JCFord TIPS: The Importance of Keywords
JCFord
Member Posts: 785
Not sure that anything like this has been posted before, but as it's so important I thought I would make a post about the keywords.
Once your app is out there in the ocean of other apps and if you have not been lucky to hit the top 100, then the only way your app may be found is by your keywords. So here is some advice and tips you way want to consider before you submit that app!
1. You only get 100 characters to enter in your keywords and this will include the comas and spaces. Some developers have stated that you do not need to enter the spaces after the comas, but I cannot confirm this.
2. Choose your keywords carefully as you will only be able to update these next time you update your app with a new binary.
3. You do not need to enter the app name as a keyword.
4. "Red Apple" will give the same search results as "Apple Red"
5. Singular and plurals will be seen as two different words eg. "Apple" will show different results to "Apples" so consider using both.
6. Think from a users point of view - what would they type in to look for your app.
7. Decrscibe your app to friends and family and then ask them for keywords for your app, you'll be surprised what you may have missed!
7. Test some of your keywords on Google's keywords tool, it will give you stats of how well these words are actually searched on the internet which may help you find the important keywords.
8. Use an online Thesaurus which may help give you some alternative keywords you had not thought of.
9. Be aware that if you try using a trademarked word such as "Nike" your app might get rejected.
10. Also aware that if you try using keywords for another app such as "Angry Birds" your app might get rejected.
11. Use auto suggest search box in the app store to your advantage. Go to the app store and if you start to type in one of your keywords you should see itunes start to auto suggest some apps for you - I am guessing that these are top selling apps, so see if there are any important keywords that come up that you may want to borrow!
12. Try not to use generic keywords such as "game or "fun" as your app will still appear lost and you have waisted some valuable keywords opportunities.
13. Do not use keywords that are completely unrelated to your game or text description or your app may be rejected.
14. Localization - You have come up with a great app, but don't be fooled into thinking that everyone speaks your language. The localisation setting gives you the opportunity to appeal to other languages. Use something like Google's language tools to translate your keywords into other languages, its by no means perfect - but you may be surprised how it can increase your sales.
By following some of these careful ideas I hope you all should see an increase in sales.
Good luck
JCFord
Once your app is out there in the ocean of other apps and if you have not been lucky to hit the top 100, then the only way your app may be found is by your keywords. So here is some advice and tips you way want to consider before you submit that app!
1. You only get 100 characters to enter in your keywords and this will include the comas and spaces. Some developers have stated that you do not need to enter the spaces after the comas, but I cannot confirm this.
2. Choose your keywords carefully as you will only be able to update these next time you update your app with a new binary.
3. You do not need to enter the app name as a keyword.
4. "Red Apple" will give the same search results as "Apple Red"
5. Singular and plurals will be seen as two different words eg. "Apple" will show different results to "Apples" so consider using both.
6. Think from a users point of view - what would they type in to look for your app.
7. Decrscibe your app to friends and family and then ask them for keywords for your app, you'll be surprised what you may have missed!
7. Test some of your keywords on Google's keywords tool, it will give you stats of how well these words are actually searched on the internet which may help you find the important keywords.
8. Use an online Thesaurus which may help give you some alternative keywords you had not thought of.
9. Be aware that if you try using a trademarked word such as "Nike" your app might get rejected.
10. Also aware that if you try using keywords for another app such as "Angry Birds" your app might get rejected.
11. Use auto suggest search box in the app store to your advantage. Go to the app store and if you start to type in one of your keywords you should see itunes start to auto suggest some apps for you - I am guessing that these are top selling apps, so see if there are any important keywords that come up that you may want to borrow!
12. Try not to use generic keywords such as "game or "fun" as your app will still appear lost and you have waisted some valuable keywords opportunities.
13. Do not use keywords that are completely unrelated to your game or text description or your app may be rejected.
14. Localization - You have come up with a great app, but don't be fooled into thinking that everyone speaks your language. The localisation setting gives you the opportunity to appeal to other languages. Use something like Google's language tools to translate your keywords into other languages, its by no means perfect - but you may be surprised how it can increase your sales.
By following some of these careful ideas I hope you all should see an increase in sales.
Good luck
JCFord
Comments
I was probably much too careless with that part of the process. I'll be much more thoughtful with my next updates.
regards,
Yeah, I don't use spaces either and my keywords still show up fine (although do use a space if the keyword is a multi-word search term you want to match exactly...I think I used that before).
""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps
If you want to use keywords that might be associated with a competitors app, separate them with some of your other keywords. Example: "Angry Birds,fun,puzzle,buy,me" will probably not get accepted, but "birds,fun,puzzle,buy,angry,me" will likely be accepted and would give you the same results...