In today’s highly competitive app marketplace, App Store Optimization (ASO) has become a crucial strategy for increasing visibility and downloads. However, one recurring dilemma continues to puzzle developers and marketers:
Should I choose high-search-volume keywords or low-volume keywords with lower competition but higher ranking potential?
Many would instinctively answer: “Of course high-volume keywords — more traffic, more returns.”
But in reality, that thinking can make your optimization efforts inefficient and even trap your app in a cycle of underperformance. With the help of FoxData’s Keyword Opportunity Analysis tool, we’ve found that the real value lies in those keywords with moderate search volume but much higher chances of ranking well.
These keywords are significantly easier to rank for, tend to have better conversion rates, and require far less effort to generate meaningful results.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to reframe your keyword strategy from three core perspectives — analysis logic, competitive benchmarking, and metric-based evaluation — and show you exactly how FoxData can help uncover untapped traffic opportunities for your app.
When developers first dive into ASO, many are drawn to the top 10 most popular keywords — ones like “fitness,” “chat,” “music,” or “photo editor.”
The rationale is clear:
But here’s the reality: the higher the search volume, the fiercer the competition.
Thousands of app teams are pumping resources into ranking for these very same keywords. And data shows that high-search-volume terms are often saturated with industry giants whose rankings remain highly stable. For new or smaller apps, breaking into even the top 50 — let alone the top 10 — can feel nearly impossible.
For example, FoxData’s Keyword Volume Monitoring feature shows that the term “photo editor” has had the same top 10 ranked apps for over 60 days — most of which are well-established brands with consistent App Store presence and ongoing advertising campaigns.
⛔ In other words: high visibility means nothing if you don’t stand a chance of being seen. If you’re buried on page five of the search results, you might as well be invisible to users.
Focusing solely on broad-reach keywords isn’t always the best strategy—especially for indie or mid-sized apps. In fact, the most effective approach often lies in identifying so-called “high-opportunity keywords.”
Within FoxData’s Keyword Research module, there’s one crucial metric you should pay close attention to: Keyword Chance.
This score, ranging from 0 to 100, measures how likely your app is to rank in the top 10 search results for a specific keyword. The higher the score, the easier it is to break into the top rankings—meaning lower competition and higher visibility potential.
✅ Even if a keyword has slightly lower search volume, being in the top 10 means significantly more real exposure than being buried at #70 for a popular term.
FoxData’s algorithm evaluates all the apps currently ranking for a given keyword—factoring in performance metrics, strength, and relevance—to determine whether your app has the potential to outperform them.
That means no more guesswork. Instead, you can make smarter keyword decisions based on a combination of search traffic and opportunity score, ensuring that your efforts align closely with high-impact results.
FoxData’s Keyword Competitor Analysistool is purpose-built to help you identify these high-opportunity terms with precision.
By comparing your app's organic keyword footprint with that of your competitors, FoxData enables you to identify key strategic gaps. You’ll gain clear visibility into:
🔹 Keywords for which your app is already ranking, but your competitors are not — revealing your competitive advantages.
🔹 Keywords you and your competitors share — but where your app currently ranks lower, signaling high optimization potential.
🔹 Keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t — giving you insight into untapped opportunities worth targeting immediately.
By leveraging several key keyword metrics provided by FoxData, you can precisely evaluate and filter the most valuable keywords for your app’s success:
Moreover, FoxData allows you to set up custom keyword alerts for the terms that are most relevant to your app. You’ll receive real-time email notifications as rankings change, saving you hours of manual tracking and allowing for faster strategic response.
FoxData’s analysis reveals that long-tail keywords are often more suitable for small to mid-sized apps — and for good reasons:
Take Picsart, a leading creative tools app, as a real-world example. When launching their “AI Art” feature, they didn’t immediately target broad, high-volume keywords like “photo editor” — which are notoriously competitive. Instead, they focused on niche long-tail keywords such as “AI art generator,” “AI avatar,” and “draw with AI.”
By updating their App Store listing — including the app title and description — and running targeted Apple Search Ads campaigns around these specific terms, they saw a significant increase in organic impressions and attracted a more relevant, conversion-ready user base.
This case illustrates a powerful takeaway: even top-tier apps prioritize high-opportunity, lower-competition keyword sets when executing ASO strategies that drive measurable results.
FoxData’s Keyword Chance Score and Keyword Trend Analysis tools are designed to help small and mid-sized apps discover similarly focused, high-opportunity terms — allowing them to gain visibility faster in their niche categories and reach the right users without wasting resources.
Stop fixating on high-volume “hot keywords” — that’s the battlefield of industry giants.
For most app developers and marketers, the smarter move is to:
✅ Focus on highly relevant, low-competition keywords with strong ranking potential
✅ Identify long-tail keywords that allow you to target users with clear intent
✅ Leverage FoxData’s features including Keyword Gap, Chance Score, and Keyword Simulation to drive a data-backed ASO strategy
ASO is a lot like chess — you can’t win by only focusing on your own pieces.
With FoxData, you gain an edge through competitive insight, strategic targeting, and measurable results. It’s time to turn low-volume keywords into high-yield opportunities.
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Start using FoxData today and take your keyword optimization process to the next level. Get better results with less effort — and let your app rise above the noise with a smarter, opportunity-driven ASO strategy.
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