app might appear like:

buying, sneakers, sneaker, store, buying app, purchase sneakers, purchase equipment, sneakers, store sneakers

Let’s undergo all of the methods this checklist will be optimized to incorporate extra phrases.

1. Cut up Search Phrases into Single Phrases and Get rid of Duplication

One of the vital optimizations is that the engine handles creating mixture of search phrases out of your key phrases. Which means you do not have to enter full search phrases however reasonably its elements. For instance, the time period “purchase sneakers” and be cut up into “purchase” and “sneakers”. Apple will routinely create the mix “purchase sneakers” for you.

When you cut up all your phrases, checklist all of them and take away the entire duplicates. Apple does not give extra significance to phrases which are repeats; they’re simply ignored. That is the place you get essentially the most bang to your buck. Let’s have a look at what that appears like for our instance:

buying, sneakers, sneaker, store, app, purchase, equipment, sneakers

From 100 characters all the way down to 63! Almost a half. Now you’ve rather more room for extra key phrases, and you will get combos you’ll have not had earlier than.

However we will optimize this even additional.

2. Take away All Areas

No human will probably be studying this checklist, so you possibly can skip the areas between key phrases and save your self a couple of characters. So long as you separate your key phrases with a “,” Apple will see them as separate key phrases. What you save in areas can simply add as much as a number of further key phrases.

In our instance, stripping all of the areas after the commas saved 7 characters, bringing our character-count to simply 56. However there’s nonetheless extra to squeeze out.


3. Do not Pluralize Phrases

Apple’s algorithm is subtle sufficient to deal with pluralization for key phrases, so there isn’t any cause to incorporate that in your key phrase checklist. In our instance which means we are able to remove the phrase “sneakers”, saving us one other 8 characters and bringing our character-count all the way down to 48.

Nearly accomplished!

4. Get rid of Cease Phrases

Apple filters out some key phrases altogether as a result of they’re too generic. Phrases like “app”, “the”, and “most” (full checklist beneath) are all thought-about “cease phrases” by Apple and are ignored utterly. In our instance we included the phrase “app”. Eradicating it’ll save us one other 3 characters and convey our character-count down to simply 45. We began at 100. Lower than half.

5. Do not Embody Your App or Firm Title or Class Title

Along with key phrase checklist in App Retailer Join, Apple additionally seems to be on the app’s identify, developer’s identify, and the class the app is listed in when developing with key phrases to your app. That is why you do not have to incorporate any of these in your key phrase checklist, saving a couple of extra characters with out shedding any efficiency.

6. Simplify Sophisticated Phrases

Searches on the App Retailer are typically quick, and customers are likely to not wish to kind (and even take into consideration) sophisticated key phrases. You probably have any phrases which are sophisticated (and doubtless lengthy, too), take the time to seek out various phrases which are extra informal, shorter, and less complicated total.

7. Use All 100 Characters

After you optimize your key phrase checklist, you may in all probability have an excellent quantity of characters so as to add. Do it. Take the time and burn up all of these characters, even when with key phrases which are much less related or are very related. This fashion Apple’s algorithm could have extra to think about when it processes your key phrase checklist, providing you with extra possibilities of getting discovered.

8. Bonus: Put Your Most Vital Key phrases Early

Identical to the app’s identify and subtitle, the place you set the key phrase within the checklist is essential. The algorithm cares extra about key phrases to start with of the checklist vs. ones in direction of the tip. For that cause, your checklist ought to start with crucial phrases and finish with key phrases which are both not very aggressive, or are focusing on long-tail search phrases.


Optimizing your key phrase checklist for App Retailer Join could appear daunting, however as soon as you understand the fundamentals it should not be too exhausting and can present noticeable outcomes rapidly. We extremely suggest spending a couple of minutes doing it.