How to do App Store keyword research that gets you found

Why keyword research is the whole discovery game

Users find apps by searching a specific need. If your app is not written for the words they type, they never see it, no matter how good it is. App Store Optimization - ASO - is the practice of matching your app's metadata to the terms real users search. A keyword list, the specific phrases users actually type, is what tells you where to compete and where the open space is. Without it, you are hoping to be found by accident. With it, you place your app exactly where searching users will land.

Find the terms users actually search

Start by listing every way a user might describe your app's job. Type the start of those phrases into the App Store and Google Play search bars and watch the autocomplete suggestions - those are real, popular searches. Read the reviews and descriptions of competing apps for the words users and developers use. The goal is a list of the actual phrases people type, not the clever names you would use internally. A meditation app is found on 'sleep sounds' and 'calm,' not on its brand name.

Approximate priority: lead with the two or three highest-intent phrases that describe exactly what your app does, then add related terms. Store autocomplete is your best free signal for what is actually searched, because it surfaces the popular queries in real time. Build the list from what users type, and keyword research stops being a guess.

Find the low-competition gaps

The store has 5 million-plus apps, so the highest-volume keywords are dominated by big, established apps you cannot outrank on day one. The opportunity is the specific, lower-competition phrases those big apps did not optimize for. A broad term like 'fitness' is unwinnable for a first app, but 'kettlebell workout timer' or 'physical therapy exercise log' might have real searches and weak competition. Targeting the specific gaps the big apps left open is how a new app gets found before it has any ranking history.

• High-intent core terms - the two or three phrases that describe exactly what your app does
• Autocomplete suggestions - real popular searches surfaced as you type in the store
• Long-tail phrases - specific multi-word terms with less competition, e.g. 'sleep timer white noise'
• Competitor gaps - terms the big apps in your category did not optimize for
• Niche descriptors - the specific words your exact audience uses for the problem

Place keywords where each store looks for them

The App Store and Google Play read keywords from different places, so placement matters. On the App Store, the app name, the subtitle, and the dedicated 100-character keyword field all feed search - the keyword field is separate from your visible copy, so fill it entirely with terms that are not already in your name or subtitle. On Google Play, search reads your title, short description, and full description, so weave your terms naturally into those. Do not repeat a keyword; each store counts it once. Spread your terms across the fields each store actually reads.

The higher-difficulty keyword categories

Some categories are brutally competitive and demand a sharper, more specific strategy: broad terms like 'game,' 'photo editor,' 'social,' or 'fitness' are owned by huge apps with years of ranking history. Trying to rank for those head-on as a first app is a waste. The move in a crowded category is to go long-tail and niche - the specific angle your app takes, the exact audience it serves, the precise feature it leads with. Start where the competition is thin and the searches are real, then expand as your app builds a ranking history.

Build the keyword system and refine it

Building a keyword list from scratch takes trial and error. Start with your core terms, place them across the fields each store reads, then watch how your app ranks and converts in App Store Connect and Google Play Console. Swap out terms that bring no impressions for new long-tail phrases and lean into the ones that drive installs. The ASO keyword system taught inside App Store Launch Club walks you through finding the search gaps the big apps left open - so you are getting found from launch instead of guessing at terms the slow way.