At some point in the running of your business, you may decide that you would like to build an application to further the productivity of your business. A mobile application can benefit your business in many ways, and it can increase your audience and profits by a huge amount if you have never built an app before here are the main steps you will need to take.
Think of an idea
Before you can start considering things like how much does it cost to make an app or who your target audience will be, you need a solid idea for your application. If you are a retailer this could be a great way to offer online shopping to your customers, and if you are a blog then it can be a dynamic way to bring content to them. Think of a great idea for an app which will be useful for your consumers and one which will bring you closer to them.
Find your market
Once you have an idea you will need to do a little research online to determine some of the following things:
- Is there a market for it?
- Has anyone done it already?
- Who is your target audience?
- Is it a viable idea?
Once you have answered these questions you will be able to start exploring your application further and making sure that it will fit in with your niche. The key here is to ensure that your application fits in with your brand and that it will provide value to your customers.
Sketch it
Now is the time to sit down with a pen and paper and start sketching out the layout of your app. This will have to include the homepage, any menus, and features you want to include in your application. At this point, you can be open to your ideas because we can refine them later on and take out features which aren’t needed.
DIY
If you plan to create your app on your own without a developer to help you, the next step in your app building process will be wireframing. Wireframing is a way of storyboarding your idea online and it will allow you to move things around and make sure that the app feels concise and easy to navigate. Once you have done this you can move onto the back end and start looking into your APIs, servers, and domains. This can be a technical job, but there are Wes it’s out there that can help you with this part of the process.
Hire a developer
If you don’t want to try and create the application by yourself, the best thing you can possibly do is hire a software developer who can create the application for you. At this point, you will need to hand over your ideas and talk through exactly what you want the app to achieve. The developer can then go off and start making your application, and come back to you with different prototypes to try and assess.
Design is key
The overall look of your application needs to stand out and be unique to your brand. Make sure that when you start designing the interface for your application you think about the color scheme, font, and layout in accordance with your website. It needs to feel as if it is a seamless link to your other content, so make sure to use the same layout and design features as your other online content.
Register for a developer account
In order for you to be allowed to sell your application on any App Store, you will need to ensure that you apply for a developer account. You can register as either an individual or a company and you will be charged annually for the pleasure of advertising your application in the store. It is important that you weigh up your costs here to decide whether you want to sell on Android, Apple, or both.
Analyse
Make sure that when you come to the closing stages of your app development that you add in some analytics features. This will allow you to monitor the response to your app as well as see which areas of the app people are drawn to the most. This will allow you to come up with updates for the app based on your results to make the app more popular with its users.
Test, test, and test again
Before you think about launching your application to the wide world you need to do some testing to ensure that the application is running as it should do. Test every aspect of application from loading time, navigation, media and links to ensure everything is working correctly. You can get a higher rating on the App Store by testing your application thoroughly.
Ask your friends
When you have come up with a final prototype for your application, you can give a copy to your friends and family members to try out. Ask them to give you an honest opinion of the application and to make sure that they write down anything you can improve on. Testing your app on real people will help you gain a perspective of how it will be viewed by the public and can, therefore, make things much easier for you to rectify mistakes.
Release your app!
Once you have gone through every step in this list you can move into the final stage of your app development: releasing the app. The day that you release your app, make sure that you promote the application on your social media platforms and build an interest in the application. You can even get in touch with influencers to review the app for you and generate sales.
See? Building an app doesn’t have to be so hard, and you certainly don’t have to be an expert to do it. It can be a great way to build your brand, show how professional you are and to introduce new people to your business.