10 MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

App Development for a small business is an amazing way to differentiate yourself from the competition and offer your clients a product they will love using.

If you have a great service and loyal customers, they will quickly shift to your app if it makes their part of the transaction even easier. 

In order to help you create an app people will love to use and will bring you ROI, we created a list of 10 tips.

We focused on the app development phase of the process, but also on helping you out with the promotional part as well. 

Creating an app may sound overwhelming, but if you are serious about your approach and have a significant number of potential users, you can experience a fast return on your investment. 

No matter the industry, we’re sure that the biggest benefit you’re looking for with your new app is to have more sales.

With your app making it easier and faster than ever before, we’re sure you’ll keep your loyal customers as well as find new ones that will love the overall experience. 

Keep it simple

Make sure you can explain the purpose of your app in a single sentence. Even if you’re comparing it to a different existing app, it’s still better than having to go on a tangent around the original intent behind the app. 

You have to have a clear view of the business or customer that will be using your app and the exact way you’ll make their day easier.

If you have a lot of competitors, make sure to differentiate your app in a way that will stand out. 

It could be the speed at which you deliver your products and services, a better user experience, a bigger variety of payment options, amazing customer service, or something else.

The app management tool is a piece of software that helps you manage your apps. These apps will help you stay organized and make sure that your business is running smoothly from one day to another.

Once you have a clear vision of your app, make sure to pick which features you want to include.

Don’t go overboard with the features, because it will dilute the goal of your app. Find one problem you want to solve and focus on that. 

If you’re making an app aimed at the general public, you’ll have to have a list of reasons why they should download another app.

We suggest explaining how it replaces multiple apps which people already have on their phones. 

Find and engage your target audience

You should have your target audience in mind while you’re thinking ab, not after the fact.

Seeing how there’s already a large number of apps, it’s likely your customer base is already using a similar app to yours. 

If you want them to switch to yours, you’ll need to entice them with a feature that is a deal-breaker.

In order to do so, you’ll have to infiltrate their groups and find out what they like. 

A good way to do so is by joining Facebook groups, subreddits, Twitter lists, and more. You need to find where your target audience spends time and engage with them on their turf.

Engage in social listening and find out what people are saying about existing apps and what they wish was different. 

Don’t forget about your competitors’ reviews on app stores. That is the best place for ideas on how to shape your app and provide a great user experience.

Once your app is launched, you’ll have to engage with your pool of potential users in order to convince them to download it.

Make sure you know what their biggest grievances are with the existing apps in order to create a compelling marketing strategy.

This means that you have to familiarise yourself with their apps. Try them out and see if you like any of the features and what you would do differently for your own app. 

Assemble an app development team

In order to create a high-quality app, with a modern interface, you’ll need to assemble or hire a professional group of developers.

There’s more than one way to go about this. You can hire them as full-time employees, but if you’re seeing a definite end date to their tasks, you can consider hiring independent contractors. Even without employee benefits, you can still nurture a good relationship and establish trust by making sure you have competitive payment terms and that you’re prompt with your payments.

A group of experienced developers will not only know how to create a functional app but also give you tips on shaping it, the details people expect to see, and more. 

Leaving the development of your app to someone who is inexperienced and doesn’t have a team to rely on will leave you with a bad app that you’ll have to wait for a long time. 

A well-coordinated team will know exactly how much time it will take them to finish the app, as well as how to resolve any potential issues that may pop up.

Invest in a good development team and you’ll be on the right way to return your initial investment.

Don’t cut any corners when it comes to design 

The design of your app is one of the first things your customers will judge you on. It’s important to have a good-looking app that is easy to use and saves people time.

Make sure your UI/UX designers are a part of the app development team. 

They should know the latest trends for Android and IOS apps and how to arrange the content and other components in order to create a sleek-looking app.

The design of the app should match the performance, this is why all animation should be supported by your UI/UX. 

You need to decide whether you want a linear design, content-centered design, animation-centered design, or personalized design.

It all depends on the industry you are in, customer demand, and market trends. 

Personalized design is the most engaging one and it helps you motivate users to use your app.

Incorporate push notifications and create a customer-centered app that people will love to use. 

Create a marketing strategy 

All the work you put into your app development will be for nothing if you don’t promote it and get people to download it. Create buzz around it by announcing the launch on your social media.

Get your marketing and sales team together in order to create a bulletproof strategy that will get your existing customers to download your app and new ones to discover it as well. 

Since you know who your target audience is, start by getting them on board and let them become your brand ambassadors over time.

If your target audience is young moms, find their groups and forums and start there. 

You want people who will use your app to download it, so don’t promote your app to the general public.

That will lead to high churn rates. In order to target young moms, you’ll want to use Instagram and Pinterest and work with influencers. 

If you’re creating a B2B app, the best platform for promoting your app is LinkedIn. Once you create buzz around your app, you can get people to test it and share their experiences on their social media. 

Think of brand messaging and visuals you want to use and incorporate call-to-action buttons that lead people to the app store.

Once your app is launched, spotlight different features in your marketing campaign and explain why your app is better than anything the competition has to offer. 

You could work with different influencers in your industry and make a deal for them to promote your app with an affiliate link that lets you know exactly how many people downloaded your app through their content. 

Focus on app store optimisation 

App store optimization is similar to content optimization that helps your app ranks and increases the number of app downloads.

A small business needs all the organic reach and visibility it can get, so if you don’t have a big marketing budget, make sure to focus on ASO. 

Once you analyze your target audience, you’ll have a great understanding of which keywords to use in your app content.

Other performance indicators impacted by ASO are shares, impressions, shares, and engagement. 

If you’re creating an app for iPhone and Android users, you’ll have to work on total page visits as well as backlinks.

These SEO tricks can help you get the maximum number of page visitors since you need to work on your traffic outside of the app as well. 

App Indexing will help you draw more traffic, all you need to do is index your app content to the web and mobile searches.

Make sure the app description has keywords and that it describes the app in an informative way. 

Lastly, put effort into creating the right icon for your app. The visual representation of your app tells a story and you shouldn’t waste the opportunity to use it correctly. 

Stick to your budget

Success is never guaranteed and if you have a strict budget, we suggest you stick to it. You need to define a realistic budget for your app development and set aside the amount.

The more you invest, the better the results will be, but mobile apps don’t lead to an overnight success, so remember that. 

If you’re working with an app development company, you will have to put a significant amount of money upfront so make sure you share with them how high your budget can go and what your needs are for specific stages of development. 

Don’t leave testing to your customers

Many developers will say that customers are the best (and cheapest) testers. However, you shouldn’t follow that advice completely.

Of course, you’re gonna watch out for any bug reports they may share with you via customer support, help desk, or social media, but you shouldn’t release an untested app. 

You should have a person in your development team dedicated to testing your app.

Not only should it work from the technical point of view, but it should also be tested by someone that is close to your target audience and understands how they want the app to work. 

Besides, choosing the right software testing tool would be a great help if you want to have a more detailed exam for your app.

It can help you automate testing and perform a wide range of software tests, which will save a lot of your time and provide a thorough view of the app.

Make sure to test your app on multiple devices and change anything that may decrease the quality of it or the experience of the end-user. 

Make it fast

One of the biggest differences between your website and the app should be speed. Your app needs to be fast and responsive.

The download time should also be as quick as possible. Make sure you work on the speed of your app for a better user experience. 

If your app is slow, people will turn back to using your website for all their needs, making your app unnecessary.

With research showing that 63% of users abandon apps that take more than 5 seconds to load, it’s easy to see why app speed is so important. 

Put effort into the name

The first thing people will see in the app store is your app’s name, so make sure it’s impactful.

It needs to tell a story and even if you’re creating a new name by combining different concepts of your app, like Airbnb, it needs to send a clear message. 

The name you choose needs to be memorable, creative, easy to pronounce, and different from anything that’s already on the market.

You need to have a deep understanding of your competition and the language they use in their marketing efforts. 

If you choose a name that is too similar to a brand of a piece of their content, you’ll confuse the users and end up with little to no brand recognition. 

Once you pick a few names that you like, conduct market research in order to pick the best one.

We suggest assembling a focus group filled with people that are in your target audience and ask them for their opinion on the name. 

Some names derive different associations from different people. Having a first and last name in your branding may symbolize a family tradition or luxury.

Brands that are focused on women will usually play around with the prefix fem. There are a lot of different things you need to consider when naming your app. 

Conclusion

Having an app will soon become the norm for all businesses, large and small, so it’s a good sign that you’re researching the topic.

Make sure to create a concise plan and work with professionals who will be able to guide and advise you. 

Once you publish your app, bring in users by conducting a detailed marketing strategy and make sure to listen to your users. After all, they are the ones you’re making the app for.