App Store keyword research for marketers who do not code

You own growth, content or user acquisition for an app. The developers own the store listing, and you want to give them keyword changes with evidence behind them.

• Keyword lists with no source. "We should target this" needs a rank, a volume signal and a difficulty signal.
• Reports that stop at data. You need a list of actions, not another chart.
• The hand-off. Metadata lives in App Store Connect, which you may not have access to.
• Knowing what is searchable. An app is searchable by its name, subtitle, keywords and company name, so ideas in the description or promotional text will not help search.

1. Install LocalASO on a Mac and ask a developer to connect an App Store Connect key only if you want it to read the real keyword field. For research it is optional.
2. Add the app and the competitors you track.
3. Read the board: rows are keywords, columns are countries, and each cell is a rank from #1 to #200. Use the verdict column as a to-do list: Swap (replace), Dead (drop), Hard (skip for now), Push (work on it), Maybe (watch).
4. Use Suggestions to see what to add, remove or swap, and Brainstorm to test a new angle in one sentence.
5. In Optimize, choose a strategy and read the reasons for each change. Export to file produces JSON and Markdown per language.
6. Send the Markdown to the developer with the rank evidence. The developer enters it or uploads it as a draft; nothing is submitted without a human.

If you want to understand why the numbers look the way they do, read the search volume guide and the glossary entry on search popularity.

• No attribution or install funnel. Use your analytics and Apple's App Store Connect reports for that.
• No Apple Ads data. Paid search is outside the app.
• No web login, no team seats. It is a Mac app; one license is one Mac.
• No exact search volumes. Estimates only.
• It needs an AI of your own for localization, suggestions and rewrites.

A good brief has four parts: the keyword, the country, the current rank and the proposed field it goes into. Add one line on why, using the verdict. Ask for one release's worth of changes at a time, so each rank move can be tied to a cause. If the developer pushes back on a limit, point to the character and byte counts from the metadata limits tool.

Ask for a license for your Mac (the download is free, the app needs a license key to run), or share the exported Markdown from a developer's Mac. See pricing or download. Related: Mac app developers and a first launch.