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CHOOSING THE PERFECT

KEYWORDS FOR YOUR IOS APP

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WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUTKEYWORDS

Discoverability, to stand out among 1,500.000 apps, is a major challenge. Keywords boost your chances of being found through search. This is the first step towards getting a download or sale.

It’s worth putting some extra time and effort before launching your app to increase your chances.

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WHAT AREKEYWORDS?

• Keywords are the words a potential customer types into the App Store search box or into a search engine to find your app.

• Keywords should always be relevant, and relate to or explain your app or game.

POTENTIAL KEYWORDS FOR A RACING GAME

Street,fast,lane,car,high,speed,pedal,traffic,city,route,challenge,detail,3d,drive,racing

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HOW DO YOU FIND KEYWORDS?

Check out the competition. What keywords are your competitors using?

COMPETITION

Test searching for your chosen keywords in App Store, to get a feel for the ranking.

TEST KEYWORDS

Check Localize Direct’s page on App Store Statistics with commonly used words.

STATS

Start by just brainstorming keywords. Use a friend if you want. Find out what you would type if you were looking for something like your app or game. Look for reviews to find common terms. Build a keyword list and make a keyword search with these words.

Use tools like Google Adwords Keyword Planner and Google Trends to bulk your list.

TOOLS

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CONDENSE YOUR LIST WITH KEYWORDS

How popular is your keyword in terms of search volume? You want to rank high with a keyword with many searches. 1000 people is not enough, you need many more. Use Google Adwords to find out.

TRAFFIC

How difficult will it be to rank for this keyword? How intense is the competition? Use Google Adwords to see if the keyword’s competition is high or low.

DIFFICULTY

The ideal combination is a high traffic keyword with low competition. Make a keyword list in a spread sheet with information about search volume and competitors. Grade the competition as high or low. Then filter and sort your keywords. Start analyzing the keyword’s list by difficulty. Type the words into Google Adwords, App Store, Google, Twitter etc. This way you can identify the keywords your app has the best chance ranking for. Then filter your list by traffic. How popular is the key word? How big is the search volume? Choose the most popular keywords with relevance in mind.

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ANALYTICS & TOOLS

There are a lot of services and analytics to

use. Some of them are free with registration.

Most of the useful tools are limited or

inaccessible without a subscription or some

kind of fee.

StoreFront – preview your App Store page, increase downloads

App Annie – analytics and data, track downloads and rankings

SensorTower – monitor your app’s marketplace performance

AppCodes – check visibility, keywords and competitors

AppTweak – find keywords, competitors, get detailed analytics

AppFigures – an app tracking platform with powerful analytics

Appnique – increase discoverability and drive downloads

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DO

Apple’s search algorithm has improved recognizing plurals;

it’s not generally better to include both singular and plural.

USE SINGULAR FORM KEEP IT SHORT

If equal of relevance, and traffic, always use shorter

keywords over longer ones. Use single words, not

phrases.

REMEMBER MAX 100

There is a 100 character limit for keywords; each keyword should

have at least 2 characters. Separate with comma, not

space.

SPRINKLE THE KEYWORDS

Search engines like Google draw on app description. Use keywords elsewhere in

marketing, messages, and hyperlinks.

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DON´T

DON’T use the word “free”. It is automatically added.

FREE NAME

DON’T use company or app name, or existing brand

names.

OFFENSIVE

DON’T use offensive keywords or profanity.

UNRELATED

DON’T use unrelated keywords.

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LOCALIZING KEYWORDS?

Most people prefer apps in their own language and are more likely to download an app if translated.

CAN´T READ WON’T BUY

Downloads will even increase if only the description is presented in their native language. To avoid bad reviews – make sure it’s clear that the app isn’t fully translated.

PARTLY TRANSLATED

If there are a lot of downloads after localizing metadata, then it’s time to localize the entire app.

METADATA

Apple makes it easier to enter fully localized

metadata for your apps. Take advantage of

this. Localizing will have a huge impact on

your visibility in the App Store in non-English

speaking countries.

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THINGS TO REMEMBER

Make sure the chosen keywords relate to your app

AND to avoid costly mistakes: remember to analyze what

people actually are searching for.

RELEVANCE RESEARCH

Examine the traffic and difficulty ratings for every keyword on your list

and filter it down. Check out what your competitors are doing. Weed out duplicates, and favor smaller words.

REVISE

Remember that you are going to revise your metadata over time: Analyze what’s working, what isn’t and make necessary

changes.

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Download our e-book and learn how to

Optimize your App Store page:

http://localizedirect.com/ebook/