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TL;DR
ASO is just telling Apple and Google what your app does via keywords, with ratings as the ranking currency. With no downloads, aim low: find relevant keywords around popularity score ~30 that top apps aren’t using in their name, put them in your name, and start small. This source belongs to the app-masters-youtube batch.
Biggest lessons
- Downloads don’t directly boost rank — ratings do. Ratings are the currency; the algorithm weighs roughly the last ~30 days of new ratings, not lifetime totals.
- Aim for ~30 popularity-score keywords (non-linear: a 37 is far more than a 35) where top-5 results don’t use the keyword in their name — that’s a keyword opportunity you can win even with ~20 ratings.
- Use the name for keywords; left-to-right weight matters. Keyword in name with no duplication; duplication is “evil” — the algorithm only counts the last instance and dilutes weight.
- DPR (downloads per rating) is the metric to watch — low single digits is excellent; a competitor with low DPR is asking for ratings well (study when/how they prompt).
- Exploit nine extra US localizations (Spanish Mexico, Vietnamese, Russian, French, etc.) — give each a different title/subtitle to target distinct verticals; great for ChatGPT/AI apps (split “chat” + “GPT”, target 30-50 niche keywords instead of fighting for “ChatGPT”).
- Apple Search Ads should fuel organic, not run forever — fix the bad default settings, bid on your own name/subtitle keywords with exact match, target high-intent terms so the conversion rate doesn’t drag down ASO.
Why it matters
- This is the canonical ASO playbook for the wiki’s organic-growth pillar — niche keyword targeting plus ratings optimization is how no-budget apps rank.
- Localization-as-extra-keyword-fields and the DPR concept feed directly into the wiki’s distribution and tooling notes.