Numbers are easy to claim. Rankings are harder to fake.
This post documents real keyword ranking changes tracked after App Store metadata was localized across multiple markets. Not projections. Not estimates. Actual position data pulled from a ranking tracker after the updated metadata went live.
The app: a productivity utility with no prior localization. English-only metadata in every market. Zero keyword research done for non-English locales. The keyword field was either blank or copy-pasted from the English version in most countries.
Here's what happened after a full localization was submitted.
The Baseline: What "No Localization" Actually Looks Like
Before the work started, the app existed in 12 countries — but barely. It had been submitted to international App Stores because App Store Connect makes that the default. There was no localized title, no localized keyword field, no localized description.
In ranking terms, that means: Apple has almost nothing to index for non-English searches. The app appears for English terms only, and only in countries where English searches are common. In Japan, Germany, France — invisible.
This is the default state for most indie iOS apps. You think you're "available" in 30 countries because the download button works there. But available and discoverable are not the same thing.
The Localization: What Was Done
The work covered 12 markets. For each one:
- Keyword research — identifying what users in that country actually search for in the App Store, in their language
- Competitor gap analysis — finding terms the top 3 competitor apps rank for that this app didn't appear for at all
- Localized title and subtitle — rewritten (not translated) to target the primary keyword for that market
- Keyword field — 100 characters of researched, non-overlapping keywords in the local language
- Description — translated for conversion, structured for readability
- Screenshot text — localized headlines and subheadlines per market
The metadata was submitted via App Store Connect. Rankings were tracked starting 7 days after Apple indexed the update.
The Results: Ranking Gains by Country
All numbers represent keyword position improvements — how many spots the app moved up in search results for its primary tracked keyword in each market.
| Country | Position change | |---|---| | 🇦🇺 Australia | +148 positions | | 🇯🇵 Japan | +129 positions | | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | +115 positions | | 🇦🇪 UAE | +86 positions | | 🇳🇴 Norway | +63 positions | | 🇵🇭 Philippines | +60 positions | | 🇲🇽 Mexico | +59 positions | | 🇨🇦 Canada | +58 positions | | 🇪🇸 Spain | +43 positions | | 🇬🇧 UK | +37 positions | | 🇫🇷 France | +28 positions | | 🇩🇪 Germany | +21 positions |
Every single market moved. No exceptions.
Breaking Down the Numbers
Australia (+148) and Canada (+58)
The largest gains were in English-speaking markets — which might seem counterintuitive. The app already had English metadata. Why did it move so much in Australia and Canada?
Because the keyword field was never optimized for the specific search behavior in those markets. Australian and Canadian users search differently from US users — different idioms, different category terminology, different competitor landscape.
Optimizing the keyword field specifically for each English-speaking market, rather than using one generic English field across all of them, produced the biggest absolute gains.
The lesson: Even English-speaking markets deserve their own keyword research.
Japan (+129)
Japan is consistently the most dramatic mover after localization — and the reason is simple: the keyword field was entirely in English before. Japanese users searching in Japanese found nothing.
After localization, 100 characters of researched Japanese keywords replaced the English field. Apple indexed them within two weeks. The app went from unranked to visible for multiple Japanese search terms.
Japan is also notable because competition in many app categories is lower than the US — fewer well-localized apps means your keywords face less resistance.
The lesson: If your keyword field is in English for Japanese, German, or any non-Latin-script market, you are completely invisible. Even a basic localization produces dramatic results.
Germany (+21) and France (+28)
The smallest gains — but still significant. Germany and France had slightly more competition from already-localized apps in this category, which limits how fast a new localization can climb.
The other factor: these markets had more indexing time under English metadata before localization, which may have depressed the starting rank further than zero (active negative signal from irrelevant keywords taking up space).
Even so, +21 and +28 represent meaningful visibility improvements on competitive terms in major European markets.
The lesson: Larger, more competitive markets take longer to climb — but the ceiling is also higher.
What Happened to Downloads
Keyword ranking gains don't automatically equal download gains. Position matters — but position 50 vs position 30 may produce similar download numbers if both are below the fold.
What drives downloads is breaking into the top 10–20 results for a term with real search volume. In this case study, two markets (Japan and Australia) moved from unranked to top-20 for their primary tracked keyword within 60 days of submission.
Those two markets alone accounted for a measurable lift in organic downloads during that window — without any paid acquisition, without any featuring, without any changes to the app itself.
The metadata was the only variable that changed.
What This Means for Your App
If your app currently has:
- English-only metadata across all markets
- A blank or English keyword field in non-English locales
- No per-market keyword research
You are in the same position this app was before the localization. You're available in dozens of countries but discoverable in essentially one.
The gap between available and discoverable is entirely fixable — and the fix doesn't require a new app version, a new feature, or a marketing budget. It requires the right keywords in the right fields in the right language.
That's the work LocalizeRank does.
How to Get Your Own Results
The ranking gains documented here came from a combination of market research, competitor keyword gap analysis, and correctly structured metadata in each locale's language.
If you want the same done for your app — I research your best markets, find the keyword gaps your competitors rank for that you don't, and deliver a ready-to-paste Google Sheet covering title, subtitle, keyword field, description, and screenshot text for each market.
Results tracked with Astro.
See LocalizeRank plans starting at $49 →