ASO experts have a theory that Apple actively promotes apps, raising their ranking in search results the first week after a release. By doing so, the App Store helps new apps get more organic downloads out the gate so that they can have an easier go of things when it comes to competing with popular apps later on in the search results.

We found a few cases to prove this theory among our customers, and all of them happened in the US App Store.

Family Hotel, released December 30, the United States

True Preferences, released January 1, the United States

She Sees Red, released December 5, the United States

Each app is in its own category. One's a Match-3 game, the other is an interactive film, and the latter is a healthy eating app. In all three cases, they saw the largest growth on keywords from the app title and subtitle. On the eighth day after each app's release, the number of keywords sharply dropped from the Top 100.

How to Maintain Search Results Positions After a Release

Be ready for the App Store to promote your app or game in search for the first 7 days. The more keywords you add to the title, subtitle, and keyword field at the beginning, the more you'll feel the app's boost in both visibility and downloads.

If you want to retain these conditions down the road, you have to approach text optimization very seriously before the release. And don't forget these very important steps:

1. Add the most popular and relevant keywords to the app title. All other keywords can go in the subtitle and keywords list.
2. Use relevant search requests with lower popularity score and difficulty. Using them will make it easier to get into the Top 5 or 10 search result spots when you're getting started. These search requests are made up of two or more words and are less often used by competitors.
3. Add additional locales (such as Spanish for the United States). The keywords you add in this locale will index in the search results for the primary locale. Using this locale, we grew a racing game downloads by 52%.
4. Keywords from the title in an additional locale have the same weight as the ones in the primary locale's app title. So you can add popular keywords to the additional locale's title, too.
5. Don't forget about the app icon and screenshots because the Views and Downloads conversion rates impact the app's position in search results.

Use these simple rules to increase your chances of staying near the top of the search results after Apple's week-long boost.

Want to really drive downloads in the App Store? Request a demo with one of our ASO experts!