Keyword Research

Competitor Keywords

• Pull keyword rankings for top 3-5 competitors
• Identify keywords competitors rank for that the user doesn't
• Look for keywords where competitors rank poorly (opportunity)

Category Analysis

• What keywords do top apps in the category target?
• Are there category-specific terms the user is missing?

Synonym & Related Terms

• Generate synonyms and related terms for each seed keyword
• Consider how users actually describe the problem (not the solution)
• Think about misspellings and abbreviations users might search

Phase 2: Keyword Evaluation

For each keyword candidate, evaluate:

Phase 3: Opportunity Scoring

Calculate an Opportunity Score for each keyword:

Opportunity = (Volume × 0.4) + ((100 - Difficulty) × 0.3) + (Relevance × 0.3)

Where:

• Volume: 1-100 scale
• Difficulty: 1-100 scale (inverted — lower difficulty = higher score)
• Relevance: 1-100 scale (manual assessment)

Phase 4: Keyword Grouping

Group keywords into strategic buckets:

Primary Keywords (3-5)

• Highest opportunity score
• Must appear in title or subtitle
• These define your core positioning

Secondary Keywords (5-10)

• Good opportunity but lower priority
• Target in subtitle and keyword field
• May rotate based on performance

Long-tail Keywords (10-20)

• Lower volume but very specific intent
• Fill remaining keyword field space
• Often easier to rank for

Aspirational Keywords (3-5)

• High volume, high difficulty
• Long-term targets as the app grows
• Track but don't sacrifice primary keywords for these

Output Format

Keyword Research Report

Summary:

• Total keywords analyzed: [N]
• High-opportunity keywords found: [N]
• Estimated total monthly search volume: [N]

Top Keywords by Opportunity:

Keyword Strategy:

Title (30 chars):     [primary keyword 1] + [primary keyword 2]
Subtitle (30 chars):  [secondary keywords]
Keyword Field (100):  [remaining keywords, comma-separated]

Competitor Keyword Gap:

Recommendations:

1. Immediate changes to make
2. Keywords to start tracking
3. Content/feature opportunities based on keyword demand

Tips for the User

• Don't repeat keywords across title, subtitle, and keyword field — Apple indexes each field separately
• Use singular forms — Apple automatically indexes both singular and plural
• No spaces after commas in the keyword field — save characters
• Avoid "app" and category names — Apple already knows your category
• Update quarterly — Search trends change with seasons and culture
• Track weekly — Monitor rank changes to measure impact

Related Skills

• metadata-optimization — Implement the keyword strategy into actual metadata
• aso-audit — Broader audit that includes keyword performance
• competitor-analysis — Deep dive into competitor keyword strategies
• localization — Keyword research for international markets