How I reached my first $1k with only ASO (Ultimate guide for non-lazymaxxers)

People will tell you on X:

> aso is dead

> you shouldnt do aso, do tiktok ads only

> do meta ads

But for me ASO worked wonders once it was setup correctly, and to this day it generates me 10-20 downloads per day and a huge chunk of my income on the app.

It has laid down the foundations for me to try other channels such as Apple ads and Meta ads.

The thing is, people are mostly correct - ASO isn't a silver bullet, it won't get you results fast, but ASO is amazing if:

1. You're strapped for cash

2. Don't want to record tiktoks/reels

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Once you setup ASO properly, you won't really have to adjust it ever again, and it will amplify whatever other source of traffic you get into your app.

So let's begin:

Keyword & Metadata Optimization

The order of importance goes like this:

Title (30 chars) - heaviest ranking weight

Subtitle (30 chars) - second heaviest

Keyword field (100 chars) - hidden, but fully indexed

Screenshot captions - indexed via OCR since June 2025. Apple scans the text overlay on your screenshots and treats it as ranking signal. Your first 3 screenshots carry the most weight since those are what's visible before "see more"

IAP display names - indexed, most people don't know this

Long description - Apple has said this is NOT indexed for search (unlike Android). Don't waste time keyword-stuffing it - write it for humans/conversion instead.

When you create your app, you gotta set it's title and subtitle. Here's where people get it wrong:

They literally just set the name of the app and think that's that.

The problem is that noone actually knows you even exist, and the person who's going to be looking up your app will not find it unless you run external traffic channels into your app's brand name.

You need to target keywords someone would search for on the app store, that make sense for your app

hack 1: Put the keyword first in the title of your app.

Many apps employ this strat, here's how that looks like:

Note: Do include app's name in the title though, it will help with branding of the app. So basically... don't do this

hack 2: Your subtitle is not a tagline, it's more keyword real estate.

Most people write something like "The best app for productivity" — that's just wasted characters. Apple weighs your subtitle almost as heavily as your title for search, so treat it the same way: keywords first, branding second (if at all).

Instead of "The Ultimate Way to Track Habits" → "Habit Tracker & Daily Planner" hits two searchable terms instead of zero.

hack 3: Don't repeat yourself.

It feels intuitive to reinforce your main keyword everywhere - title, subtitle, keyword field, all saying "photo editor." But Apple already indexed it the first time. Repeating it again is just you throwing away characters you could've used to rank for a second or third term.

Treat your title + subtitle + keyword field as ONE pool of ~160 characters, not three separate boxes.

hack 4: keyword field should not have spaces in-between them. Save space, and just type them like this:

Fill the keyword 100 char limit to the brim. It's free real estate.

Hack 5: You get MULTIPLE keyword fields for free - just by activating more locales.

The US storefront alone indexes up to 10 locales. Your primary is English (US), but you can also activate: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Mexico), and Vietnamese - and every single one gets you a fresh, separate 100-character keyword field, all still indexed for US search.

That's potentially 1,000 characters of keyword space instead of 100 - a 10x increase in your keyword surface area, and your app doesn't even need to be translated for this to work.

Now, you might be saying:

But ranking for such keywords is hard as hell!

I hear you, but there are tools that can actually help you out here. Meet Astro:

Astro helps you find keywords, track how you rank for them, and see exactly which apps are eating your position.

Every keyword gets a Popularity score (how much search volume it actually has) and a Difficulty score (how hard it'll be to rank, based on who's already sitting at the top for it). You're hunting for the sweet spot where popularity is decent but difficulty is low enough that you actually have a shot.

Opportunity = Popularity ÷ Difficulty

Higher number = better keyword. That's it. You're looking for max search volume for the least amount of ranking pain.

Using the exact data from the dashboard above:

"neck pain" — pop 5, diff 17 → opportunity 0.29

"back pain relief" — pop 5, diff 34 → opportunity 0.15

"sciatica stretch" — pop 5, diff 64 → opportunity 0.08

It also tracks your Position for every keyword over time, so you're not guessing whether your last metadata change actually worked.

And the Apps in Rank column shows you exactly who you're competing against for each term.

Astro helped me out A TON when I was first making my app, though there are other tools like appkittie and others that will help you with research.

Screenshots

Keywords get you found. Visuals get you installed. You can rank #1 for the perfect keyword and still get ignored if your store page looks like ass.

Hack 6: Setup 6 screenshots immediately when setting up your screenshots. It will come in handy once you run Apple Ads, as apple sometimes doesn't show your app's screenshots if you don't have 6 of them. Don't ask me why, but I talked with Apple Ads team, and that's what they said.

Icon

It's the smallest asset on your page and the one people judge fastest. Keep it simple and high-contrast - recognizable at thumbnail size. If you can't tell what your icon is at 40x40px, it's too complex.

Examples:

Hack 7: Don't reinvent the wheel. Copy what others do, and do something similar.

Screenshots

Only the first 2-3 screenshots show up in search results before someone taps "see more."

Order matters more than content here. Lead with your single strongest value prop, not your favorite feature. Ask yourself: if someone saw ONLY these first 2-3 images, would they understand what your app does and why they need it? Everything after slot 3 is for people who already tapped in and are deciding whether to commit.

Good examples:

Hack 8: Use social proof within screenshots. Laurels, 5 stars - works wonders.

App preview video

You get up to 3 preview videos, and they autoplay (muted) right at the top of your gallery, before any screenshot.

Tbh, i wouldn't care too much about it, unless.... You are cracked at video showcases.

Hack 9: I mentioned this before, and i'll mention it again. SCREENSHOTS GET INDEXED BY APPLE. Add keywords to the screenshots also. Make sure the words in the screenshots are clear.

hack 10: You can actually A/b test screenshots. Apple's Product Page Optimization lets you run up to 3 alternate screenshot sets against your current one, split-tested against organic traffic, completely free.

Though, A/b testing requires volume to give conclusive results, do this once you have enough downloads.

Localization

LISTEN. IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU BRING FROM THIS ARTICLE, KNOW THIS:

LOCALIZATION IS A MASSIVE ASO LEVER YOU CAN PULL.

To show you why, take a look at this:

You're genuinely missing out on a ton of traffic (and money) if you don't optimize for other regions, so let's talk about it.

Hack 11: Localize screenshots.

Remember i gave you those MyFitnessPal screenshots before? Here's how it looks like in Japan:

To check out screenshots other regions are using, just change the country code in the url:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/myfitnesspal-calorie-counter/id341232718

To:

https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/myfitnesspal-calorie-counter/id341232718

Hack 12: Localize keywords

I'm not going to go in too deep, but since every app store has it's own locale, you can research keywords that work well in those locales. You can often find some gold nuggets if you just translate the keywords you're using.

Hack 13: Localize pricing

I localize and change all of my prices for my app. Here's why it makes sense:

Apple auto-converts your price into local currency by default, but that's NOT the same as localizing it. A straight currency conversion just takes your $9.99 and shows the equivalent in rupees or pesos.

Problem is, $9.99 doesn't mean the same thing in every country. It's a coffee in the US. It's a much bigger ask in a lot of other markets. If you're not adjusting for that, you're not "fairly priced globally" - you're overpriced almost everywhere

Use Big Mac index or countries GDP, to set prices accordingly to each market.

I've built a tool for myself for this, if you're interested in that tool, sign up for the mailing list here, and i'll email you it:

https://honestcode.dev/newsletter

Hack 13.5: Remember to A/b test the prices, If you have the volume to do that.

Ratings & Reviews

I'll make this section quick: Since apple banned reviews in onboarding, unfortunately it doesn't work anymore as a quick hack.

But here's how to optimize your app so you get the most out of reviews.

Show review prompt on "AHA" moment. This will convert to a review much better than just showing it randomly

Volume + recency = ranking signal. A pile of old reviews doesn't help as much as a steady trickle of recent ones.

Reply to reviews. Shows in your listing, small trust signal for anyone reading before they download. Costs you 30 seconds.

Other things that work

Hack 14: Pick your secondary category deliberately. Your primary drives your main identity, but the secondary category is free extra discoverability.

Hack 15: Use In-App Events. Surfaces you in search/browse tabs for re-engagement. And you have a chance of getting featured. Win/win.

Hack 16: Retention is a ranking signal, not just a vanity metric. Apple weighs how long people keep your app. A great install rate with a terrible retention rate quietly tanks your ranking over time.

Hack 19: Update regularly. Even minor updates can be a small positive ranking signal.

Hack 20: Watch your app size and uninstall rate. Bloated apps get uninstalled faster, and uninstalls work against you the same way bad retention does. Try not to ship slop plz.

TL;DR:

Keywords are one shared pool. Title, subtitle, and keyword field shouldn't repeat words - and every extra locale you activate gives you a free 100-char keyword field.

Screenshots do double duty. First 2-3 slots drive conversion, captions get indexed by Apple, and you can A/B test them for free.

Localization is the biggest underused lever. Translate screenshots, keywords, and pricing per region - A lot of your growth is hiding there.

ASO compounds. Set it up right once, then just maintain it.

Prompts

routine,streak,todo,checklist,productivity,motivation,selfcare,wellness,journal,reminder,discipline

Links

• apps.apple.com/us/app/myfitnesspal-calorie-counter/id341232718
• apps.apple.com/jp/app/myfitnesspal-calorie-counter/id341232718
• honestcode.dev/newsletter
• tryastro.app?aff=lmV4qV