App title, subtitle and short description: the words that rank

Your app's name and its second line are the strongest ranking text you have, and the shortest. The App Store gives you 30 characters for the name and 30 for the subtitle. Google Play gives you 30 for the name and 80 for the short description. Every character that does not help someone find you or understand you is wasted.

Definition

Subtitle (App Store) / Short description (Google Play): the one line under your app name in search results and at the top of your page. Both stores index it for search, and shoppers read it before anything else.

The limits, side by side

Try it: how much room do you really have?

Type your current name and second line. Most apps use half the room and give the rest away.

The formula: brand, job, top search

People who already know you search your brand. Everyone else searches the job. A good name serves both, in that order.

1. 1

   Start with the brand

   Short, then a colon or a dash. "NoteNest:" uses 9 characters. If your brand is long, consider a shorter display name; the store name does not have to match the name on the home screen exactly.
2. 2

   Add what it does, in the words people search

   Not what you call it. "Voice Notes" beats "Audio Capture" because that is what people type.
3. 3

   Use the subtitle or short description for the next two or three searches

   On the App Store you have 30 characters: three jobs, comma separated, no fluff. On Google Play you have 80: one plain sentence that contains the next three searches naturally.
4. 4

   Check every word earns its place

   "The", "app", "your", "free" and your category name do nothing for search. Cut them.

Six rewrites, before and after

The rules you cannot break

In plain words: describe, don't boast. Name what the app does. Never name a competitor. Never put a price or a claim in the title.

Writing the second line for each store

App Store subtitle (30 characters)

• Think of it as three search terms wearing a sentence. "Record, transcribe, search" is 26 characters and three jobs.
• Do not repeat a word from the name. Apple counts each word once across name, subtitle and keywords, so repeating only wastes space.
• Avoid adjectives. "Fast, simple, beautiful" ranks for nothing.

Google Play short description (80 characters)

• Write one honest sentence that a person would say. Google indexes it, but its policy punishes keyword lists.
• Put the most important search in the first few words; the line is cut off on small screens.
• No testimonials, no prices, no "best". Google's policy forbids unattributed testimonials and deceptive claims.

Checklist before you submit

1. Name contains the one search people use most for apps like yours.
2. Name is 30 characters or fewer, and uses at least 24 of them.
3. Second line contains two or three more searches, no slogans.
4. No word appears twice across name, subtitle and keywords (App Store).
5. No competitor names, prices, "best", "#1", emoji or ALL CAPS.
6. Read it out loud. A stranger would know what the app does.

Next: where the rest of your keywords go, and how to find them. Part 4: keyword research. If you want your current name and subtitle checked against all of this, the free audit above does it and writes you new versions.