How to Find Long-Tail Keywords for ASO?

Keyword optimization is the cornerstone of any successful ASO strategy. But how can you maximize the effectiveness of the keywords you choose for your metadata, such as titles, subtitles, and descriptions? When is the right time to add or remove certain keywords? Long-tail keywords are key in ASO. They offer specific, less competitive terms that highlight your app and draw a focused audience, boosting conversion rates.

This post takes a look into tactics for finding these vital long-tail keywords and provides tips to increase your app’s visibility and success in the app stores. Whether you’re experienced or new, mastering long-tail keywords can give your app the competitive edge it needs.

What are long-tail keywords in ASO?

Long-tail keywords in ASO are longer, highly specific search phrases that typically attract niche audiences. These keywords differ from short-tail keywords, which are broader, more general terms. For example, a short-tail keyword might be “music app,” whereas a long-tail version could be “best offline music player for workouts.” The specificity of long-tail keywords allows apps to target users with precise needs, making it easier to rank in search results.

Long-tail keywords are effective because they align more closely with the intent behind a user’s search. Instead of appealing to a broad audience, they attract users who know exactly what they’re looking for. For instance, someone searching for “offline music player for iPhone” is likely seeking a specific feature that your app may offer, making them a more qualified user than someone simply searching “music app.”

One of the main challenges in ASO is getting a complete picture of your app’s visibility for specific keywords. For example, some keywords have high search volumes but are very competitive, despite some of their combinations being easier to rank for. That’s why, a good ASO strategy directly targets those long-tail keywords (longer, more specific search phrases) to gradually increase your presence on the stores.

Let’s take the example of the keyword “music.” This is a very popular keyword (search volume of 73 in the US) but it is also a difficult term to have your app rank high for (difficulty of 81). However, many other keywords include “music,”  branded terms like “Apple Music” or “YouTube Music,” and also long-tail generic terms like “music player,” “offline music,” “free music,” and many others. So, it’s crucial to consider the KPIs of all these combinations to identify the top keyword opportunities for your metadata.

Why are long-tail keywords important in ASO?

Long-tail keywords play a crucial role in ASO for several reasons:

• Lower competition: Short-tail keywords tend to attract high competition due to their broad nature. Popular apps typically dominate these keywords, making it difficult for smaller or newer apps to rank. Long-tail keywords, by contrast, are more niche and face less competition, allowing smaller apps to achieve better visibility​.
• Higher conversion rates: Users who search for long-tail keywords are often further along in their decision-making process. They usually know exactly what they want, so they’re more likely to download your app if it fits their needs. For example, a person searching for “free offline music app for iPhone” is more likely to convert than someone searching for “music app.”
• Improved user targeting: Long-tail keywords also help developers reach a more targeted audience. By focusing on specific features like “real-time weather alerts” than a general “weather app,” developers reach users with precise interests. This results in better user engagement and retention since the app more closely aligns with user expectations​.
• Catering to user intent: Optimizing for long-tail keywords can also help developers align more closely with user intent. Understanding why users search for specific terms (such as searching for a niche feature) can guide keyword selection, further improving conversion rates​.

Learn how to use both brand and generic keywords to best optimize your app

How to find long-tail keywords in ASO?

So we know that we should pay attention to long-tail keywords, but two problems exist:

How do you create these keyword combinations? How can you quickly identify them?

Building a solid keyword list can be a struggle, but make sure you don’t overlook this step. Checking each keyword in your metadata individually is impractical. The previous data vanishes when you analyze another keyword, forcing you to copy and paste large amounts of data just to compare your KPIs at an aggregated level.

1. Make sure your keyword list contains all relevant keywords

A preliminary step in your keyword optimization strategy is to build a list of relevant long-tail keywords for your app. Luckily, AppTweak has several features to help you do this in an easy and efficient way:

• Keyword input bar: Begin by entering keywords that instantly come to mind for your app. Focus on those that are relevant and essential to include.
• Brainstorm list: AppTweak automatically creates a list of 100 strong keywords that are relevant to your app.
• Semantic Keyword selector: When you enter a keyword, AppTweak returns top keyword recommendations to you. Powered by Atlas AI, these semantic recommendations make it easier for you to build your list and identify long-tail keywords.
• Keyword Shuffler: This powerful feature automatically generates all possible combinations of your selected keywords. This tool is particularly useful for brainstorming long-tail keyword ideas that are relevant to your app. By shuffling keywords, you can discover new, specific phrases that capture user intent more accurately.
• Keyword clusters (AI): Our data science team has developed an advanced algorithm that uncovers groups of closely related keywords recognized by app stores. These clusters offer a treasure trove of new keyword possibilities that may be less competitive and highly relevant to your app. It helps improve your app’s visibility and rankings over time.
• Other pickers: Play around with Metadata, Top Search Terms, Ranked Keywords, and other selectors to find relevant suggestions you can add to your lists.

Dive into this exclusive guide for expert tips on how to find new keyword opportunities for your app

Once you have built a keyword list, including short and long-tail combinations, you can now remove any keywords that are actually less relevant than others, or keywords with very low volumes (e.g. volume 5). This will keep your list clean and ensure some clarity remains in your ASO.

Typically, we’d recommend keeping between 100 and 200 keywords in your main list (this figure depends from one app or country to another).

3. Analyze long-tail keywords with Combinations Table

Now that you’ve added your keyword combinations to your keyword list, open the Combinations Table for an overarching view of your metadata strategy. By default, only single terms will appear while all their combinations are hidden. These terms are sorted by their number of combinations in descending order, which is quite useful to quickly grasp the distribution of keywords in your list.

You’ll also notice some single terms that you didn’t add to your list. AppTweak extracted these keywords in the background to give you the full picture of all the potential long-tail keywords.

To see all the keyword combinations related to a single term, simply expand a keyword to view all its possible combinations. By default, these are sorted by volume (in descending order). However, once you choose to sort the table by any metric, both the parent and children keywords will also be sorted accordingly.

Once you expand a keyword to see its combinations, we show you the individual metrics (volume, difficulty, rank, relevancy) of each combination. For any single keyword, we also show the average of each of these metrics, alongside the sum of installs driven by the keyword and its combinations.

You can also use the filters above the table to hide low-volume keywords, and only see generic/branded keywords.

Tips for optimizing long-tail keywords in ASO

Here are a few tips to optimize your long-tail keyword strategy and improve your app’s visibility and conversion rates:

1. Prioritize relevance over volume

When optimizing for ASO, it’s tempting to focus on high-volume keywords in hopes of reaching a wider audience. However, long-tail keywords with lower search volume but higher relevance to your app’s core features often bring more value. This is because these keywords attract users who are more likely to convert since their searches align closely with your app’s offering. For example, a highly relevant long-tail keyword like “offline workout music player” is better for a fitness app than a high-volume, broad keyword like “music app.” Ranking highly for a specific, niche term may result in better engagement and conversion rates because the users are actively searching for those exact features.​

2. Regularly update your keywords

To stay competitive, it’s essential to audit and update your keyword list periodically. New long-tail keyword opportunities may arise as user behavior shifts, especially with the introduction of new features or updates to your app. Regularly reviewing your keywords ensures that you’re not missing out on emerging trends or keywords with newfound relevance, allowing you to keep your app visible in relevant searches.

3. Keep keyword lists organized

Managing hundreds of long-tail keyword combinations can be overwhelming, making it easy to lose track of important keywords. Using tools like AppTweak’s Combinations Table allows you to organize keywords by relevance, search volume, and ranking difficulty. This helps you focus on the most promising combinations while avoiding redundant or irrelevant terms. A well-structured list also simplifies the process of tracking performance and adjusting your keyword strategy based on data-driven insights​.

4. Localize long-tail keywords

By localizing your long-tail keywords to suit regional search trends, slang, and language nuances, you can increase your app’s visibility in different countries. For instance, a weather app may perform better in one region with the keyword “real-time weather forecast” but in another region with “live climate updates.” Regularly updating localized keywords ensures that your app remains relevant globally​.