Store SEO Optimization

The Apify Store is a search engine. Users type keywords, and Apify returns a ranked list of actors. If your actor does not appear on the first page of results for your target keywords, it might as well not exist. Store SEO is the practice of optimizing your actor's metadata, README, and quality signals to rank as high as possible. Unlike Google SEO, Apify Store SEO is simpler and more predictable because the ranking factors are known and measurable. This guide covers every optimization, from title wording to quality score manipulation, based on real data from ranking 250+ actors.

How Apify Store search works

Apify's search algorithm considers these signals, roughly in order of importance:

1. Title match — Does the actor title contain the user's search query?
2. Quality score — A composite metric based on success rate, schema compliance, metadata completeness, and usage
3. Usage volume — Actors with more runs rank higher (a popularity signal)
4. Description and README match — Full-text search across metadata and documentation
5. Recency — Recently updated actors get a slight boost
6. Categories — Actors in relevant categories appear in category browse pages

Understanding this ranking order is critical. You can have a perfect README, but if your title does not contain the target keyword, you will not rank for it.

Title optimization

Your actor title is the single most important ranking signal. Follow these rules:

Rule 1: Include your primary keyword. If you want to rank for "Amazon product scraper", the word "Amazon" and "scraper" (or "Scraper") must appear in your title.

Rule 2: Keep it 40-60 characters. Titles shorter than 40 characters often miss secondary keywords. Titles longer than 60 characters get truncated in search results and look unprofessional.

Rule 3: Be specific, not generic. "Web Scraper" competes with thousands of actors. "Amazon Product Price Tracker" tells both Apify search and potential users exactly what the actor does.

Rule 4: Do not stuff keywords. "Amazon Scraper Amazon Price Amazon Product Amazon Data" is keyword stuffing. Apify's algorithm penalizes this, and users distrust it.

Good title examples:

Good:  "Amazon Product Price Tracker"           (35 chars, specific, keyword-rich)
Good:  "LinkedIn Company Profile Scraper"        (37 chars, clear target + action)
Good:  "YouTube Video & Channel Data Extractor"  (43 chars, two use cases)
Bad:   "Web Scraper"                             (11 chars, too generic)
Bad:   "My Amazing Super Scraper Pro v2"         (34 chars, no keywords)
Bad:   "Amazon Amazon Scraper Amazon Data"       (36 chars, keyword stuffing)

Metadata fields: the complete checklist

Every metadata field in .actor/actor.json is a ranking opportunity. Here is the full list with guidance:

{
    "actorSpecification": 1,
    "name": "amazon-product-price-tracker",
    "title": "Amazon Product Price Tracker",
    "description": "Track Amazon product prices, stock status, and seller info. Export to JSON/CSV. Supports all Amazon domains.",
    "seoTitle": "Amazon Price Tracker & Scraper | Real-Time Product Data",
    "seoDescription": "Monitor Amazon product prices, availability, and reviews. Get real-time alerts when prices drop. Export data as JSON, CSV, or Excel. Supports 16 Amazon marketplaces.",
    "categories": ["ECOMMERCE", "LEAD_GENERATION"],
    "icon": "https://your-cdn.com/icon.png"
}

`name` — The URL slug. Use lowercase with hyphens. Include your primary keyword. This appears in the actor's URL: apify.com/username/amazon-product-price-tracker. URLs are indexed by Google.

`title` — The display name in search results. Your most important field. 40-60 characters.

`description` — The meta description. Under 160 characters. Include secondary keywords naturally. This appears below the title in search results. Users scan it to decide whether to click.

`seoTitle` — Appears in Google search results for your actor's Store page. Can differ from title. Use it to target Google-specific keywords. Include a pipe separator and a value proposition: "Amazon Price Tracker | Real-Time Product Data".

`seoDescription` — The Google meta description. Under 160 characters. Focus on user benefits: what does the actor do for them? "Monitor prices" is better than "This actor scrapes Amazon".

`categories` — Choose 1-2 categories that match your actor's purpose. Valid categories include AI, AUTOMATION, DEVELOPER_TOOLS, ECOMMERCE, JOBS, LEAD_GENERATION, NEWS, SEO_TOOLS, SOCIAL_MEDIA, TRAVEL, VIDEOS, REAL_ESTATE, and others. Actors appear in category browse pages, which are high-traffic discovery surfaces. Note: MCP_TOOLS is not a valid category — use AI and DEVELOPER_TOOLS instead.

`icon` — A square PNG or SVG, at least 256x256 pixels. Actors with icons get significantly more clicks than actors with the default placeholder. Use a simple, recognizable symbol related to your actor's function.

Common pitfall: Leaving seoTitle and seoDescription empty. These fields are indexed by Google independently of the Apify Store. An actor with no SEO fields is invisible to Google search, which cuts off a major traffic source.

README structure that ranks

A strong README follows a proven structure. Apify indexes README content for search, so every section is a ranking opportunity. Here is the template that works:

# What does [Actor Name] do?

One paragraph explaining what the actor does and who it is for. Include your
primary and secondary keywords naturally. Answer the user's core question:
"Is this the actor I need?"

## Features

- Bullet list of key capabilities
- Each bullet includes a keyword naturally
- Users scan this to assess feature coverage

## How it works

Step-by-step explanation of the actor's workflow. This section builds trust
by showing users the actor is well-designed, not a black box.

1. You provide a list of product URLs or search keywords
2. The actor navigates to each page using residential proxies
3. It extracts price, title, availability, reviews, and seller data
4. Results are exported to your chosen format (JSON, CSV, Excel)

## Input parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| urls | array | Yes | List of product URLs to track |
| keyword | string | No | Search keyword (alternative to URLs) |
| maxResults | integer | No | Maximum products to return (default: 100) |
| country | string | No | Target marketplace (default: US) |

## Output example

{
    "title": "Wireless Bluetooth Headphones",
    "price": 49.99,
    "currency": "USD",
    "rating": 4.3,
    "reviewCount": 1247,
    "inStock": true,
    "url": "https://example.com/product/12345"
}

## Cost estimate

"Scraping 1,000 products costs approximately $5.00 ($0.005 per product).
The first 10 results per run are free."

## Limitations

Be honest about what the actor cannot do. This builds trust and reduces
support requests.

## FAQ

Common questions answered. Each question is a long-tail keyword opportunity.

Real-world tip: The "Cost estimate" section is the most underrated section. Users who understand the cost upfront convert at 3-4x the rate of users who have to guess. Always include a concrete example with real dollar amounts. See the PPE Pricing guide (/learn/ppe-pricing) for help calculating cost estimates.

Quality score: the factors and how to improve them

The Apify quality score is a composite metric that directly affects search ranking. Here is the breakdown:

Success rate (high weight): Percentage of recent runs that complete with SUCCEEDED status. Target: above 95%. A single failing run can drop your score by several points. Fix failures immediately — see the Actor Testing guide (/learn/actor-testing) for debugging strategies.

Schema compliance (high weight): Does your output match the declared dataset schema? Every field type mismatch, missing required field, or extra undeclared field reduces compliance. Validate output against your schema in your actor code, not just at build time.

README completeness (medium weight): Does your README exist? Is it longer than 200 words? Does it have multiple sections with headings? A three-sentence README tanks your quality score.

Metadata completeness (medium weight): Are all fields in actor.json filled? Title, description, seoTitle, seoDescription, categories, icon — every empty field reduces your score.

Recent usage (low weight): More runs signal popularity and reliability. You cannot fake this, but you can encourage it by making your actor easy to use and well-documented.

Score ranges and what they mean:

90-100: Excellent. Top-tier ranking. Your actor appears on page 1.
80-89:  Good. Competitive ranking. Minor improvements will push you higher.
70-79:  Fair. You are losing ranking to better-optimized competitors.
60-69:  Poor. Significant issues are suppressing your visibility.
Below 60: Critical. Your actor is effectively invisible in search.

Tracking quality score with ApifyForge

The Apify Console shows your quality score on each actor's page, but tracking changes over time requires the ApifyForge dashboard. The Tools section includes a quality score tracker that shows your score history, identifies the factors pulling your score down, and suggests specific fixes. Use this weekly — quality score changes are often the first sign of a problem, before user complaints or revenue drops.

Google SEO for your Store page

Every actor on the Apify Store has a public URL that Google indexes: https://apify.com/username/actor-name. Optimizing for Google means optimizing the seoTitle, seoDescription, and README content. Google uses different ranking signals than the Apify Store search, so treat them as two separate optimization targets.

Tip: Search Google for your target keywords plus "apify" to see which actors currently rank. Study their titles, descriptions, and README structure. Outperform them on every signal.

Tip: Include your actor's Store URL in relevant forum posts, Stack Overflow answers, blog posts, and documentation. External backlinks improve Google ranking for your Store page. See the Monetization guide (/learn/monetization) for additional promotion strategies.

Common SEO mistakes

Mistake 1: Writing the README for yourself, not users. Developer documentation ("This actor uses Cheerio to parse HTML") does not convert users. User-facing copy ("Extract product data in seconds") does.

Mistake 2: Not updating metadata after pivoting. Your actor started as a "web scraper" but now specializes in "product data extraction". If your title and description still say "web scraper", you are competing in the wrong keyword space.

Mistake 3: Ignoring categories. Categories are free visibility. An actor in ECOMMERCE appears on the ecommerce category page, which gets browsed by users looking for exactly your type of actor. An uncategorized actor only appears in search results.

Mistake 4: Neglecting the icon. Actors with custom icons get 2-3x more clicks in search results than actors with the default placeholder. Spend 10 minutes creating a simple icon. It is one of the highest-ROI optimizations you can make.

Mistake 5: No cost transparency. Users who cannot estimate the cost of running your actor will not run it. Add a clear cost estimate to your README and make sure your PPE event description is specific. Refer users to the Glossary for definitions of terms like PPE, events, and quality score.