App Development Tips for Small Businesses: This Is Why Your Company Needs an App

Lyndon Wood
Tue, 10 May 2016 12:20:33 +0000

To push your business forward and be seen this year means doing all you can to ensure you’re found on as many devices as possible and are as accessible as possible. The app industry is often neglected by businesspeople who think it’s just for techies and is a sector that's hard to break into--but it doesn’t have to be.

And whilst, yes, there are a reported 8.7 million mobile app developers out there and over 75 billion app downloads taking place each year, business owners are missing out by not ensuring they get their piece of the action. Your business will benefit if it has its own app, as long as you ensure you approach it in the right way. So read on for some killer app development tips.

Why Do You Need an App?

You may be asking yourself whether you need a mobile app. You may already have a responsive website and people can find you on their mobile devices. However, an app serves a very different purpose. Apps offer a quick and effective interface for your customers, and they may be used for different purposes than your website.

A Nielsen study found that smartphone users spent 89 percent of their mobile media time using mobile apps. Therefore there is a huge opportunity for your business to take advantage of this and become a media source in its own right, offering something different to your website but equally valuable.

As a start-up entrepreneur or small business owner, you may be thinking that this simply doesn’t apply to you. However, as SellMyApp founder Stav Zilbershtein discussed with me, "Mobile penetration is rising everywhere. This is already old news. People use mobile almost all of the time and they expect to be able to have access to any type of service/game they have on their computer via their mobile. Any startup should integrate mobile usage into its KPIs–this is simply a must nowadays."

App Development Tips: How to Get Noticed

Before you even design an app, you are bound to have lots of questions. If you have accepted that your business can benefit from an app, then the next thing on your mind will probably be the competition. As the statistics show, there are millions of apps out there, and for yours to be a success you need it to stand out in some way.

This can be tricky to begin with, but if you plan effectively within your budget and create an app which has your user experience at heart, you can’t go far wrong. According to Steve Young of App Masters, professional guidelines written by the platforms you’re hoping to penetrate can be valuable. He says, "Make sure you follow Google’s Launch Checklist to get your [app] ready for the public."

Another option is to get smart targeted installs. Increasing your install rate should be something you build into your mobile app marketing strategy.

Let’s Talk Money: Is an App a Good Investment?

From a financial perspective, you want to invest in an app if it’s going to make you money--that much is clear. But you also want to make sure that it isn’t going to come at too considerable a cost.

Research in the 2015 What’s My Worth Report by Millennial Media found that 72 percent of consumers expect ads on their mobile devices in order to enjoy free app content. Leveraging mobile apps and designing a free app which has in-app purchases may help to boost the potential return on your app.

Another alternative is to provide your customers with "free content for life" on the basis of a single one-off fee. This is a technique that has been tried and is found to be effective, and beyond this, it is a chance to get creative.

Making a profit from apps does take time and you have to be in it for the long run; you need to take advantage of these app development tips if you want your idea to make money and therefore grow your business. From a technical point of view, Stav Zilbershtein also suggests it may be possible to "buy source codes as a base for your app/game and save a lot of money and resources if you have the right team to customise it for you."

If you’re committed to seeing your app succeed and you have a PPC budget then it makes sense to divert some of this towards app installation campaigns and your overall mobile marketing strategy. It will take time--no app development tips worth their salt are quick fixes--but it will be worth it.

All the evidence suggests that customers want an app and will use an app heavily if it adds value to their needs, so it is in your best interests to provide them with one.

A Look at the Technical Side of Things

As already mentioned, a big worry that comes with creating your own business app is the technical side of things. Just how "techie" do you need to be? The answer is: not really. Any app development tips telling you otherwise should be avoided, or at best, treated with a hint of cynicism.

If you have a good idea, a lot of creativity and the chance to experiment, chances are you can get the basis of your app together quite quickly, and it is always possible, as already mentioned, to buy things such as the basic source code for an app that you can build your app around. Once you start looking into it more closely, you’ll realise it’s much more straightforward than you think.

Another thing you may come across when looking into app design is a process known as reskinning. As app development tips go, this could be your solution to getting your app idea to marketing quickly and efficiently.

Reskinning is a process of taking a complete source code of an app or game and then changing its graphics and sounds for launching onto the market. Essentially, use existing code as the framework for your idea and then tailor it to what you want. It is a great way to accelerate the launch of your idea and an easy way of quickly generate a return on an app design.

It also means you can benefit from the original popularity of the app and rebrand it to suit your business. Reskinning is a positive trend in the market as it is encouraging developers to become smarter and more creative.

It’s also important to remember that, like any online project, an app isn’t something you just make and leave. It is an ongoing commitment that will evolve with your business, and the majority of apps make big updates at least once every six months, with regular bug fixes taking place more often. If you take into account user feedback and react to it effectively, then you will know when the time is right to make changes.

You may think an app is just another thing to worry about, but the benefits it can offer your business are huge. Once you start experimenting and get your app into the market, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how your users respond.

Good fortunes to you. I hope I have helped your approach and mind set to marketing and business.