Write a high-converting Apify Store listing

Why the listing is the product

Buyers don't read your code. They read your title to decide whether to click, scan your README and screenshots to decide whether to hit Run, and check your pricing line to decide whether to come back. Most creators ship great actors with 2-star listings and wonder why nobody uses them. The fix isn't more code — it's better merchandising.

Three surfaces matter, in order:

• Title + tagline. Decides whether anyone clicks from the search results.
• README + screenshots. Decides whether the click turns into a Run.
• Pricing presentation. Decides whether the first run turns into a paying customer.

The title formula

Use this shape:

[Verb / Noun] + [Target site or domain] + [Modifier]

Good:

• Amazon Product Scraper
• Google Maps Reviews Extractor
• LinkedIn Profile Scraper (Headless, No Login)

Bad:

• MegaScrape v2 — no target, no verb, no signal in search.
• The Ultimate Web Data Solution — no target site, no specific output.

Rules:

• Target site goes first or near-first. People search for “Amazon scraper”, not “scraper for Amazon”.
• The action word matches search intent. Scraper, Extractor, Crawler, Checker, Monitor. Pick the one your buyers type, not the one you find clever.
• Modifiers go in parentheses. “No Login”, “Headless”, “With Reviews”. They sell the differentiator without breaking the search match.

The tagline / short description

Roughly 120 characters. One sentence. Plain language. Tell the buyer what they get — fields, scope, throughput. Skip powerful, easy, and best; they make every listing look the same.

• Good: “Scrapes product title, price, ASIN, rating, and seller from any Amazon URL — up to 10k items per run.”
• Bad: “The most powerful and easy-to-use Amazon scraper on Apify.”

The README skeleton

Drop this in as your starting README. Replace the bracketed placeholders with your actor's specifics.

Why those sections, in that order:

• One-sentence pitch mirrors the tagline so the buyer sees consistency between the store card and the listing page.
• Output sample is the single highest-converting block on the page. A buyer who sees the exact JSON they'll get already knows whether they want it.
• Input comes after output — buyers care what they get before what they have to give.
• Use cases are not features. Each bullet is a real customer scenario you've heard or imagined; “Build a price-tracking dashboard” beats “Supports product data extraction.”
• Pricing in plain English (see below) — never make the buyer do math.
• Limitations is the section that prevents bad reviews. Be explicit about what you don't handle.
• FAQmops up the questions your input schema can't answer (data freshness, scheduling, related actors).
• Changelog signals that the actor is alive. Three entries is enough; more is noise.

For reference, the JSON blocks the template uses:

Screenshots

You get three slots. Use them like this:

1. Show output, not input. Most creators screenshot the input form. Buyers want to see the dataset they're going to get. Lead with a sample row in table view.
2. Real data, not placeholders. A screenshot of John Doe / 123 Main St tells me nothing. A real (anonymized if needed) row sells the actor.
3. Three is the right number. First: a sample dataset row in table view. Second: the run summary screen. Third: an interesting input example — last, not first.

If you only have time for one, make it the dataset row. Input forms are a commodity; data is the product.

Pricing presentation

Generate the bundle string with the Apify Pricing Calculator. It produces the platform-readable pricing config Apify expects.

Inside the listing, always translate it. The bundle string belongs in the platform field; the English version belongs in the README:

• Good: “$0.50 per 1,000 items, free for the first 25” — a buyer can budget instantly.
• Bad: $0.0005/item— technically the same number, requires arithmetic, and makes the buyer feel like they're being tricked.

Put both in the listing. The bundle string for the platform; the plain English in the README so buyers don't have to interpret it.

The first 10 reviews

Your first ten reviews decide your store rank. Most actors with bad rankings simply never crossed that threshold or did so with one bad review weighing the average. Three things move the needle:

• Ship a free tier (or 25 free items). First-time users have nothing to lose, which dramatically lifts both runs and reviews. See Add free-tier limits to your Apify actor.
• Reply to every review within 24h. Apify shows your response publicly under the review. A thoughtful reply on a bad review converts at-risk buyers more than the bad review loses you.
• Watch for support emails that end positively and ask politely for a review. Users who already told you it worked rarely refuse.

Tags and categories

Pick the narrowestcategory that fits. “Lead generation” beats “Other”; “E-commerce” beats “Business.” Narrow categories rank you against fewer actors.

Tags should match the search queries your buyers actually type:

• The target site name (amazon, linkedin, google-maps).
• The data fields you return (reviews, prices, emails).
• The action word (scraper, extractor, crawler).

Updates and changelog

Bump the version on every meaningful change and keep the changelog in your README. A stale-looking actor (last update 18 months ago) gets passed over even when it works perfectly. A monthly version bump — even a small one — is a strong signal that the actor is maintained.

Gotchas worth knowing

• Don't promise what your actor can't do. Buyers downgrade to 1 star fast when the listing oversells. Underpromise on edge cases (CAPTCHAs, rate limits) and you'll get 5-star reviews when you handle them anyway.
• Hide nothing in pricing. A buyer who sees a $40 bill from a “free actor” never comes back. State the bundle clearly and in plain English.
• A pretty input form does not sell the actor. Your screenshots should be data, not chrome.
• Bad reviews get buried by good ones. Keep shipping; reply publicly; old bad reviews matter less than recent good ones in the store ranking.
• Title changes lose ranking. Choose the title carefully — every rename costs you accumulated SEO and bookmarks.
• The README is indexed. Words you put in the README appear in store search results. Use the language your buyers actually search for (“scraper” beats “automated data collection tool”).

Where to go next

• Apify Pricing Calculator — generate the bundle string for your listing.
• Add free-tier limits to your Apify actor — ship the free tier you promise.
• How to tell if an Apify user is paying — deliver more for paying users.
• Build your first JavaScript Apify actor and Build your first Python Apify actor — if you don't have an actor yet.