ASO Checklist Before You Launch on the App Store

1. Research keywords per country. Build a shortlist with demand and difficulty; see the keyword research guide. Do this before you write anything.
2. Write the name (30 characters). Lead with your brand and one search term. The name can be edited until you submit to App Review; afterward it can change when you create a new version.
3. Write the subtitle (30 characters). Add the second most important term. See the title and subtitle guide.
4. Choose the primary and secondary category. Both are indexed. See choosing categories.
5. Fill the keyword field (100 bytes). Use only words not already in the name, subtitle or category. Count bytes, especially for non-Latin languages; the keyword field checker helps.
6. Write the description and promotional text. The first sentence matters most; see writing the description.
7. Localize your top storefronts. A new language copies the primary language's screenshots and properties except description and keywords. Decide the count with how many localizations.
8. Prepare screenshots. At least one for the required device sizes, up to 10 each; the first one to three appear in search. See screenshots that convert.
9. Prepare an app preview if you will use one. 15 to 30 seconds, maximum 500 MB.
10. Complete required fields. See the table.
11. Set up measurement. Note the date and your keyword ranks per country as a baseline.
12. Plan the first-week routine. See the first week after launch.

A hypothetical habit tracker, Streakly, launches in English plus German and French. Its checklist shows 3 localizations x 6 listing text fields (name, subtitle, keywords, description, promotional text, support URL) = 18 values to write. What's New is skipped because this is the first version. Screenshots exist for English only; German and French start with the same images until Streakly replaces them in week two.

Product page optimization requires the app to be Ready for Distribution, so you cannot test your first screenshots before launch. Custom product pages need App Review approval before they are visible. Plan both for after release.

• Writing the keyword field first and the name later, which causes repeated words.
• Leaving a required URL for the last minute.
• Launching in 12 languages with no review of any of them.
• Taking no baseline, which makes the first month impossible to interpret.

Run the same checklist per language, then follow the update checklist for each release. LocalASO checks keyword rank and difficulty in 52 storefronts and writes per-language listing text with your AI; see the getting started docs.