How to write the one-line description directories accept
One sentence that survives every character limit a directory throws at it.
Directories ask for the same sentence in four different lengths. Write it once, properly, and you stop rewriting it under a character counter at midnight.
Say what it is, not what it means to you
Start with the category noun: a scheduling tool, a Chrome extension, an API. Reviewers scan for the noun first; if they cannot place your product in five words they move on.
Name who it is for
One qualifier is enough: for freelance designers, for Postgres teams, for parents of young kids. It narrows the promise and makes the sentence concrete.
End on the outcome, in plain words
What is true after using it that was not true before. Avoid "streamline", "empower" and "supercharge". They read as filler and get edited out by moderators anyway.
Cut it to four lengths
60, 100, 160 and 280 characters. Every submission form you will meet fits one of those. Keep them in the same note so you paste rather than rewrite.
- If your sentence works equally well for a competitor, it is not describing your product.
- Do not open with your company name, since most forms print it above the description already.