You’ve put so much work into your new app, that you want it to do well on the app store. When you list it, you’ll need a good description to show potential users just what it is. The problem is, many developers make some common mistakes with their descriptions, leaving users confused or disappointed. Worse still, they may choose not to download it at all.
To avoid making these mistakes, you need to know what they are. Here are the most common mistakes that developers make with their app descriptions, and how you can avoid them.
1. Not Making The Most Of The First Lines
The first lines of your description will be the ones visible when someone takes a look at your app store listing. These are arguably the most important lines, as they need to grab the user’s attention. If they’re not drawn in here, then they’re very likely to click away and look elsewhere.
The problem is, many developers use those first lines to cram in as many keywords as possible, and or just don’t put in the effort to make the app sound exciting. That’s a huge wasted opportunity, as it’s your chance to show just what makes the app special.
As such, use that section to show off something special about the app. Is there a core feature the user should know about? Is there something it does that no one else does? Remember, you can get into the details ‘under the fold’ so to speak, as the user can click ‘more’ to read the rest of your description.
“On the Apple app store, you have the option to use ‘promotional text’” says Angela Bowery, an app writer with Boom Essays and UK Top Writers. “You have 170 characters to use at the top of the listing, and you can change it at any time.” If you’re uploading to iOS, then make sure you take advantage of this.
2. Keyword Stuffing
Keywords are a vital part of creating a description for your app. These are the words that your potential users will be searching for when they open the app store. By using them, you want to direct them to the listing for your app.
The problem is, a lot of developers will go too far and engage in ‘keyword stuffing’. This is where they overuse the keywords, and it results in a description that looks spammy. You’ve very likely seen descriptions like this when browsing the store, and no doubt they have put you off.
As such, you need to take care when creating your own description. Those keywords are vital, but you have to ensure you’re using them so they read naturally in the text. Remember that you’re writing for humans first, the SEO algorithm second. If the description makes sense with the keywords in it, then you’ll have done it right.
3. Using too Much Jargon
You’ll have been working on your app for a long time, and as you’ve been doing so you’ll have built up a lot of knowledge about what your app is and what it does. For some developers, this can bleed over into their app store descriptions to their detriment.
While the jargon you use makes sense to you, it may not make sense to the audience you want for the app. A lot of jargon will make the description complicated, and if someone can’t understand what your app does quickly, they’re going to walk away.
Instead, aim to keep things as simple as possible. When reviewing your first draft, remove any words that could be construed as jargon. Keeping things simple will ensure that users know what your app is right away, and makes them more likely to download it.
4. Not Structuring Your Text Properly
It’s not just what’s in your description that matters in the app store, but how you structure it too. Think about any other text that you’ve read recently. Most likely, it was broken up into sections, with bullet points, paragraphs, and so on. This is what will have kept you reading.
If a piece of text is written all in one big block, with no structure to it at all, then you’re not going to read it. The same goes for your app description. No one wants to sit and slog through that text, even if you’ve put all the crucial info they need in it.
Instead, ensure that you’re structuring the description in a way that makes sense. For example, you’ll start with the first sentence or two that describes a key feature, or a problem that your app solves. Then, you can create a section that describes what your app does, and another that lists the key features.
There are several ways that you can structure your app description, and this will depend on what your app does. If you want ideas, check out the descriptions to apps that are similar to yours to see what they do.
5. Getting Into All The Features
It makes sense that you’ll want to describe all the features of your app. After all, they’re all there because you think they’d be useful to your intended user base. When writing the description for the app store, many developers fall into the trap of thinking they have to get into every single feature they can offer.
Is that not the right thing to do? “While you’d think it would be helpful, it in fact will just make your description overlong”, says Simon Dawes, a tech journalist from Write My Research Paper and State Of Writing. “That’s going to turn users off from reading it, and potentially downloading your app.”
So what should you do? Remember that when a user downloads your app, they will discover all the features for themselves. Instead, focus on just describing the most important features that the app has. Your description is the taster for the app that will get a user to try them, so you don’t need to front-load it with everything they could possibly need.
6. Making Grammatical and Spelling Errors
You’ll have worked hard on that app store description, and worked hard to show users why they should try your app. Even if you’ve followed all the advice in this list, it will all be undone if there are grammar and spelling errors in it.
These can make your description, and therefore your app, look unprofessional and less than reputable. You of course want to avoid this, so you’ll want to take the appropriate steps to avoid this happening. Once you’ve written your description, check it over looking for any errors that you may have made while writing it. It’s also a good idea to have a third party check it over too, as they can often see errors that may have slipped past you.
Once you’ve fully checked and edited your description, it will then be ready to be posted on the app store.
Wrapping Up
These are some of the most common mistakes that developers make when writing their descriptions for the app store. Now that you’re aware of them though, you’ll be able to avoid them and write the best description possible.
