Keyword installs vs direct installs: which one comes first

Keyword installs and direct installs cost the same per install on Rankforge. They do different jobs, and the wrong one at the wrong moment spends budget on nothing. A one-minute search in the store tells you which job your app needs right now.

What a keyword install does

A keyword install arrives through a search. Someone types your term into the store, finds your app in the results, and installs it. The store sees that the app was found and installed for that query, so the app gains relevance for it and moves up in the results for that term.

That is the whole point of buying one: it is aimed at your position for a specific keyword. The same service is often called keyword boosting.

What a direct install does

A direct install arrives through a link to your store page. No search happens, so no keyword gets credit and no specific position moves.

What it builds is install activity. A freshly published app has no traffic history, and the store has little reason to show it for anything. Direct installs tell the store that the app is live and worth surfacing. On our site this service is called Get indexed, because getting the app into search results is the job it does.

The one-minute test

Open the store in the country you care about and search for the term you want. Then read the result.

• Your app is not in the results at all. There is no list to climb yet. A keyword campaign moves an app up among apps the store already shows, so start with direct installs.
• Your app is there, but low. The store already associates the app with the term. This is where keyword installs work.
• Your app is near the top. Look at whether the position holds over a few weeks before you spend anything. A position you already hold keeps earning installs on its own.

Checking once is easy. Checking every term in every country every day is what a free tracker is for: it keeps the history on one chart.

Three situations that need direct installs first

A new app nobody has searched for. No history, no results. Keyword work has nothing to start from.

A term the app does not appear for. The store returns other apps for a term yours should match. The term is not indexed for you yet.

A new country. Launching in another market restarts the same problem locally, even when the app ranks well at home.

Limitation. Direct installs do not create an association the listing does not support. If the term is missing from the fields the store reads, add it first: the title, subtitle, and keyword field on the App Store, the title and descriptions on Google Play. Traffic alone will not make the store connect the word to your app.

Two situations that need keyword installs

The app shows up, but on the second or third screen. The store has accepted it for the term and ranks it below others. Apple names downloads among the user behavior it ranks by, and keyword installs add downloads that come through that exact search.

A position slid back after it was won. If the tracker shows the app drifting down for a term it used to hold, a short campaign on that term addresses it directly. Direct installs would raise general activity and target no term in particular.

Where ad installs fit

An install from an ad starts with a click on an ad, and what it costs depends on the ad auction. Keyword installs and direct installs work differently: you set the volume, and the price per install is fixed before you start. The units differ, so compare each price against the job you need done. Our prices for both placements are on the pricing page.

How it works on Rankforge

• One campaign, two placements. When you set up a campaign, you choose where the installs come from: from search for a keyword, or via a direct link to your store page. The price per install is the same either way.
• No minimum spend. You can start with one term in one country and stop there.
• The tracker tells you when to switch. Add the term to the free tracker before you start. Once the app appears in the results for it, move that term from direct installs to keyword installs.
• The stores differ. On the App Store installs can be live installs, made by people. On Google Play we run automated installs only, and those leave no ratings.

Common mistakes

• A keyword campaign on a term the app does not appear for. The installs arrive and the position stays empty, because there was no position to move. Run the one-minute test first.
• Direct installs expected to lift one keyword. They raise activity across the board and target nothing in particular.
• The term missing from the metadata. Neither type of install fixes this. Edit the listing, wait for the store to pick it up, then start.
• The broadest term first. In competitive categories volume alone does not buy a position. Our casino case in Australia shows 1,260 installs that left a high-volume term where it was. Low-volume terms in a narrow category move on far fewer installs.