Collect language from real product conversations
List the task, audience, object and context: scan trading cards, plan shift meals or track shared expenses. Read support questions and beta reports for phrases your team does not naturally use. Separate branded, category and problem queries. Do not copy a competitor’s trademark into metadata or describe functionality the app cannot provide simply because a tool suggests the phrase.
Inspect the store results and available evidence
Search the relevant storefront and note which types of apps appear. Compare their positioning with the task you serve, but do not assume placement reveals exact search volume. Use authorized keyword tools or console data when available, and label estimates. Keep a source and date next to every metric so an old popularity score does not become a permanent fact in a launch brief.
Assign terms to accurate metadata
Write the app name, subtitle and keyword field around relevant user intent within the current store constraints. Apple provides guidance on search metadata and discoverability. Avoid redundant stuffing, unrelated brands and unsupported superlatives. Track changes by version and storefront, then evaluate visibility together with product-page conversion and useful activation. A ranking improvement alone does not prove that acquired users retain or pay.
Check the serialized field before publishing
Keep the exact keyword string with your research notes. Count both characters and UTF-8 bytes, and review duplicate words against the app name and subtitle. A non-ASCII draft can use more bytes than visible characters. Use the free ASO metadata checker for the mechanical review, then validate the final locale-specific string in App Store Connect. The check does not provide popularity, difficulty or ranking data.
Before drafting, use the free App Store keyword explorer to inspect a limited public app sample for a phrase and storefront. Record which tasks fit your own app and open the relevant listings. The sample comes from Apple’s public API; its order is not a live store ranking, and it supplies no keyword popularity or difficulty measurement. Keep the fetched date and country with your observation in the worksheet.
Working example
Shortlist example for a fictional card scanner: ‘card scanner’, ‘TCG collection’, ‘binder tracker’ and ‘scan trading cards’. Record the intent and actual feature supporting each phrase. A phrase like ‘guaranteed card grading’ should be rejected if the product only estimates condition. No search-volume values are implied by this example; verify demand with data available to your own account.
Your next steps
- Collect user language and task context.
- Verify relevance against actual functionality.
- Record data sources and dates for estimates.
- Measure discovery alongside activation and retention.
Official sources
Sources checked October 5, 2026. Review the current provider documentation before acting on requirements.
Turn the next test into something useful.
Publish a focused brief on RateMyApp. Credits fund approved private reports; public store reviews are voluntary and unrewarded.
List your app for feedback