LocalASOASO glossary
Keyword difficulty (App Store)
Keyword difficulty is a 0 to 100 estimate of how hard it is for your app to reach the top 10 App Store search results for one keyword in one country. Apple publishes no difficulty number, so every ASO tool derives it from what it can observe, usually the strength of the apps that already rank.
Updated
How the score is calculated
In LocalASO the score looks at the top 10 results for the keyword in that storefront and their rating counts. It combines three signals: the median of the log rating counts (40 percent), the mean of the log rating counts (30 percent) and the share of top-10 apps with at least 50,000 ratings (30 percent). Fewer than 10 results count as weak competitors. The full formula is on the search volume and difficulty guide.
Why it matters
A keyword with high search volume is worthless if ten apps with millions of ratings hold the top spots. Difficulty tells you where a newer app can realistically appear. Use it together with volume and your current rank, the way the keyword research guide describes.
Example
| Top 10 rating profile | Likely difficulty |
|---|---|
| Ten apps with 200k to 2M ratings each | close to 100 |
| Mixed: three apps above 50k, seven below 1k | roughly 40 to 60 |
| Few results, all below 100 ratings | close to 0 |
The middle row is where most opportunities hide: a few strong apps, but room in positions 4 to 10.
Limits
Difficulty is an estimate from public rating counts, not an Apple number. Rating counts lag behind current popularity, and the score differs by storefront because each of the 52 countries has its own top 10. Check the same keyword in every country you target, for example with the App Store keywords by country pages, before you decide. For measured score ranges across 52 storefronts, see the App Store competition by country research.
In LocalASO
LocalASO shows difficulty next to rank and volume for every keyword and country, and labels a keyword Hard when difficulty is 80 or more and you are not in the top 10. See pricing for the one-time license.
Do this for every country, in minutes