App store keywords are the searches people type, not the words you would use to describe your app. You find them in four places: your own listing, the store's search suggestions, your competitors' listings, and your reviews. Then you put the best ones where each store reads them.
- Definition
- Keyword gap: a search term where at least one competitor appears in the results and your app does not. Every gap is a group of people looking for an app like yours and seeing someone else.
What a keyword actually is
Developers think in features: "audio transcription", "cloud sync". Shoppers think in jobs: "voice to text", "voice notes". The store matches the shopper's words, so your keyword list must be written in the shopper's language. Short, plain, and often slightly wrong by your standards. That is fine. You are not writing documentation; you are matching searches.
A useful test: would a real person type this into a search box? "Note taking app with voice recording" fails. "voice notes" passes.
Where to find keywords (four sources)
- 1
Start with your own listing
Write down every job your app does, in two or three words each. Record voice notes. Transcribe audio. Search notes. Share notes. These are your seed keywords. - 2
Type each seed into the store's search box and read the suggestions
The store's autocomplete only shows searches people actually make. Each suggestion is free demand data. Write them all down, especially the ones you would not have guessed. - 3
Read the names and second lines of the top 5 apps for each seed
Those apps rank because their words match. The words they share with each other are the ones the store rewards for this job. - 4
Read your reviews, and theirs
People describe the app in their own words in reviews: "I use it to record lectures". "Record lectures" is a keyword you would never have thought of.
Demand and difficulty, in plain words
You will end up with 40 to 80 candidate keywords. You can only use a handful. Two questions sort them.
Demand: how many people type this?
The stores do not publish search counts. Clues: whether the term appears in autocomplete and how high, how many apps rank for it, and whether Apple Ads shows a popularity score for it (Apple gives a 5 to 100 popularity number for terms inside Apple Ads, which is the closest thing to real data on iOS). Tools, including the free audit on this page, turn these clues into a 0 to 100 estimate. Treat it as a guide, not a count.
Difficulty: who already ranks?
Search the term and look at the top 10. If they have millions of ratings and the term is in all their names, that term is taken. If the top results have a few hundred ratings and none of them has the term in the name, the door is open. A small app wins by owning the specific searches the big apps ignore.
notes
Demand: Very high
Difficulty: Owned by apps with millions of ratings
Verdict: Skip
voice notes
Demand: High
Difficulty: A few strong apps, room on page 1
Verdict: Target in the name
voice to text notes
Demand: Medium
Difficulty: Weak competition
Verdict: Target in the subtitle
record lectures
Demand: Medium
Difficulty: Almost nobody targets it
Verdict: Target in keyword field / description
note taking app with ai transcription
Demand: Low
Difficulty: Nobody types this
Verdict: Skip
| Keyword | Demand | Difficulty | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| notes | Very high | Owned by apps with millions of ratings | Skip |
| voice notes | High | A few strong apps, room on page 1 | Target in the name |
| voice to text notes | Medium | Weak competition | Target in the subtitle |
| record lectures | Medium | Almost nobody targets it | Target in keyword field / description |
| note taking app with ai transcription | Low | Nobody types this | Skip |
Where to put them: App Store
Apple indexes three text fields for search: the name, the subtitle, and the keyword field. The keyword field is a private box in App Store Connect that shoppers never see.
- Commas, no spaces after them.
voice,recorder,transcribe,lecture,memo,dictationfits far more than a spaced list. - Single words, not phrases. Apple combines words across fields. "voice" in the name and "memo" in the keywords can match "voice memo". Phrases waste characters.
- No repeats, no plurals, no app name, no category. Apple matches singular to plural. Your name and category are already indexed.
- No competitor names. Guideline 2.3.7 forbids "popular app names" in metadata.
Where to put them: Google Play
Google Play has no keyword field. It reads your name, your short description and your full description.
- Name and short description carry your top three or four searches, as in part 3.
- The full description carries the rest. Use each keyword naturally in sentences, two to four times across 4,000 characters, where it fits. Put the important ones in the first two paragraphs.
- Do not stuff. Google's metadata policy names "repetitive or unrelated keywords" as a violation. A list of 50 comma-separated words at the bottom of the description can get the listing rejected.
Keyword gaps: your fastest wins
Take your five closest competitors. For each keyword on your list, check whether they rank in the top 10 and whether you do. Where they rank and you don't, you have a gap. Gaps are the best place to start because the demand is proven: people search the term and install apps like yours. You just are not in the list.
voice notes
You: #15
Competitor A: #2
Competitor B: #6
Gap?: Close it: move into the name
meeting notes
You: Not ranking
Competitor A: #4
Competitor B: #9
Gap?: Gap: add to subtitle
transcribe audio
You: #3
Competitor A: #6
Competitor B: Not ranking
Gap?: You win this one
record lectures
You: Not ranking
Competitor A: Not ranking
Competitor B: #8
Gap?: Gap: add to keyword field
| Keyword | You | Competitor A | Competitor B | Gap? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| voice notes | #15 | #2 | #6 | Close it: move into the name |
| meeting notes | Not ranking | #4 | #9 | Gap: add to subtitle |
| transcribe audio | #3 | #6 | Not ranking | You win this one |
| record lectures | Not ranking | Not ranking | #8 | Gap: add to keyword field |
A simple tracking sheet
You do not need software to start. A sheet with five columns is enough.
- Keyword
- Where it lives: name, subtitle, keyword field, description
- Your rank today: search it in the store, in the right country, count down the list
- Best competitor rank
- Rank 4 weeks later
Check it every two weeks. Swap out keywords that stay unranked after a month for the next candidates. Keep the ones that climb. Over three months, this one sheet does most of what paid tools do.
Next in the series: the pictures and the rating, part 5: turning views into installs.
Sources
Questions people ask
What is the App Store keyword field?
A private box in App Store Connect, 100 characters long, where you list search terms separated by commas. Shoppers never see it. Apple's search reads it alongside your title and subtitle.
Should I repeat keywords in the keyword field?
No. Each word counts once across your title, subtitle and keyword field. Repeating wastes characters. Also skip plurals, spaces after commas, your app name and the category name.
How many keywords should I target?
Start with 10 to 20 real searches, not 100. Pick the ones people actually type and where you have a fair chance. Track them for a month, then swap the ones that go nowhere.
What is a keyword gap?
A search where a competitor shows up and you do not. Each gap is a group of people looking for an app like yours and seeing someone else's instead.