One of the most important moments of your app marketing plan is choosing your app’s keywords. Developers working on keyword optimization always find themselves struggling with the final selection of keywords. Since the App Store search engine doesn’t scan the App Description, all you have to work with is the 100-character Keyword field, the App Name and the IAP Display Names. You could even work with the Publisher Name, but only if you haven’t published in the App Store yet. Your app will only appear in the search results for keywords and key phrases present in those fields, so it’s a hard decision to make. For instance, each one of my games required hours of keyword optimization study. To help you out and hopefully save you a lot of time, here are some tricks I’ve learned over the past years to get the most out of your App Name and Keywords fields. 1. Don’t use spaces, use commas This is a common mistake. Afraid the App Store will read all their keywords as a giant nonsensical keyword, some developers use spaces and commas to separate words. This is unnecessary and reduces the number of keywords you can use, since spaces are counted as characters. The App Store algorithm reads both spaces and commas as separators. So, next time you’re filling the Keywords field, don’t write your keywords as “magic, amazing, to, do, list.” Follow the iTunes Connect tip and write them as “magic,amazing,to,do,list.” 2. Cut connector and stop words Words like a, the, of, and, for and to are so generic they don’t make much difference in your keyword pool, even when making random key phrases with other words. It’s better to take the space they occupy and put in some more relevant words. There’s an exception: if you’re targeting a very specific keyword that uses one of these words for a reason, you might want to leave it in the Keywords field. A search for “strategy of war” won’t show your app in the results if you don’t have “of.” ...

1. 7 quick tips to optimize your
app store keywords

2. 1. Don’t use spaces, use
commas
This is a common mistake. Afraid the
App Store will read all their keywords
as a giant nonsensical keyword, some
developers use spaces and commas
to separate words. This is
unnecessary and reduces the number
of keywords you can use, since
spaces are counted as characters.

3. 1. Don’t use spaces, use
commas
The App Store algorithm reads both
spaces and commas as separators.
So, next time you’re filling the
Keywords field, don’t write your
keywords as “magic, amazing, to, do,
list.” Follow the iTunes Connect tip
and write them as
“magic,amazing,to,do,list.”

4. 2. Cut connector and stop
words
Words like a, the, of, and, for and to are
so generic they don’t make much
difference in your keyword pool, even
when making random key phrases
with other words. It’s better to take the
space they occupy and put in some
more relevant words.

5. 2. Cut connector and stop
words
There’s an exception: if you’re targeting
a very specific keyword that uses one
of these words for a reason, you might
want to leave it in the Keywords field.
A search for “strategy of war” won’t
show your app in the results if you
don’t have “of.”

6. 3. Don’t use names for
numbers, use digits
When you use “9,” the App Store looks
for “9” and “nine”. Take the extra
space and choose another keyword.

7. 4. Don’t repeat keywords
If you’re aiming for the key phrases
“amazing silver hero” and “incredible
hero battle,” you don’t need to repeat
the keyword “hero” Leave the list as
amazing,silver,incredible,hero,battle.

8. 4. Don’t repeat keywords
The same works for keywords in the App
Name. If the app is called “The Silver
Hero,” you don’t have to repeat the
keywords “silver” and “hero.” Your
keyword list just got shorter:
amazing,incredible,battle.

9. 5. Consider using plurals and
typos for languages other
than EnglishIf you have already done your research,
you’ve probably read that plurals are
useless for keywords. The algorithm
theoretically combines the results for the
singular and plural versions, making no
difference choosing between them.

10. 5. Consider using plurals and
typos for languages other
than EnglishNow, go to the App Store and search for
singular and plurals, and observe how
the results change. The algorithm is not
as intelligent as it looks. The same
occurs when dealing with languages
other than English.

11. 5. Consider using plurals and
typos for languages other
than EnglishI don’t trust the App Store algorithm. My
standard procedure is to treat plurals as
different keywords. I look at the
competition and traffic, compare it to the
singular form, and then decide which
one I’m using.

12. 6. Use shorter keywords so
you get more key phrase
combinationsIt’s simple: a 9-character keyword could
be replaced by two 4-character
keywords. That means there will be
more possible search results to rank for.
The more keywords you have, the more
possible keyphrases there are.

13. 6. Use shorter keywords so
you get more key phrase
combinationsKeep in mind, though, that relevance is
the most important aspect of keyword
analysis, not word length. Still, when
choosing between relevant keywords,
you can use length as a tiebreaker.

14. 7. Place the strongest and
more relevant key phrases in
the App NameSince the App Name has more weight in
the algorithm, this is where you should
place your best keywords and key
phrases. The more relevant the term, the
higher the conversion.

15. 7. Place the strongest and
more relevant key phrases in
the App NameWhen using key phrases, don’t break
them with other words. In the App Name,
word order matters: exact matches with
the search query will make your app get
a higher position in the search results
page.

16. 8. Bonus tip: Use additional
numbers when you’ve got
characters left overAfter you finish your optimization, you
might end up with two or three
characters spare you don’t know what
to do with. In that case, throw a
number in there.

17. 8. Bonus tip: Use additional
numbers when you’ve got
characters left overWhy? Well, if you have a generic “best”
or “top” word in the Keywords field
with key phrases like “top strategy
game,” the number will combine with
them to create more specific key
phrases like “top 5 strategy game.”