Congratulations! When you finalized your app, there is only one step left — that is to submit it to app stores like iTunes or Google Play. This blog prepares you the checklist of submitting your app to iTunes App Store.

#1 Apply for a developer account a month before submission

You need a paid iOS developer account ($99/year) to submit your app to iTunes. If not, apply at least a month before your scheduled submission date on https://developer.apple.com/

#2 Understand the metadata shown on iTunes App Store

iTunes displays certain information on App Store for each app, and they determine whether potential users can discover or download your apps.

You would like to be well prepared before submission.
App name: Required, 255 characters limit
Description: Required, 4000 characters limit
Keywords: Required, 100 characters limit
Category: Primary required, secondary optional
Organization Name: Required
URL to help content: Required
Support information: Email required
Privacy policy URL: Optional
Marketing URL: Optional

#3 Choose a name that is easy to understand and remember

App name is crucial because this is the first thing users see when they search and learn about your app, it is also heavily ranked for search keywords in app store.

Some suggestions for you to check whether your app name is good or not:

1) It’s better to let users know what it can do. Such as “Draw something” (It tells you that the app is for you to draw). Thought the app is more than providing a place to draw, it can attract the users who are willing to draw by the first glimpse.

2) It’s better to show the most important feature. App “Find my iPhone”, obviously, will be used when you don’t know where your iPhone is.

3) Use symbols to change a word into a name. For example, “Comic Book!” (Easy to be found when users search “comic” or “comic book”), Photo+ (Tell you the app is all about photos. Simple, short, and direct).

4) Use animal characters to enliven and personalize your app. PandaForm and TaskRabbit, for instance.

#4 Prepare an eye-catching icon

A good icon can make huge difference. Don’t lose your users at the first sight. Have a look at the following icons from ActionSnap, MomentCamera, BeautyCamera and ArtCamera, I believe you can tell that some are better looking than others.

Because iTunes and Google Play both requires a series of app icon sizes, it’s troublesome to make them one by one. Here is a helpful website for you to tailor the size of your app icon in a second:
www.makeappicon.com

#5 Make your description concise and clear

Noted that most people will browse the store quickly and won’t pay much attention to the long and complicated description, you’d better make it brief and readable.

Here are some suggestions:

1) Tell readers what your app does in the very beginning, because iTunes will hide the following content and just show the first three lines, and maxim 148 characters per line.

2) Separate your text into several paragraphs and leave blank lines between each section.

3) List key features clearly.

4) Quoting user reviews (if available) is of great help.

5) Don’t forget to include the address of your website, in case users want to know more about the app or your company.

An example for your reference:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spentable/id500630565?ls=1&mt=8

#6 A good screenshot is more useful than 1000 words

iTunes requires one screenshot, and you can upload 5 screenshots in total. The requirement is: 960 x 640 px or 920 x 640 px, 72dpi, RGB, flattened, no transparency, high quality JPEG, TIFF, or PNG and not include iPhone status bar.

#7 Choose the right keywords

Right keywords can make sure that your app has the advantage in each search. The keywords are up to 100 characters including spaces.

You can:

1) Try some keywords in Google Keyword Tool (https://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool). You can see how many times the keywords are searched, and get inspirations of other relevant words.

2) Type your keywords in iTunes, and test how it gives feedback to your search.

#8 Beware of latest changes and requirements of iTunes App Store

Sometimes Apple changes the policy of its payment method, user login and so on.

#9 Build an archive for your app and add app on iTunes Connect

You need to create an archive of your project.
A very detailed, step by step tutorial can be found athttp://www.makeuseof.com/tag/submit-app-itunes-app-store/ , if you encounter problems in this part.

By now, you have completed the submission! Wish your app a success in iTunes!  : )