10 App Store optimization mistakes you can fix in an afternoon
- Fill your name field: the app name is the most heavily weighted search text you have, so use all 30 characters, not just your brand.
- Give your subtitle a job: it’s the second-strongest ranking signal, so add new terms instead of restating the name.
- Dedupe across fields: Apple pools your name, subtitle, and keywords and only needs each word once – repeats waste slots.
- Clean the keyword field: single words, commas with no spaces, and no “app”, “free”, brand, or category names.
- Caption your first screenshot: put one truthful benefit above a framed screen, in type readable at search-result size.
- Front-load your best screenshots: people decide from the first three in search results, so move your strongest there.
- Write real release notes: replace “bug fixes and improvements” with two or three specific sentences, leading with the most-requested change.
- Prompt at the happy moment: call
requestReview()after the user has succeeded a couple of times – it shows at most 3 times per 365 days. - Reply to bad reviews: replies are public, and the reviewer gets notified of your reply and can update their rating.
- Run one A/B test: Apple’s product page optimization is free and tests up to three treatments against your current page.