How to Find App Store Keywords Without an Agency

Why agencies don't have a magic keyword list

ASO agencies charge $3,000-$8,000 monthly because they promise access to proprietary data. The truth: they use the same tools you can access. AppTweak, Sensor Tower, and App Radar all offer entry tiers between $25-$80 per month.

The real value agencies provide is time and process. They run 40+ app audits monthly, so pattern recognition gets faster. You're doing this for one app, maybe two. That means you need a checklist, not a consultant.

The gap isn't information. It's applying a repeatable method without burning 15 hours on research that leads nowhere.

Start with search volume, not guesses

Open your App Store Connect account. Navigate to the Search Ads Campaign section, even if you never plan to run ads. Apple's Keyword Suggestions tool is free for all developer accounts and shows monthly search volume ranges.

Enter your app's core function as a seed term. If you built a habit tracker, type habit tracker. Apple returns 20-50 related keywords with volume bands: under 5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-50, 50+. Ignore anything under 5. Those terms get fewer than 150 searches monthly.

Export this list. You now have 15-30 keywords anchored in real user behavior, not your assumptions about what people search.

Steal ranked keywords from apps with your traffic

Find 5-7 competitor apps with 10,000-100,000 downloads. Not the category leaders with 10 million installs. Apps in your weight class reveal keywords you can actually rank for in 60-90 days.

Use a tool like AppFollow (free tier available) or manually check their App Store listings. Copy their:

• Title keyword — the term after the pipe symbol in their app name
• Subtitle terms — usually 2-3 features or benefits, each a potential keyword
• Keyword field hints — visible if you reverse-engineer their rankings using SplitMetrics free rank checker

Build a spreadsheet. Column A: keyword. Column B: which competitor ranks for it. Column C: that competitor's estimated downloads (use AppFigures or SensorTower free search).

You're mapping demand to feasibility. A keyword 3 of your competitors rank for is validated demand. A keyword only the market leader ranks for is a 12-month project.

Filter by competition using the title test

Search each keyword in the App Store. Count how many of the top 10 results include that exact keyword in their app title. If 8-10 apps do, that keyword is saturated. You'll need 500+ installs in week one to crack page one.

If 3-5 apps have it in the title, you have an opening. Optimize for it in your subtitle or keyword field, ship 50-100 installs in the first week, and you'll rank 8-15. From there, conversion rate and retention decide if you climb.

This heuristic saved one developer I advised 6 weeks. He pivoted from meditation app (10/10 title saturation) to breath work timer (2/10 saturation). He ranked #9 in 11 days with 73 launch-day installs.

Prioritize keywords by conversion math

Stop optimizing for volume alone. A keyword with 50 monthly searches and 12% tap-through rate delivers more installs than a keyword with 200 searches and 2% tap-through.

Estimate tap-through using this rough model:

• Branded keywords (e.g., Notion alternative): 8-15% tap-through
• Problem keywords (e.g., track daily habits): 4-8% tap-through
• Generic keywords (e.g., productivity): 1-3% tap-through

Multiply search volume by estimated tap-through, then by your listing's conversion rate (if unknown, assume 25%). A keyword with 40 searches monthly at 10% tap-through and 25% conversion rate yields 1 install. You need 20-30 of these keywords to drive meaningful growth.

Build your keyword portfolio like an investment portfolio: 60% medium-volume proven converters, 30% long-tail specific terms, 10% high-volume moonshots.

Update keywords every 45 days, not once

Apple's algorithm weighs recent ranking velocity. If you optimize once at launch and never revisit, you're ceding ground to apps that iterate.

Set a calendar reminder every 45 days. Check your App Store Connect Search Terms report. Look for:

• Terms sending impressions but zero installs — remove these from your keyword field
• Terms in positions 11-25 — small tweaks to your subtitle or description can push these to page one
• New terms you're accidentally ranking for — if one drives installs, double down by adding it to your title or subtitle on the next update

One developer shifted 3 underperforming keywords to newer terms and saw total keyword-driven installs increase 34% in one update cycle. No ads, no feature changes. Just reallocation of the 100-character keyword field based on actual performance data.

What's next

Next up: how to write an App Store subtitle that converts browsers into installers, using the keywords you just found.