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Rank higher on App Store and make more money: Full guide

You have the drive to build something new. That's fantastic! However, the reality is that many apps fail because their creators overlook the tedious but necessary steps. The App Store is crowded, user attention is scarce, and App Store Optimization (ASO) is critical.

Imagine earning passive income simply by having a presence on the App Store. This guide provides a practical, step-by-step walkthrough of my keyword research process for 2026.

By the end of this article, you will learn how to:

  • Identify strong keyword opportunities
  • Validate market demand and monetization potential
  • Create an App Store listing that ranks well

With just two tools and a few hours of dedicated effort, you can generate a list of solid keywords and a solid launch plan.

  1. Tools you will need
  2. Short checklist
  3. Full walkthrough
  4. Does this really matter?
  5. Final thoughts

Tools you will need

Astro

Astro is my primary tool for keyword research. Created by an independent developer, it targets exactly what app creators need and is budget-friendly.

What it does

  • Researches keywords
  • Tracks ranking history
  • Monitors competitors

Price

It costs just $108/year. Compared to other ASO tools, this is an excellent value. You can recoup this cost within weeks or months by selecting the right keywords.

Astro ASO tool

Appfigures

Appfigures is a major player in the ASO market, offering more product metrics like estimated revenue, release history, and screenshots. Its data can differ from Astro's, which is actually helpful! If both tools indicate a keyword is promising, that strengthens your case.

What it does

It is more expensive than Astro, but you can access a 14-day free trial without needing a credit card. We will use it to confirm if top apps are generating revenue and to check their screenshots and rating counts.

Appfigures website

Short checklist

If you already know these tools, you can use this quick list. A detailed walkthrough with an example follows below.

  • Create a temporary app project in Astro.
  • Begin with a basic keyword idea.
  • Select ranking apps, then click the eye icon to inspect them. Repeat for various competitors.
  • Filter for keywords with Popularity >20 and Difficulty <50.
  • Select a few strong keywords.
  • Analyze these keywords in Appfigures to see which apps rank.
  • Identify niches with lower ratings, where the keyword isn't the first word in the title or subtitle, and where there are recent apps. Avoid niches dominated by established apps with massive marketing budgets.
  • Verify that the top-ranking apps are profitable.
  • Build your MVP in ~1 week.
  • Prepare your App Store listing using your keywords, then launch.

Full walkthrough

Let's research some keywords together to see how this works in practice!

Create a temporary app in Astro

Create a new app entry in Astro for the idea you are researching. This helps keep your keywords and notes organized, allowing for faster iteration.

Astro temporary app

Start with a keyword

Choose a concept you are considering, or browse the App Store for ideas. This is just a starting point and doesn't need to be perfect.

We will use ai tattoo as our example.

Initial keyword

At first glance, it seems like a solid keyword. Let's investigate further to see why that might not be true.

Inspect competitors

Let's examine the apps ranking for this term and uncover adjacent keywords. Click on the list of apps.

App list

We can immediately spot a few issues:

  • Top-ranking apps have a high volume of reviews.
  • Most apps use "AI Tattoo" in their title.

This makes competition difficult. Apple prioritizes keywords in this order:

  1. Title (especially the beginning)
  2. Subtitle
  3. Keywords field

If existing apps are already optimizing for your keyword in their titles, it's best to avoid it.

Find adjacent keywords

We need to find similar keywords. Astro can reveal this data. Click the eye icon on one of the apps to see a comprehensive list of keywords.

Many will be irrelevant. To find the best opportunities, filter for Popularity >20 and Difficulty <50.

Filtered keywords

Sort the results by Popularity (high to low) or Difficulty (low to high). I prefer starting with Difficulty. Your list should look something like this.

Sorted keywords

Here is what I look for:

  • Relevance to the app idea. For instance, tattoo printer and ai tattoo could be very different products.
  • Avoid brand names like procreate tattoo. Using competitor brand names is a "brand hijacking" tactic that can get your account banned and your revenue seized. Do not do it!

Add keywords & repeat

In addition to finding keywords with Astro, brainstorm some on your own. Sometimes, valuable long-tail keywords are missed by tools.

Additional keywords

I quickly found tattoo creator, which is a superior keyword to ai tattoo. A deeper look shows no apps using it in their titles. Naming your app "Tattoo Creator: Tattoo AI" could give you a strong ranking advantage!

Tattoo creator keyword

The long-tail keywords I thought of weren't great, but they can still go in the "Keywords" field. This gives Apple more context and helps with ranking for related terms.

Repeat step 4 with your new keywords. Inspect apps, filter them, and add more keywords. Aim to find as many as you can.

Check the keywords in Appfigures

Now, let's validate our list with the second tool: Appfigures. Go to the "Keyword Inspector" and input one of your keywords.

Popularity and difficulty scores may vary between tools due to different algorithms. Ideally, you want a keyword that scores well on both, but don't worry if they don't match perfectly.

Appfigures keyword inspector

For tattoo creator, the top-ranking apps:

  • Were released recently (within a few months)
  • Have low rating counts
  • Do not use the keyword in their titles

These are positive indicators. Scrolling down, we see a large app ranking #2 for ai tattoo but only #8 for tattoo creator.

Appfigures app view

This is a keyword you can realistically rank for! Repeat this validation for other keywords.

Ensure the top apps are generating revenue. In Appfigures, click an app to view estimated revenue. You are looking for a healthy download-to-revenue ratio.

Your app's potential revenue is a separate topic. First, focus on ranking. Pricing, paywalls, and onboarding can be optimized later.

Build the app in ~1 week

Once you have identified good keywords, start building. The timeline depends on:

  • Your mobile development skills
  • The app's niche
  • The scope of the MVP

I target niches where an MVP can be built in about a week. I have spent over a month on apps in the past, but I avoid that now. It is crucial to iterate quickly and abandon apps that fail to rank.

Analyze competitors to identify core features and build those first.

Prepare the App Store listing & launch

Here is my toolkit for creating an App Store listing quickly:

IMPORTANT: Do not repeat keywords across your app name, subtitle, and keywords field. However, repeating them across different languages is acceptable.

Does this really matter?

Absolutely! To illustrate, let's compare two apps I launched. for App #1, I picked a single keyword and built it without validation.

App #1

This app ranks #28 for its main keyword. In a highly competitive niche, it gets almost no installs. Competitors are targeting the exact same keyword.

App #1 ranking

App #2

For this app, I followed every step and identified a solid opportunity. It now ranks in the top 10 for multiple keywords.

The result? It generates more installs in a few days than App #1 does in a whole month.

App #2 ranking

Final thoughts

Thank you for reading this far! This is the exact process I follow before building any app. I hope you found it useful and learned something new. If you did and want to support me: