The app store listing is the product page for your app, hosted on the relevant app stores, where potential users can discover, learn about, and ultimately decide whether to download your app onto their devices. It's important to create a good app store listing because: 

1. This is the first thing a user sees, their experience on the app store listing page sets the tone for the rest of their product experience.
2. The app store listing plays a key part in the discovery of your app. 
3. App Store Optimisation makes sure that your app store listing has the highest visibility. Like SEO, it ensures that your app appears prominently in searches, which ultimately improves downloads. 

The app store listing typically contains the following elements:

1.  The app icon
2.  The app name
3.  The app description
4.  Screenshots of the app
5.  Ratings and reviews
6.  Additional information - including the app developer's name, version number, release date, size, and compatibility with different devices and operating systems.

Before we release your new Pugpig app you will need to decide what the app store description and app store screenshots should be.

Creating the App Store Screenshots

Effective app store screenshots contain good and creative imagery that showcases all the key features of the app.

You can create the app store screenshots yourself, or we can create these for you as part of our out-of-the-box onboarding pack. When creating the screenshots for you we will take screenshots from a variety of places in your app, making sure to showcase all the key features. You will need to let us know as part of the onboarding experience if you would like us to lead on app store screenshot creation.

Examples of our of out-of-the-box app store screenshots, that we have created:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foreign-affairs-magazine/id575171785?platform=iphone

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chemistry-news-by-c-en/id1482036259?platform=ipad

Examples of app store screenshots that customers have created themselves:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-spectator-magazine/id568014889?platform=iphone

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/farmers-weekly/id646769246?platform=iphone

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-independent/id499587380

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/canberra-times/id1527269999?platform=iphone

What we need, if you want to lead on the app store screenshot designs:

You will need a minimum of 4 images in 4 different sets. The content of the screenshot is up to you as long as it accurately reflects the app and shows the correct device for the platform.

For iOS we need 3 sizes. Each size needs to have the correct image dimensions and also show the correct device:

6.5 inch display (iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR) - 1242 x 2688 pixels (portrait)

5.5 inch display (iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8 Plus) - 1242 x 2208 pixels (portrait)

12.9 inch display (2nd or 3rd generation iPad Pro) - 2048 x 2732 pixels (portrait)

Please see the Apple screenshot specifications for more details.

For Google (JPEG or 24-bit PNG (no alpha). Min length for any side: 320px. Max length for any side: 3840px. At least 2 screenshots are required overall. Max 8 screenshots per type.) You can add different images for phone and tablet, or the same for both. You will also need a promotional banner (1024 x 500 px landscape PNG or JPG).

Please see the Googles screenshot specifications for more details.

For Amazon Between 3 and 10 PNGs or JPGs, 800 x 480px, 1024 x 600px, 1280 x 720px, 1280 x 800px, 1920 x 1080px, 1920 x 1200px, or 2560 x 1600px (portrait or landscape). You will also need a promotional banner (1024 x 500 px landscape PNG or JPG).

Please see the Amazon screenshot specifications for more details.

Writing the App Description

We usually ask if you can lead on writing the app description. 

Our tips for writing a good app description:

• Make sure you understand the keywords that drive the discoverability of your app (please see the bullet point on keywords in our article about App Store Optimisation) and make sure these are included in the app store copy. 
• Make sure you include keywords that relate to both content types (podcasts, puzzles etc.) and content topics (what subjects you typically cover). 

For examples of app descriptions, please see below:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-independent/id499587380

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-spectator-magazine/id568014889

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mit-technology-review/id1449141080

If you have any further questions about your app store listings, please contact your Customer Success Manager.

We also offer a complete app store listing review as part of our consulting offering where we can analyse your listing including a keyword review and benchmark it against your competitors. Pugpig Consulting will produce a report and work with you to update your app store listing to improve the discoverability of your app and drive downloads. We can also discuss ways to increase the number of reviews and ratings and how to monitor reviews to keep your ratings high and retain customers. For more information please email info@pugpig.com and add the subject line “consulting”.

For more information…

• Apple help article on creating your product page.
• Google Play help article on creating and setting up your app.
• Amazon article about adding your app store details.