Using extra localizations to add keywords on the US App Store

TL;DR

• The US App Store on iOS indexes multiple localizations (Steve: nine, including Spanish (Mexico); the list has expanded to e.g. Vietnamese, Russian, Portuguese).¹
• Writing English title/subtitle/keywords into e.g. the Spanish (Mexico) localization helps your US rankings.²
• App Masters has used Spanish (Mexico) this way for years; their own app shows US and Spanish (Mexico) localizations both in English, split across target keywords.¹²
• US + Spanish (Mexico) title and subtitle together fit roughly 6–10 keywords — the size of Steve’s keyword shortlist.³
• Other storefronts overlap too (e.g. Canada: English + French; UK also indexes other localizations).¹²

Details

Steve P. Young (February 2026) presents this as a beginner-level but still valid trick.¹ How to apply:

1. Look up Apple’s table of which localizations each storefront supports (he says it’s easy to find by searching for it).¹
2. Split your shortlist: put the strongest terms in the US title/subtitle, the next tier in the Spanish (Mexico) title/subtitle — avoid repeating the same words so you cover more terms.²
3. Use the extra keyword fields of those localizations for further long-tail terms.

Disagreements / caveats

• The exact list of localizations indexed per storefront has changed over time (Steve notes it “expanded”); verify against Apple’s current documentation.
• Editorial note (not from the source): using a localization for keywords in a language its users don’t speak means real Mexican-Spanish users see English metadata; weigh this if that market matters.

See also

• Where to put keywords in App Store and Google Play metadata
• Finding international ASO opportunities and localizing listings — localizing for real non-US markets

Footnotes

1. App Store Optimization: The Proven ASO Framework for 2026 @ 03:36 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. App Store Optimization: The Proven ASO Framework for 2026 @ 04:41 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. App Store Optimization: The Proven ASO Framework for 2026 @ 07:37 — Steve P. Young ↩