Tips on How to Write a Good App Description

While visual elements of your app product page such as your icon or screenshots tend to get more attention in ASO, it's important not to neglect your description.

The first 5 lines will be visible to anyone who taps into your product page listing, and if the user taps "more," then the rest of your description will come into play. While many users will not read through your description, the users that do are more likely to be higher value, given they take the time to read your description and figure out whether they should invest effort or money in your app before downloading it. Your description is your chance to convince and convert these higher value users.

Your description is one of the easiest parts of your app product page to tweak; take advantage this fact to constantly test and maximize your description's conversion rate.

Components of a Good App Description

1. Start with a hook – why should users care about your app, vs all the other apps out there?
   1. Social proof (e.g. total number of users, total volume of use, awards/accolades, etc.).
   2. Curiosity (e.g. looking for X? wish you had an app to do Y? For z type of users, we're the perfect app, etc.).
   3. A short, straightforward description (#2 below).
   4. Use cases/top value proposition (e.g. save 50% off retail, start the day more relaxed, get muscle definition fast, etc.)
2. Follow your hook up with a short, straightforward description – in 1-2 sentences, explain what your app is or does. If you can include a problem or opportunity statement to help anchor your app's utility, so much the better!
3. Continue by adding in sections that help users get a better sense of why they should use your app, such as:
   1. A step-by-step process of your app's main workflow (how to use our app).
   2. A list of your features, or at least your main features.
   3. A list of popular use cases.
   4. What people are saying: PR quotes/User reviews (be careful not to use actual user reviews in Google Play, though!).
   5. Frequently Asked Questions.
   6. What makes us unqiue – come right out and say what you have that none of your competitors do.
4. Use bullet points and white-spaced section headers to help users navigate while reading. Use formatting in the Google Play store, too – tasteful bold/underlines to indicate section headers or important points are good, but don't go overboard.
5. Finish up by including your support contact information! Assure users that there is a support team that they can easily reach out to if they should run into issues.
   1. If your support team is better-than-expected (e.g. you offer 24/7 support, you have an in-app feedback/support system, you have a team of dedicated support reps, etc.) mention that, too! You won't maximize that value if users don't know about it until after they have downloaded your app, and knowing they have those extra resources can increase their likelihood of using those resources when they come across an issue, rather than becoming frustrated, writing a bad review and deleting your app.

As you build out your description, make sure to proof-read it out loud to catch easily missed grammatical mistakes, and be sure to ABtC (A/B test Constantly)! In Google this can be done with the experiments engine; in iOS you can measure results by making one change to your description every 7 days and then analyzing the change in conversion rate for the 7 days pre-and-post change (just make sure not to make any other product page changes and to account for marketing signals).

You can also use Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to run English description tests, but be aware that certain cultural differences can skew results and to re-test in the United States before deplyoing.

It's also good practice to read your user reviews to see which features/use cases/language your users mention, which can help you better understand what will resonate most with your new visitors.

That's all for now, folks! Be sure to bookmark our blog, sign up to our email newsletter for new post updates and reach out if you're interested in working with us.

Incipia is a mobile app development and marketing agency that builds and markets apps for companies, with a specialty in high-quality, stable app development and keyword-based marketing strategy, such as app store optimization and Apple search ads. For blog/video or speaking requests, business or press inquiries please contact us or send an inquiry to hello@incipia.co.