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ASO glossary: thirty terms, one line each

Sam · Published November 4, 2026 · Markdown

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Thirty terms you will meet in App Store Optimization, defined in one line each, in the order you meet them. Where a term has a post of its own, the link goes there. Where RankASO uses the term on a screen, the definition is the one the app uses.

The listing

• Name (title). The app's name on the store; the field the search weighs most. Brand first, then one category phrase.
• Subtitle. Thirty characters under the name; weighed next; combines with the name's words. Which words earn.
• Keyword field. 100 hidden characters per locale, comma-separated, matched in combination with the name and subtitle. The rules.
• Locale. A language version of the listing; some storefronts read more than one. What each reads.
• Storefront. One country's App Store, with its own search results; 175 of them. Which to track.
• Metadata. The name, subtitle, keyword field, description and screenshots together; a metadata update is a version that changes any of them.
• Ignored word. A word the store does not index, such as "app" or "free"; it costs characters and earns nothing.
• Dead keyword. A field word that earns no rank on any tracked term. Finding them.
• Coverage. The set of tracked terms a listing's words can match in combination.

The search

• Rank. Your app's position in the neutral search result for a term in a storefront, read daily. How to check it.
• Neutral result. The storefront's search result for a user with no history; what a tracker reads. Versus your own phone.
• Top 10. The ten apps holding a term today; the evidence difficulty reads. Reading it.
• Filtered term. A term the store returns no results for at all; not a rank of zero.
• Unranked. Past position 200 in the result; shown as "›200".
• Completion. A phrase the store's search field suggests as you type; the best free source of keywords. The five sources.
• Brand, generic, intent term. The three kinds of search term. The vocabulary.

The scores

• Popularity. A demand figure per term, 5 to 100; in RankASO either the app's estimate (EST) or Apple's figure (APPLE), always labelled. The two badges.
• Difficulty. How hard the top 10 is to displace, from their ratings, the giants among them and the term's words in their names; Easy, Medium, Hard, Wall. Reading it.
• Verdict. One word per term from popularity, difficulty and your rank: Go for it, Climbable, Long shot, Skip. Choosing keywords.
• Facts sheet. The inputs and the rule behind any score in RankASO, one tap away.
• Visibility score. One number for the share of tracked demand you hold across terms and storefronts. What it means.

The work

• Baseline. The ranks on the day a version is submitted; what the after is compared to.
• Release impact. Seven days before a version beside seven days after, per term. The view.
• Seven-day cliff. The fall of launch ranks to what the listing earns, after about a week. The shape.
• Goal. A target rank on a term, with its distance shown daily. Setting one.
• Field report. Per word of the listing, which tracked terms it earns a rank on.
• Rule checker. The checks the store's rules imply, run as you type. The checklist.

The rivals

• Rival. A tracked competitor whose rank is read from the same search as yours. Getting above them.
• Gap. A term a rival ranks for where you are absent or far behind. Finding their keywords.
• Removal watch. The alert when a tracked rival disappears from the store, with the terms it held. That week.

Download on theApp StoreFree to start. No account. Data Not Collected.

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