ASO checklist before your launch

Before your launch, check your keywords, your name, subtitle and keyword field, every language, your screenshots and your release day. Name, subtitle and keywords only change with a new app version, so get them right the first time.

Keywords

• Pick a few main searches that describe exactly what your app does.
• Search each one in the App Store. If the apps on top do something else, pick another word.
• Prefer specific phrases over single big words. A new app rarely ranks for the biggest words.

Name, subtitle and keyword field

• Name: up to 30 characters. Your brand plus your most important keyword, if it fits naturally.
• Subtitle: up to 30 characters, shown under your name across the App Store.
• Keyword field: up to 100 characters, separated by commas without spaces. App Store Connect counts bytes, so in some languages fewer letters fit.
• Don't repeat words from your name, subtitle or category, and skip plurals of words you already use. Apple counts them as duplicates.
• No names of other apps or companies. Apple doesn't allow them.

Every language

Each language has its own name, subtitle and keywords. When you add a language in App Store Connect, the keywords and description don't copy over from your main language, so fill them in yourself.

Icon, screenshots and preview

• Icon: simple enough to read at small sizes. Apple advises against details that don't need to be there.
• Screenshots: up to 10. Depending on their orientation, the first one to three show in search results when you have no app preview, so they matter most.
• One clear message per screenshot, readable at a glance on a phone.
• App preview: optional, up to 30 seconds. It plays without sound, so the first seconds must work muted.

Texts on your page

• Description: the first sentence is what people read without tapping “more”. Write it for people.
• Promotional text: up to 170 characters above your description, changeable any time without an update. It doesn't affect search, so don't fill it with keywords.
• Primary category: pick the one that fits best. Apple uses it in search too.

Release day

• Leave time for App Review. Apple typically reviews 90% of submissions in less than 48 hours. Incomplete submissions take longer.
• Choose “Manually release this version” if you want to pick the launch moment yourself. After release, it may take up to 24 hours to appear on the App Store.
• Plan when you ask for ratings. Apple lets you ask up to three times in 365 days, and your rating shows in search results.

After launch

Check where you rank for your main keywords, and if your app shows up at all in the countries you care about. App Store Connect shows impressions and conversion once you have at least five first-time downloads.

Fermium100 puts your keywords next to name, subtitle and keyword field, checks them against Apple's rules as you type, and sends them to App Store Connect in one click. The index checker shows in which countries your app shows up for a keyword, and Screenshot Studio makes your screenshots in every language.