This is a beginner’s guide to keyword research and optimization without ASO tools.
But if you want to use ASO tools you will learn where, and why. And for some apps, you will need to. How does this sound?
Let’s get started!
Keyword Optimization Overview:
- Keywords research
- Prioritizing keywords
- Adding keywords to your app listing page
- Tracking & adjusting
Keywords are words and phrases people use to find things/companies/apps.
Low Resolution
By adding keywords to your app listing you are telling Google that you want your app to be seen when people search for these keywords.
Then Google determines the search ranking of your game/app. The ranking impacts the number of downloads you will get. Let’s see how this works.
High Resolution
Google determines the search ranking of your app based on:
- Android Vitals (Battery usage, Crashes, etc…)
- User retention
- And many other factors…
You can think about all this as a “rating”. What happens when people use your app. People rate your app by using it.
The core idea is:
Google tries to promote good games/apps.
The ranking of your app impacts the number of downloads you will get, because:
- High search ranking offers better visibility
- High ranking implies quality (Google recommends your app)
You can learn more about ASO here:
#1 Google Play Keywords Research
The first step of keyword optimization is finding and collecting keywords for your game/app.
We can break keywords into three main groups:
- Head (Music)
- Body (Music Player)
- Long Tail (Retro Music Player mp3)
I would recommend collecting all keywords in Google sheets or excel. It will make other steps easier. You will see how a bit later.
Here are some ways to find keywords. You don’t need to use them all.
Brainstorming Keywords (Mandatory)
What keywords would people use to find your and other similar apps?
This is a mandatory step because you need these keywords in order to find new keywords.
App Listing Page
What keywords do competitors use? Look at:
- App name
- Short & Long description
- Reviews
Collect keywords that could work for your app.
You can find competitors by typing keywords from the first step.
Google and Google Play Autocomplete
Type keywords and look at how Google Play autocompletes them. This shows what people search for.
Related Searches
Do a Google search with some of your keywords. Look at related searches.
Keyword Research Tools
- Keyword Planner
- Answer The Public
- Apptweak Keyword Suggest Tool
You can use these tools to find additional keywords.
Thesaurus
Find synonyms of your head keywords.
How many keywords?
It is not about a number of keywords. It is more about quality. Can these keywords work for you?
Take time for this step. Everything else you do builds on this step.
#2 Prioritizing
Why do we prioritize keywords?
Because there isn’t space for all keywords and not all keywords will have the same impact.
We prioritize keywords based on:
- Relevancy (The most important factor)
- Search Volume
- Competition (How hard is it to rank)
This is where you would use an ASO tool to determent search volume and competition(Difficulty).
Smaller and newer apps should favor body and long-tail keywords because it is easier to rank high (Meaning, more downloads). And the conversion of visitors into users is easier.
Relevancy
Something relevant is:
Closely connected or appropriate to what is being done or considered.
How to see if a keyword is relevant? Just search with it. And if you see similar apps then it is.
Scoring keywords
Rate keywords on how relevant they are to your app. How well do they describe your app?
Find search volume and competition for any keyword with relevancy over 9. (If you are using an ASO tool)
Remember relevancy is the most important factor.
When it comes to app name and short description you might also consider keyword length. Because of the space limitations.
You also should not share this article before reading it.
#3 Adding Keywords
Places where you can add keywords:
- App name
- Short Description
- Developers username
- Package name/URL
- Long Description
App Name
Keywords in the app name have two main purposes:
- To communicate what your app does/is
- To help you rank
In the app name, you should put the most impactful keywords.
Because of the character limit, you might also prioritize keywords based on characters.
Short Description
Keywords in the short description also have two main purposes:
- Help you convert people
- Help you rank better
Some of the biggest apps use a lot of keywords. But the short description also needs to be readable.
The other great way to improve conversion are screenshots:
Long Description
Repeat keywords from app name and short description in a long description. Maybe add a couple of new ones.
Explain what your app does/is. You just want to use them. They shouldn’t look like tags.
#4 Tracking & adjusting
It can take a couple of weeks for Google to rank your app.
If you use the ASO tool you should follow the rankings of your app. This might give you an idea of what keywords to replace.
While I hope you enjoyed reading this article and you want to share it right now, I recommend you also read some of these:
For you:
How important are keywords research & optimization? What do you think is the hardest part of keyword optimization? How do you find keywords for your game/app?
If you have any questions you can message me on Reddit or Twitter.
