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As a non-native English speaker I worry about my ability to create great app description.

Does quality of the copy have significant impact on sales?
Do I need to hire copy editor or a copywiter? Where and how?
Does it pay to localize app descriptions for mayor markets? Which have most impact?

Please share your app store experience!

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Mar 1 '11 at 21:23

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This isn't really a programming related question - have you considered apple.stackexchange.com ? –  James Goodwin Feb 28 '11 at 22:48
I have not considered it, but reading apple.stackexchange.com/faq, it is not a place to ask about "Apple Developer Programs or programming". I believe this question is very much about application development, even though not programming per se, in the context of [ios] and [appstore]. –  Palimondo Feb 28 '11 at 23:18
Hate to be sarcastic here, but one thing you could do is mind your spelling. : / (Your question title is misspelled). –  rlb.usa Mar 1 '11 at 21:25
@rlb.usa Thank you for noticing! :-) Fixed. –  Palimondo Mar 2 '11 at 9:40

2 Answers 2

up vote 5 down vote accepted

As a native English speaker, I would say that yes poorly written descriptions turn me off a little. That said, if I heard of it word-of-mouth I'm probably just going to install it without reading the description.

At the price-point of most applications I would expect less polish, and the indie aspect of games is one of the greatest things about the App stores. For A-list, relatively expensive, tiles I would be very annoyed by grammatical errors.

Finally, if your English descriptions are at least the caliber of this question, then I think you'll be fine.

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Thank you for the encouragement! Still, can you recommend a way improve the app descriptions? Any experience with hiring copy editors? –  Palimondo Mar 2 '11 at 9:49

Good copy is all about delivery.

Imagine that you have a high-school crush and you want to ask her out. How would get her interest? You could comment on her new hair; you could offer her some flowers; you could brag about your awesomeness. But don't forget to ask her out.

Similarly, if you want to sell a product, you need good copy that interests the consumer.

  • Flattery. People like to be acknowledged e.g. "Formatting code is tough for developers; perhaps we can make it easier through product A."
  • Flowers. Create a demo and call it free.
  • Awesomeness. Your product should be Lipsmackinthirstquenchinacetastinmotivatingoodbuzzin cooltalkinhighwalkinfastlivinevergivincoolfizzin’, (Pepsi).

A technical description i.e. "product A does objective through feature" should be spell-checked but often is not the call to action that prompts users to buy or try products.

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