When users choose among hundreds of different applications online, they make decisions very quickly. Nobody is going to read the copy that you provide with the app describing all the benefits. People are more likely to look at the pictures.

It would help if you did not underestimate the importance of screenshots in the app stores. If you want users to find and download your app, the screenshots should convey the essence, describe the app colorfully and engagingly.

This post lets us talk about how you can make screenshots for Google Play and App Store like a mobile app design agency.

How screenshots affect sales

Screenshots’ primary role is to show the application in detail and make a person click on the “download” button. The screenshots make a person decide whether they need this application or not. By choosing the proper screenshots, you will help make this same decision.

First impression

What is essential is the first impression. Choose the most exciting moments in your app. If it is a game, select a scene that you are most proud of. If this is a functional app, try to demonstrate the main screens and how they are helpful to the viewer. Short messages on the screenshots that explain how the app works, emojis, and arrows all help attract attention.

Make it original

Probably, you are not the first person who made an app of this kind. No matter if you create a music player, a fitness tracker, or a restaurant app – hundreds of similar products made by professional UX/UI design agencies are already on the market.

Do not try to repeat after them when making your screenshots. Make them original. Try to choose your tone of voice and communicate your benefits in a way nobody did before. A good UI/UI copywriter can help you with that.

Screenshots for apps on the App Store

You can place up to 10 screenshots in the App Store. That is, there is a lot of room for revelry of fantasy. For games, you should take horizontal screenshots if the games have the same format. Otherwise, place the vertical ones.

Screenshots on Google Play

Unlike the App Store, only up to 8 screenshots can be added to Google Play. Recently, Google made a complete update, which helped make screenshots more visible to potential buyers.

How to deal with competition

It would help if you remembered that to stand out among competitors, you need to showcase the advantages of the application. For example, what do you have that competitors do not have? What percentage of users trust you and have already chosen the application? Maybe you have some achievements or awards that can build a trusting relationship between you and the customers? Here you can be creative, come up with more and more new ideas to make your app look attractive and convincing.

How to create the best-selling screenshots?

Let’s sum up:

  • First, let the user understand what you are offering and why. Tip: when you publish a screenshot, try to look at it through the buyer’s eyes, as if you were seeing it for the first time. Well, what is your impression? Do you understand what an application is? If so, that’s fine, and you are on the right track. If not, it is better to make changes.
  • Secondly, as mentioned above, provide users with all the benefits of your application. It will help it to stand out among the competitors.
  • Thirdly, show what will change in the life of the person who installs your application. What problem do you help a potential buyer to solve? How do you make their life easier? This is the crucial point that affects the purchase, and it is definitely worth paying attention to.
  • Fourth, do not forget about the size. The App Store and Google Play have different screenshot size requirements. For example, Google Play has more democratic rules, while the App Store has more stringent requirements. Before publishing, you need to study all the rules and conditions to complete the work more efficiently.

Final thoughts

Screenshots in app stores work as advertisements for other types of products. The users decide whether to install your app based on attractive and colorful screenshots. Pay attention to them and try to make them more convincing for potential clients. This will be rewarded.