---
title: The low-volume keyword quantity strategy (search score 5)
slug: aso-low-volume-keyword-quantity-strategy
summary: When score-30 keywords are out of reach, rank #1 for dozens of score-5 long-tail keywords — one client earned $2–3K/month from 92 such #1 rankings.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [aso, long-tail, keyword-research, indie]
related: [aso-keyword-selection-criteria, aso-competitor-keyword-mining, aso-as-acquisition-channel]
sources: [yt:ytAKZDh5eHU, yt:bV5_OwDB35o]
updated: 2026-10-23
---

# The low-volume keyword quantity strategy (search score 5)

## TL;DR
- If the score-30 approach fails, target keywords with **search score 5 (up to ~20)** — far less competitive.[^1]
- It is a **quantity game**: you need many such keywords at #1, not one.[^2]
- Case: a client in a category with "really no search traffic" ranked #1 for **92 keywords, all score 5**, and made **~$2–3K/month** from App Store search.[^3]
- Steve's own Paraphrase app ranks well for a handful of keywords (e.g. #1 for one, #4 "paraphrase" ~20, #6 "paraphrase tool" ~23) and makes **~$3K/month** almost entirely organically (a little Apple Ads spend).[^2][^4]
- Expect a ceiling: pure-ASO apps in this mode are low four figures; scaling needs paid ads ([[aso-as-acquisition-channel]]).[^3]

## Details
Steve began betting on this approach in late 2025 because ASO had become "so hard".[^3] How to run it:

1. Add your app or a competitor in ASOMobile → **App Keywords** to list every indexed term (see [[aso-competitor-keyword-mining]]).[^2]
2. Pull the search score and complexity for each; keep low-complexity ones, aiming for top 5, ideally top 3 or #1.[^2]
3. Expand long-tail variants with **Keyword Suggest**: type a root ("calorie") and the tool lists autocomplete-style continuations ("calorie a…", "calorie b…") that still contain your root.[^5]
4. Spread terms across title, subtitle, keyword field and the extra US localizations ([[aso-metadata-fields-and-keyword-placement]]).
5. Track rankings; keep adding terms — revenue comes from the sum.

App Masters builds its client keyword sheets from two data sources and filters to the terms the app is #1 for to see where revenue comes from.[^3]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Clients earning six figures to ~$500K from organic search also had **branded search** demand; generic long-tail alone did not get them there.[^3]
- The 92-keyword case is one anonymised client; score-5 traffic varies by category and storefront.

## See also
- [[aso-keyword-selection-criteria]] — the default score-30 plan to try first

[^1]: yt:ytAKZDh5eHU @ 08:50 — Steve P. Young
[^2]: yt:ytAKZDh5eHU @ 10:24 — Steve P. Young
[^3]: yt:ytAKZDh5eHU @ 11:22 — Steve P. Young
[^4]: yt:ytAKZDh5eHU @ 12:40 — Steve P. Young
[^5]: yt:bV5_OwDB35o @ 13:19 — Steve P. Young