Keyword Analysis: Competitor Insights for App Store

For memberships with access to the ASO analysis: Indie and Pro

“Keywords: Competitors” helps analyze the keywords of all your competitors in the App Store.

Getting Started:

• Add Applications to the Competitor List.
• Navigate to the Keywords: Competitors page.
• You can select a country to explore the keywords popular in a specific market.
• You can also compare data across different dates to observe how keyword rankings change over time.
• The position determines how far into the search results keyword data will be collected for all selected competitors.

The bookmark icon next to a keyword: adds the keyword to the tracking list.
The bookmark icon next to an app: adds or removes the app from the competitor list.
The lightbulb icon: shows the number of keyword suggestions, and clicking the icon reveals all recommendations for the keyword.

The column with your app is highlighted in the table.
The number of apps for a keyword is displayed in the “Σ” column – “Number of Apps.”
The total number of keywords for each app is displayed in the table footer.

The popularity of a keyword in the country is displayed in the “Search Ads Popularity” column.
Hovering over provides additional app details. Clicking the card redirects to the App Information screen.

Explaining the Data Table Columns

Keywords

Each keyword in the table is highlighted in color based on your app’s metadata, considering Cross-localization

• Green: Keywords in the title
• Orange: Keywords in the subtitle
• Yellow: Keywords in the keywords field
• Red: Missing ranking for keywords

When you hover over a keyword, a tooltip provides detailed information, including:

• Keyword: The keyword itself.
• The field where the keyword is used (e.g., title, subtitle, or keywords field).
• The locales where the keyword is utilized.

Clicking on a locale name will navigate you directly to the corresponding locale in the Metadata Editor, allowing for quick edits and adjustments.

Under each keyword in a language unfamiliar to you, a machine translation is displayed.

Keywords: App Search

The chart button next to each keyword opens the Ranking of applications for that keyword in the Search results.

Keywords Tracking

The bookmark button next to each keyword allows you to add the keyword to your project’s Keywords Tracking List or exclude it.
The button on the “Keywords” column works as a filter and allows you to quickly check positions based on your Keywords Tracking List.

Suggestions

Icon of a light bulb with a number: shows the number of suggestions in the search results for the selected keyword.
This is useful for filtering out branded keywords or rarely used search terms.
By analyzing the number of suggestions, you can determine how often this word is used by users and adjust your strategy accordingly.

• High number of suggestions: This means the keyword is frequently used by users in search queries.
  Such words may be important to include in your strategy as they have high traffic potential. However, be mindful of branded keywords, which can generate many suggestions but may not be relevant to your app.
• Low number of suggestions: This indicates that the keyword is rarely used in searches.
  These words may be less competitive but should be justified-if they match your app’s content and target audience, you can include them in your strategy to attract niche users.

When you click on the light bulb, a window opens with suggestions that can be added to the list of tracked keywords .

All keyword metrics are shown relative to the selected country.

In the suggestions window, you can:

• Add a keyword to the list of tracked keywords using the button with the flag.
• View the history of the keyword’s popularity in the form of a graph - to do this, click on the red number with the icon .

Search Ads Popularity (SAP)

Color scale of popular the keyword is in Apple Search Ads: Red (low) to Green (high).

For memberships with access to the ASO analysis: Indie and Pro

Search Ads (SAP) Popularity - keyword popularity in search based on data from Apple Ads.

Tapping on the SAP value opens an alert with the complete history of Search Ads Popularity for selected keyword.
This allows you to track keyword performance trends over time, giving you valuable insights to refine your ASO strategy.

History for the last 30 days for the Indie membership
For the Pro membership without date restrictions

Historical data is available from September 2024.

Search Ads Popularity can also indicate how often advertisers use a particular keyword in their ad campaigns.
It shows how frequently app developers bid on this keyword in paid ad networks, such as Apple Search Ads, to increase the visibility of their apps.
High popularity may indicate that the keyword is in demand among advertisers, increasing the competition for it in paid campaigns.

• Very High (85 - 100): Extremely high search volume, maximum competition.
  When to use:
  • For brand names or top-level generic keywords.
  • Ideal for strong brands or apps with high budgets and conversion rates.
  • Risky for small apps unless highly relevant.
• High (60 - 84): High traffic, but also high competition; best suited for well-known apps with sufficient resources for promotion.
  When to use:
  • For apps with established user bases.
  • Requires competitive budgets and strong marketing strategies.
  • Ideal for boosting visibility in competitive categories. When to use:
  • For scaling campaigns.
  • Requires stronger creatives and good App Store page optimization.
  • Best if you can handle mid-to-high CPI (cost per install).
• Medium (20 - 59): Moderate search volume with a decent balance of traffic and competition, suitable for steady app growth.
  When to use:
  • Main zone for growth-stage apps.
  • Reliable for sustainable downloads with controlled budgets.
  • Good starting point for long-term keyword strategies.
• Low (6 - 19): Small search volume, but better than very low. Suitable for niche keywords with less competition but lower traffic.
  When to use:
  • Good for initial keyword expansion.
  • Catch small but targeted audiences.
  • Use when competition is too tough for bigger keywords.
• Very low (0 - 5): Extremely low search volume.
  When to use:
  • For highly niche keywords; experiments; very low-budget campaigns.

Popularity History - Search Ads (SAP)

Available only for the Pro membership.

Displays the history of changes in Search Ads Popularity (SAP) for a keyword since September 2024:

• Minimum - the lowest recorded value.
• Maximum - the highest recorded value.
• Average - the average value over the period.

Color indication:

• Gray - the SAP value has not changed (matches the current value).
• Blue - the keyword’s popularity is increasing.
• Red - the keyword’s popularity is decreasing.

Difficulty

The difficulty metric measures the Competition Level: the higher the value, the harder it is to rank at the top for this keyword.
It is calculated based on Search Popularity and the Number of Apps that use this keyword as a key term.

The color scale reflects the level: Green (low) to Red (high).

Total apps

How many apps are in the search results for this keyword.
The lower the number, the less competition.

Up to 200 - exact number is shown.
After 200 - the number is approximated by Apple.

This approximation is more accurate than the generic “250+” for keywords like Fitness, so we choose to display it instead.

Competitors` App Card