Google Play Store Listing Optimization: A Practical Checklist

The short answer

A Google Play listing has two jobs: be found (the title, short description and full description are what Play search reads) and convince (icon, feature graphic, screenshots and video). Write the text for people first with your keywords in natural places, make the first screenshots readable at a glance, localize for your main markets, and use store listing experiments to test changes instead of guessing.

The text: title and descriptions

Field	Limit	What to put there
App name	30 characters	Your brand plus, if it fits naturally, the main thing the app does.
Short description	80 characters	One sentence with your core benefit; it's shown on the listing and read by search.
Full description	4,000 characters	What the app does and for whom, key features in short paragraphs or lists, keywords used naturally.

Unlike the App Store, Google Play has no separate keyword field: search reads your listing text. Repeating keywords unnaturally doesn't help and goes against Google's policy. Google Play's metadata policy also doesn't allow terms that imply performance or ranking (“#1”, “best”), price or promotion claims, or calls to action such as “Download now” in your app name, icon or developer name.

The graphics

App icon: 512 × 512 PNG. It appears everywhere, from search to the home screen; keep it simple and recognizable at small sizes.
Feature graphic: 1024 × 500, JPEG or 24-bit PNG without transparency, and required to publish. Keep important content away from the edges and don't rely on small text.
Screenshots: at least two across your device types to publish, up to eight per device type. The Google Play screenshot size guide has every rule.
Tablet and other devices: separate screenshots for 7-inch and 10-inch tablets, Chromebooks and other form factors help your app show up there.
Preview video: a YouTube link; keep the first seconds strong and don't depend on sound.

Localize and target

Translate the listing for every market you care about, including the text inside your screenshots and feature graphic.
Custom store listings in Play Console let you show different text and graphics to people in specific countries or arriving from specific campaigns.
Write for the market, not the dictionary. Local search terms often differ from a literal translation of your English keywords.

Test what you change

Play Console's store listing experiments show variants of your icon, graphics, screenshots or descriptions to part of your visitors and compare how many install. Change one thing per experiment, give it enough time and traffic, and keep the winner.

Checklist

Name, short description and full description written for people, with keywords in natural places.
No ranking, price or call-to-action terms in the name, icon or developer name.
Icon readable at small sizes.
Feature graphic at 1024 × 500 without transparency.
First screenshots readable at a glance, one benefit each.
Tablet screenshots if your app supports tablets.
Listing and screenshot text localized for your main markets.
An experiment running on the element you think matters most.

Open the editor Browse templates

Questions

Does Google Play use the full description for search?: Yes. Google Play has no keyword field, so the name, short description and full description are the text it reads. Write naturally; stuffing keywords goes against Google's metadata policy.
Can I use my App Store screenshots on Google Play?: Only if they meet Google's size rules (no side over 3,840 px, long side at most twice the short side), and they should show your Android app. Exporting both stores' sizes from one design is the easy way.
Is the feature graphic required?: Yes, Google Play requires a 1024 × 500 feature graphic to publish a listing.