Overview

This article will provide you with the basics of optimizing your keywords to help improve your app's search results in the Google Play Store. This article also outlines how to find the relevant keywords you can use as elements in enhancing your app search results.

There's limited information on the web about guaranteed methods that allow an app to be listed at the top of every search. You can certainly apply minor changes to help boost the searchability of your app.

Note: As this is beyond our control (scope of support), you are entirely responsible for ensuring that your app is optimized for the Google Play Store.

Information

Keyword Research

As far as App Store Optimization (ASO) is concerned, your keywords count the most. This is not a secret. However, if you have never gone through the whole ASO process before, it can be a daunting task.

When looking for keywords for your app to target, remember the RDT rule: Relevance, Difficulty, and of course — Traffic. Most importantly, choose the best keywords that are highly relevant, so your users are more likely to download your app or game upon searching using these keywords.

The next step is to look for lower difficulty scores so that you will have a better chance of being ranked.

When you meet these two criteria, choose the ones with the higher traffic scores.

Luckily, you can find a wide range of ASO keyword tools that can help you find the best keywords for your app. Here is a list of the top platforms on the market today:

Google Keyword Planner
Mobile Action
Google Auto Suggest Via the App store
Thesaurus

These keyword tools can show you some of your competitor’s keywords and find new ones. Do your research on which tools fit your needs and, most importantly — your budget.

Give a few tries and see which ones work best for you. Some of the free tools, such as the Google Keyword Planner and Mobile Action, can give you all the necessary details like relevance, difficulty, and traffic scores.

To know more about how to use them, watch the video below:

Putting Keywords in Your App's Title

Just like with iTunes search, putting keywords into the title of your app can help boost its ASO ranking.

However, since Google Play titles are limited to only 30 characters, you will probably be only able to put two to three keywords into your title, so it’s a must that you choose wisely. Also, you can follow this winning ASO title format.

Main title — Subtitle (XXX XXX — XXXXX XXXX XXXX)

In the main title, you can use your chosen keywords. It's important to remember not to overdo it. If it’s not appropriate to use two keywords in your main title, then don’t. Just use the other keyword in the subtitle.

In the subtitle, make sure that it describes the app, or it’s something supplemental to the title of your app. Use strong keywords here but don’t spam by using repetitive keywords.

Also, don’t use famous game titles here or trademarks to avoid violations. What works best is, putting some symbols in the title to make it more visible. You can use any of the following here:

✔ ♦ ♣ ♠ ♥ ™ ® ✪ ❤ ► ♛

Moreover, you can also use emojis. Titles with all uppercase letters also work, as it makes it look more visible and evident.

Example: ASO PROFESSIONAL BLOG

Adding Keywords To Your App’s Description

One of the most significant differences between the Google Play Store and the iTunes search is the ability to add keywords to your app's description. Instead of providing a keyword field as the App Store does, Google takes the keywords from your app’s description.

Your app’s description can have a maximum of 4,000 characters, so be sure to maximize and use as many of them as possible. Include a target keyword about 4 to 5 times in the description for the best results.

Stuffing keywords hasn’t shown to help at all. So don’t try to trick or outsmart the Google algorithm, by keyword spamming or any nonsensical description just for the hopes of ranking better. Also, make sure that your description is appealing or the very least — it makes sense and not just a bunch of keywords crammed all up altogether.

Additional Information

Credits to: @gabrielmachuret

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Optimizing App Searchability in Google Play Store