Lior Eldan | 20.11.19

So, why do you need to write an app description like a pro? Pretty simple, your copywriting can make or break your marketing efforts.

If you think writing articles for SEO is complicated because you need to keep a keyword in mind, write a minimum number of words and use specific HTML tags, just wait for when you’ll be writing an app description.

Not trying to scare you here in any way. Yet, showcasing the same idea in 700 words instead of 3.000 words is way, way harder.

So, why is writing an app store description so hard?

The answer is pretty simple, you’re forced to:

Respect the app store description character limit
Send your message in the first lines of your description
Follow the app store description guidelines
Write content without the help of formating (headers, bolds and so on)

We’ll talk about everything in this article and help you out on your task of writing a killer app description.

App Store Description Guidelines

As mentioned before, you need to fully respect the App Store Description Guidelines in order to rank your app on the app store and increase downloads.

Just to push the importance of a relevant app store description, less than 2% of users read the entire description. Meaning that, if you don’t write the relevant information in 5 lines or less, you won’t convince anyone to download your app.

App store descriptions are limited to a maximum of 4.000 characters and can be disapproved by Moderators if they find out you stuffed it with app store keywords.

Make sure that you eliminate all errors in your copy, keep it as natural as possible and don’t falsify any information or testimonials.

Start with the main app keyword in mind

The best app store description works with the keyword in mind. You should write the copy in a way that:

Converts users
Increases your rank

We’ve done App store optimization guides in the past, talking about the benefits of doing proper keyword research and optimizing your app.

If you still don’t know what ASO is, it is the process of optimizing an app for the app store. Pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it?

You start by doing keyword research and continue with analyzing your competitors.

This allows you to better understand what keywords users are using to find apps similar to yours and what keywords you need to integrate inside your copy.

It’s also a good exercise and task to read what your competitors wrote and better understand what worked for them.

If you’ve already done your research for your main keywords, don’t forget about ASO!

ASO can help you increase your app store ranking. The more people see your app page, the more people will download.

Because of this, also take care of the following:

App title.

Your app should have the main keyword integrated into the title. This will help it rank better and get more organic views on the homepage.

App Store Keyword Field

The Apple App Store has a keyword field where you can integrate the main keywords you want to rank your app for. Make sure you fill everything in order to increase your app ranking.

What are the app store description best practices?

Besides the standard guidelines, we’ve also created a list of the app store description best practices. After looking over the market, reading studies and based on our experience, we created the following lists.

Use an Emoji in your app store description

Before anyone starts ramping up in the comment section. Yes, we do know there have been cases in the past where the use of Emojis had detrimental effects on app developers.

Yet, the problem wasn’t related to the use of emojis in the app store description. It was related to the use of emojis in the artwork or design of the app.

Apple has the right to block apps that use its copyrighted emoji design. And they should. More info in this article submitted by Techcrunch.

Conclusion: You can use Emojis in the app store description, do not use it in screenshots, logos, videos or inside of your app as part of the UI!

Test, test and re-test your app store description preview!

As mentioned before, all apps have a small preview that each user sees when opening the app page. (see example below)

Shazam app store preview description — Source: Google Play Store, Shazam App

For Shazam, we can only see 6 lines of text, then it starts fading and you can only read more if you press the “Read more” button. (sorry, couldn’t find a better wordplay for this)

Also, only 2% of users actually try to read more. Because of this, most of the time, the app store description is more relevant to the app store, than the user.

As a result, we advise that you start creating a sales-oriented copy with a limit of around 250 characters. Do your best to convince the user to download.

You can always A/B test this. Keep it for a couple of weeks, change it, compare the results. (mostly the conversion rate)

Use Social Proof in your app description.

If you’ve won rewards or done some amazing projects in the past for which the users may know you for, it’s best to state that in the app store description.

Talk about your millions of downloads in a couple of weeks, about your amazing awards or even something smaller like being featured in the top 5 of your app’s category on the app store.

This will increase the user’s trust in you and the chance of converting. (especially in more serious niches)

Social Proof App Description for Angry Birds — Angry Birds talks about its millions of players in the description.

Create a description for your images

Being limited with your app store description formating, you need to start being creative with your creative.

Bad pun, we know. But follow through here.

You can use your app store screenshots to describe your app features and functionalities, in order to increase the conversion rate.

A picture is worth a thousand words.
Unknown author

App description with app store screenshots Revolut — Revolut showcases the information about Analytics and fast account opening

App description with app store screenshots Netflix — Netflix talks about the option of downloading movies to watch later

Really important, as we mentioned before, you are allowed to include emojis in your text description, you are not allowed to use them in your creative. Most of them are copyrighted!

This is what happened with Apple emojis when they pulled out hundreds of apps from their app store.

Add some text inside your mobile app preview videos!

In the same way, you can add information in your app store screenshots, you can also add texts inside your app preview video.

Don’t forget about app localization and app internationalization

Localizing your app can increase the number of app downloads by up to 767%. That’s over 75% of the content users read on the internet is in their own language.

If you aren’t pushing your app in Spanish, for a Spanish market, you will be missing out!

App store localization is also one of the main ASO activities. It can help you rank on words that do not exist in your main language, rank you higher in specific countries and boost your downloads and conversions.

Uber did an amazing job with their localization in Japan. They managed to localize their descriptions in both text and screenshots.

Not only that, but they also used maps with locations from Japan to better reflect the experience of the users!

Use Call to Actions in your app description!

You only have a couple of lines in your app description preview. Because of this, you need to make it count and convince the user to download your app.

Lines like:

Download the app and start saving money!
Install the game and join the millions of players worldwide.
Install our app and start watching all of your favorite movies.

… will surely help you boost your conversion.

Integrate promotional text in your app description

If you’re integration a new promotion, reducing your prices for a particular event or just integrating some new features, it’s worth showcasing that in your app description.

If your app is blocked by a paid subscription, this approach can help you increase the number of customers. App promotions are a great incentive for users that want to purchase at a discount.

Update your app often.

Updating your app often will help you rank higher, as the algorithm tries to always push relevant and new content inside the app store.

Related to your app store description, make sure that you update it and state what you’ve improved in your app.

This will make users trust your app more, knowing that you are continuously working on improving it.

It will also help you bring back users that churned in the past. If they left because your app missed a feature and you managed to integrate it, you have a high chance of converting them back into paying customers.

Don’t forget about app rating and reviews

If you’ve managed to obtain good app ratings and reviews from reputable sources, make sure to integrate that inside your app description.

If Forbes, TechCrunch or a National News Network rated your app, state that information inside your App description. It will surely boost your credibility.

Final Thoughts

We hope we managed to provide some value regarding app store descriptions. Why they are important and how to improve them.

For questions or help, feel free to either contact us or leave a comment in the section bellow.

Lior Eldan

Lior Eldan is the Co-Founder & COO of Moburst. As an ASO and Mobile media expert, Lior mentors and supports startups, helping them develop and execute their mobile marketing strategies.

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With ever-changing algorithms, App Store Optimization is a continuous process requiring constant updating in order to ensure long-term success. It is important to monitor your ASO variables with regularity, and our roadmap to getting started with your own audit can get you cruising down the path to app store domination in no time. Optimize Your App's Metadata The first step in an effective ASO checkup is to analyze your meta assets following these easy steps: Step 1: Start by analyzing the title & subtitle. Ask yourself, is the char utilization optimized for each app store? iOS allows 30 characters for both title and subtitle while Android allows 50 and 80 respectively. It is important to use all of the allotted character spaces in order to maximize organic traffic. The logic is simple: the more keywords, the more ranking, and thus the more downloads. That being said, be wary of simply stuffing your titles with any keywords that come to mind, and be sure to choose them carefully after heavy research. Step 2: Next, when choosing keywords, focus on intent. It is crucial to find the right terms in order to target the right audience and focusing on search intent can shed light on areas and keywords that are lacking. As a practice, define your app in three to five words and determine the relevant semantic core, or a set of keywords and key phrases that describe your app in the most precise and clear way for your brand. Check the traffic of these keywords. If they have a strong score, target them and make them part of your core group, and find a way to get them into your title. For the keywords in the subtitle, widen the core a bit. Finally, add any and all other relevant keywords to the full description. Choosing the right keywords with search intent Step 3: Avoid repeating keywords, one mention is enough. A repeated keyword is simply taking the place of other keywords that offer better ranking potential, and as we said before, the more ranking the better. Step 4: Steer clear from irrelevant “filler words” such as ‘with,’ ‘app’ and ‘you’re.’ Filler words have no discovery value and merely take up valuable character space. It is also good to check phrases as stand-alone keywords and see if they are still relevant. For example, though ‘series’ might have a high traffic score, it is a general keyword that can pertain to various subjects such as movies, books, or art. Consequently, it is less relevant as a single keyword as opposed to a phrase like ‘story series’ ‘watch series’ or ‘read series.’ Therefore, check to see if there are keywords that might bring value as both a phrase and as a single keyword. Step 5: Avoid using long sentences. It’s better to split them up than pack everything into one. Keep things short and sweet. Step 6: Create different meta assets for the App Store and Google Play Stores. Each store assigns different weightings to ASO factors and even contains completely different elements. The traffic score for keywords also differs from store to store, so make sure the meta assets are unique to the store the app is launched in. Step 7: Lastly, for iOS apps, use Apple Search Ads to boost app store optimization. Besides being effective in driving highly relevant installs, search ads can benefit organic ASO by collecting keywords & with conversion rate optimization. Then use them in your ASO strategy to measure each keyword’s value. For a full example of text optimization, let’s take a look at Coffee Meets Bagel’s metadata. As you can see the char utilization is maximized for both title and subtitle. This is a good sign. However, if we look more closely we see the keyword ‘dating’ is repeated in both the title & subtitle: one of them should be removed. For the title, we would also suggest moving the brand name to the end so that ‘dating,’ a very competitive keyword, has a higher chance to gain ranking. For the subtitle, we would recommend removing the keyword ‘app.’ Like in step four, it brings no ASO value. Though ‘real connection’ captures the branding, it brings little traffic. ‘Connection’ as a single keyword is not a very targeted keyword. We would recommend using a relevant keyword from the semantic core that brings traffic. Read more for an in-depth guide on writing app store descriptions. Pro Tip: For new apps, consider putting the brand name at the end to boost the chances for keyword ranking. Untapped Potential for Organic Traffic Low hanging fruit and missed opportunities exist in all sorts of ways such as keywords competitors are not using, and phrases that have high search volume but relatively low competition. Research and read different apps’ full descriptions to get ideas. Check autocomplete for insight. It is important to search for descriptions that explain your app from the point of view of users. Use your keyword research to build ASO phrases instead of merely single keywords. See which phrases have a high volume of traffic and include them in your metadata to gain the ranking for the phrases as well as the single keywords. Doing this also offers a more specific find, focusing more on user intent. For example, although ‘relationships’ in itself might bring traffic, ‘serious relationships’ might bring more value as it combines the traffic of the single keywords and the phrase itself as well as offering a very targeted keyword. This will also offer insight into core phrases that you are not getting ranked for (missed volume score). Pro Tip: Typos can often be easy wins. Localize Your App Successfully For your audit’s next step, check the app’s localization. If you aren’t spending time on localizing your app store’s listing, you are missing out on a strong strategy that can heavily increase discoverability. By localizing your app in different languages, the opportunity to reach more people increases. This, in turn, can increase your app’s rank by leveraging your app against competitors who focus solely on local markets. Plus, app store search algorithms take your metadata into account from relevant localizations when ranking apps. Your title, for example in Mexico Spanish will affect search results in the US. If localization is already part of your ASO strategy, there is still room for improvement. You can gain keyword rankings by having different keywords per localization. Remember to always adapt to the cultural and linguistic nuances of the respective country. Creating a semantic core of keywords in different languages can help in this regard. Adapting to different areas is also true for screenshots and having different screenshots per country can increase user downloads. One of the most important assets to consider is the 100-character keyword field in the App Store. You can easily increase keyword indexation by simple localization. Each locale has the potential to be ranked in more than one language. The United States, for example, can be ranked for both English and Spanish. Canada can be listed for both English and French. So make sure to use all the locals for which a territory ranks. Pro Tip: Use these ‘extra’ localizations to add keywords and double your exposure. Boost App Ratings & Reviews Ratings & reviews should also not be overlooked. Besides being crucial for marketing purposes, positive ratings can be a boost for ASO. According to the App Store ranking algorithm, an app’s ratings impact its rank, with better apps getting better exposure. As a matter of fact, apps with more than four stars even receive a rankings boost. It is therefore important to cultivate a lively and positive review column. For more insight, check out our guide for how to take advantage of the new App Store Review guidelines. Negative reviews can also be thwarted by slight changes to the metadata. Read through the reviews to discern what can be done. For example, one app we were following was receiving negative reviews from users who first learned it wasn’t free only after they had downloaded it. However, by simply adding messaging of a ‘%5 welcome bonus’ to the subtitle in order to ensure clarity, the negative reviews decreased after the update. Pro Tip: Replying to positive reviews can go a long way. Evaluate App Category Competition Choosing the correct category for your app’s listing can play a major role in boosting visibility and ranking. Check your competitors’ categories and look for opportunities. Is there a relevant category that your competitors are not listed for? A good example of this was Twitter. It was previously ranked in the top 10 for the category ‘Social Networking’, competing against Facebook, Instagram, Messenger & Whatsapp, and although it is a pertinent category, its competitive level skyrockets. However, once the company switched their category to ‘News’ it quickly ranked #1. Furthermore, not only did their App Store visibility increase but a few months later they were now ranked #5 in the hyper-competitive ‘Social Networking’ category as well. Pro Tip: Finding a less competitive category will allow your app to gain visibility and through that increase in ranking across different categories. Design Better App Store Screenshots Screenshots are the next crucial part of an ASO audit with the visuals and content both vastly influential. When it comes to screenshots, promoting user exploration is key. Start by studying industry trends to match your designs and color accordingly, including what competitors are doing to foster engagement. For example, at Moburst we have found that using a gradient background and 3D pop-out graphics has proven an effective tactic for captivating users. Additionally, avoid having standalone screenshots that lack connective tissue. Encourage further exploration by cutting images between frames to create “scroll bait” that entices users to swipe all the way to the end. Additionally, similar-looking screenshots are also not advised as they cause user fatigue that results in users looking elsewhere. Finally, be careful your store listing doesn’t have too many screenshots either, sometimes less can actually be more. Stand-alone screenshot gallery Panoramic screenshot gallery Finally, although some users will make a decision without scrolling, for everyone else, making sure they get to the CTA is vital. Your the screenshots leading up to it, use clear and distinct text that conveys your app’s USPs. Also avoid having too much text in the screenshot as it becomes tough for users to read. Typography is also key, so choose a font big enough and readable on a phone screen. Pro Tip: If you have a video, never use portrait orientation within landscape proportions: you lose valuable screen space and text readability. Tap Into Google Play Experiments Last but not least, test! A/B testing plays a crucial role in improving conversion rates and in reducing unnecessary risks. If your app is listed in the Google Play Store there is a wide selection of app listing elements you can test with Google Play experiments, ranging from icons to screenshots to full descriptions. These experiments are free and offer valuable insights so take advantage of them all. It is the perfect tool to run global tests and evaluate new features. Pro Tip: When testing, determine a clear objective and test one attribute at a time. Conclusion Because of both the evolving ranking app store algorithms and the industry’s competitive landscape, App Store Optimization is an ongoing process and key to mobile success. Having helped countless apps increase their CVR, downloads, and app store rankings, these steps have proven time and again to be the best places to start in order to improve your ASO. In summary, be meticulous about your app’s metadata. Leveraging character space may seem straightforward on the surface, but pay special attention to search intent when it comes to choosing keywords. Make sure your app store listing screenshots are captivating and tell an effective story. Make sure your captions and visuals craft a story that leads to a clear and compelling CTA. Put an emphasis on testing your app store listing. Different screenshots and video dimensions can sometimes cause dramatic changes in CVR, so be diligent and leave no stone unturned. For Android apps, take advantage of free tools like Google Play Experiments to see which of your efforts are paying off. By following our tips based on careful measurements, you’ll be well on your way to an efficient and effective ASO strategy in no time and one that will improve your app’s conversion rates and visibility. When it comes to App Store Optimization success, every situation requires its own unique solution. We would love to connect and learn more about your specific needs. Get in touch with us today to schedule a consultation and find out more about how Moburst ASO can increase your organic downloads by over 30%.