Your app’s description is your sales page and, as such, can be written a little like ad copy or homepage website text. In order to generate maximum downloads of your app, ensure that it is clear, succinct and appealing to your target audience. After your icon and name help you stand out from other apps, it’s the app description text that will do the rest of the legwork in terms of provoking curiosity in your users, and ultimately ‘selling’ your app to them (even if it’s free to download).

In Google Play, be aware that your description affects app store optimization (ASO; your app’s search ranking). Therefore you should look to optimize it for relevant keywords and search terms. In iOS, your description will not impact ASO, so you should simply focus on gearing your description toward the user, rather than the search algorithms.

Here are some of our top tips for writing your app description for the app stores:

Pay attention to the default fold in your description text

Take full advantage of the first few lines before the ‘More…’ button, and use these introductory words to succinctly tell your users what your app does and why it will benefit them and why they should be excited about it. Start off with the most powerful message you have. Has your app achieved something huge, like thousands of downloads or a feature in a ‘Best apps’ chart? Is it going to change your users’ lives somehow? Have you got a killer USP? Tell everyone about it at your earliest opportunity.

The beginning of the description text uses adjectives such as ‘awesome’, ‘fast-paced’ and ‘addictive’, and lets everyone know how popular this app is by dropping in that there are over 60 million users already hooked:

Be straightforward and honest about your app

It’s important to communicate your app to potential users in the best possible light, but keep it quick, to-the-point and easy to understand. There is no need to be over the top in your description about features and functionalities that won’t really interest your users; no matter how great you think a feature is, always think of your users’ perspective. They mostly want to know about the solid, smooth user experience and their benefits. Of course, always be totally factual about your app’s capabilities, so as not to overpromise your users:

Include every detail that you should include; omit everything unnecessary

What should you include? Positive quotes from user and press reviews, achievements and all of your best most relevant features, as a bullet point list. An achievement could be an award, accolade, notable press mention or a high volume of downloads. Good examples of essential information to include are your press mentions, star ratings, benefits your users can enjoy and special in-app features.

It’s OK if your description is long, just make sure it’s easy to digest with sub-headings and line breaks and avoid being too wordy where it isn’t needed.

If your app description does its job properly, your potential suers will be in no doubt whether to read further and ultimately download your app. Of course, a great description needs complimentary screenshots, which show off your app as being beautifully designed and easy to use.

An incredible icon, which users fall in love with, will be one of your app’s most important elements and its design should not be taken lightly. Additionally, if you manage to achieve many high ratings and positive user reviews, you’ll be laughing. Remember: your potential users will digest all of these factors in just a few seconds in order to form their first impressions of your app. So make sure they all work together, towards your goals of more downloads and more engaged users.