Keyword research

Rows are keywords and columns are countries. A cell shows the rank from #1 to #200, or 200+ when the app is not in the top 200. Columns on the right show the Top 10 count, demand, average volume, average difficulty, reviews, countries and when the keyword was added. Keywords are in two sections: “App Store page” (what your app targets now) and “Ideas” (new candidates).

Apple does not publish search counts. LocalASO estimates both numbers from the public search results, using rating counts of the apps that rank.

Volume (0 to 100): a weighted average of the log of rating counts of the top 10 results (higher ranks weigh more), plus a small bonus for how many results exist. Popular apps with many ratings suggest a phrase people search.

Difficulty (0 to 100): built from the median and mean log rating counts of the top 10 and the share of apps with 50,000 or more ratings. Fewer than 10 results count as weak competition.

Each keyword gets one verdict per market. Rules are checked in this order:

• Swap: you rank in the top 10 but almost nobody searches it. Replace the keyword.
• Dead: volume is very low. Not worth a slot.
• Hard: difficulty is 80 or more and you are not in the top 10.
• Push: you rank 4 to 20, volume is solid and difficulty is below 80. The best place to put effort.
• Maybe: everything else.

For each keyword you see apps that rank ahead of your app, with their review counts and how many places ahead they are. Daily rank history is stored locally and shown as a small chart.

Apple limits its public search to roughly 20 to 30 searches per minute per IP address. LocalASO stays under that with its own limiter and a 6-hour cache, and shows progress such as “Checking 12/60”. The cells you are looking at are checked first. Checking 15 keywords in 30 countries takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and a quick check of the main country plus five key ones takes a few.