> Canonical: https://prioritisedlabs.com/case-studies/stillmind-aso/ > Full-page Markdown mirror of the human page, for AI agents. All Case Studies StillMind ASO # From 15 to 125 Ranked Keywords How systematic App Store Optimization transformed StillMind's organic visibility — with proprietary KEI scoring across 11 markets. ASO KEI Scoring Multi-Locale iOS + Android View on App Store App Store 11 locales - StillMind: Meditation Journal Health & Fitness #1 - Mindful breathing & sleep Health & Fitness #1 - Daily calm tracker Lifestyle #4 15 125 ranked keywords StillMind — 9+ keywords at #1 in Hungary 9+ #1 Keywords 125 Ranked Keywords 11 Active Locales 4-Week Optimisation Cycles Direct Answer Yes — a brand-new app can win organic App Store visibility in a saturated market by being systematic about it. StillMind went from **15 to 125 ranked keywords** across **11 locales**, with **9+ keywords at #1** in Hungary, driven by a proprietary **Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI)** that scores every keyword in every market at once. The method: find the gaps incumbents ignore, win them first, and run it on a disciplined four-week cycle with a human gate on every metadata change. Calm and Headspace own the contested head terms — so we don't fight there; we take the winnable ground first and build outward. The Challenge ## Breaking Into a Saturated Market StillMind launched into the crowded meditation app market. Established competitors — Calm, Headspace, Insight Timer — dominated search rankings. With a new app and zero keyword coverage, we needed a systematic approach that could find gaps in a saturated market and scale across multiple locales without the cognitive overhead of manual keyword management. Project Details Platforms iOS + Android Markets 11 Locales Scoring Proprietary KEI Cycle 4 Weeks The Solution ## Proprietary KEI Scoring at the Core We built an ASO system with a proprietary Keyword Effectiveness Index (KEI) at its core. Rather than manually reviewing spreadsheets of keywords, the system scores every keyword across every locale simultaneously — surfacing the highest-impact opportunities first. Every change goes through a mandatory human gate before touching live metadata. The KEI System in Action ## From Data to Rankings 01 ### Data Collection Automated weekly snapshots capture rankings, installs, conversions, and competitive positions across all 11 locales. No manual pulling, no missed weeks. 02 ### KEI Analysis The system calculates a composite effectiveness score for every keyword, balancing popularity against difficulty. A high-KEI keyword is one where the effort-to-reward ratio strongly favours the app. 03 ### Strategic Prioritisation KEI rankings surface the best moves. Hungary emerged as a blue-ocean market — high-KEI keywords with minimal competition — a pattern spotted across locale data that would take a human analyst days to parse. 04 ### Implementation with Audit Trail Every metadata change logged in an append-only ledger. Title changes, keyword swaps, description updates — all tracked with before-and-after context for full accountability. Multi-Locale Strategy ## Winning Across Markets ### Hungary First Blue-ocean market identified by KEI analysis. 9+ keywords at #1 position. Minimal competition let us establish dominance quickly. ### UK as Cross-Locale Hub Optimised en-GB to serve UK, Hungary, Brazil, and Canada cross-localisation. Quadruple-duty efficiency from one locale. ### Platform-Specific Tactics iOS: 160-character budget with singular keyword forms. Android: 4,000-character descriptions with 2.5–3% keyword density. Different platforms, different tactics, same system. ### Screenshot Caption Optimisation Leveraging iOS's new indexing of screenshot captions as an additional keyword surface. A tactical advantage most ASO practitioners haven't caught up with. Cross-Channel Flywheel ## ASO + Paid Working Together ASO insights flow into Apple Search Ads and vice versa. The bidirectional data flow means each channel compounds the other. Organic rankings inform paid bidding — when we know which keywords convert organically, we bid more aggressively on related terms. Paid search-term discoveries become organic keyword candidates, feeding back into KEI analysis. This flywheel effect means our ASO work directly improves paid acquisition efficiency, and our paid campaigns accelerate organic growth. The two channels aren't separate strategies — they're one system with two surfaces. See how paid fits in: [StillMind Apple Ads case study](/case-studies/stillmind-apple-ads/). Takeaways ## What This Proves 01 ### AI Finds What Humans Miss Processing thousands of keywords across 11 locales simultaneously revealed opportunities (like Hungary as a blue-ocean market) that manual analysis would have missed or taken weeks to identify. 02 ### Systematic Beats Ad-Hoc The 4-week optimisation cycle with automated data collection, KEI scoring, and mandatory human gates produces consistent, compounding results. No missed weeks. No gut-feel decisions. 03 ### We Use What We Sell This isn't a theoretical methodology. It's the system we built and run for our own app. Every metric, every ranking, every result is real and verifiable. Related Services App Store Optimization Our ASO service uses proprietary KEI scoring across 11 locales. See how we can grow your app's organic visibility. Learn More StillMind Apple Ads ASO and paid search are one system with two surfaces. See how the Apple Search Ads side of the flywheel works. See the Paid Side FAQ ## ASO Questions, Answered What is KEI scoring in ASO? KEI — our Keyword Effectiveness Index — scores every keyword across every locale at once, balancing search popularity against ranking difficulty so the highest-impact opportunities surface first. It replaces manual spreadsheet review, and every change still passes a human gate before going live. How do you do ASO across multiple languages? We treat locales as a portfolio. KEI runs across all 11 markets simultaneously, and we use cross-localisation hubs — optimising en-GB to serve the UK, Hungary, Brazil and Canada — so one well-built locale does multiple jobs. How long does ASO take to show results? We run a four-week optimisation cycle: automated data collection, KEI scoring, a human gate, then implementation with an append-only audit trail. Results compound cycle over cycle rather than arriving in one spike. Can a new app rank against Calm and Headspace? Not by competing head-on on the most contested terms. KEI finds the gaps — Hungary emerged as a blue-ocean market where StillMind took 9+ keywords to #1 — and builds outward from winnable positions. Let's Connect ## Want These Results for Your App? We built this ASO system for ourselves. Now we use it for clients. Get a free ASO audit and see where our optimisation would make the biggest impact on your rankings. Request Free ASO Audit