All of the major app stores are crammed full of apps, and a lot of them are very good. But even the good ones can struggle to succeed if they can’t stand out for all of the most important reasons. It’s a highly competitive market and the wrong approach can quickly lead you to failure because it’s so easy for apps to simply get lost in the vast swathes of apps that are out there these days.
If you want to beat the competition and really have an impact with your app, you need to understand what really makes an app successful. Without that, you’ll struggle to have the kind of impact you want. The right strategy goes a long way when you’re trying to make a success of your app, and the 8 things we’re going to talk about below will help you create a great app. These are the things that matter most for your app, so read on to find out more.
1. Solve an Actual Problem
Every product that sells well is able to satisfy a need that customers have, and that doesn’t only apply to apps. If you’re looking to create an app that really catches fire and people use regularly, it needs to have a function and a solution to a problem people really have.
It should make the lives of the users easier or better in some way. Of course, there are millions of ways of doing that depending on what kind of app you want to create and where your specialist expertise lies. Understand your market and find out what specific problems they have as you brainstorm ideas.
2. High-Quality Design and Experience
The first thing people think when they start using an app that has poor standards in terms of design is that not much thought or effort has gone into creating the app. Those aren’t the best first impressions in the world, are they?
Give people a user experience they will enjoy, and that starts with the design. Make it easy to use, responsive and simple to navigate. Those are the basics that people expect from the apps they use and they have every right to have those expectations. It’s up to you to meet them.
3. Ensure It’s Fast and Bug-Free
Speed is a big deal when it comes to using apps and we all know this. Everyone has found an app that looks great and then had the frustration that comes with opening and finding that’s it’s incredibly slow to the point of barely even being functional. Don’t let that happen to yours.
On top of that, you need to make sure that the app is properly tested and pushed to its limits before release. That way, you can ensure all of the bugs are worked through and fixed. The last thing you want to do is release a buggy mess of an app.
4. Develop for Both iOS and Android
If you want to have a big impact on the app market, you have to straddle the two app stores that are most commonly used. Designing for one store over the other really isn’t acceptable these days. Your app needs to be ready to be used on both iOS and Android devices.
You’ll be immediately limiting the impact your app can have on the market if you develop an app that only works on one kind of device and not the other. You can also frustrate users who want to use your app when they find out they can’t use it on the device they own.
5. Plan for Ongoing Engagement
You want to make sure that your app is not one of those apps you download, use for 5 minutes and then forget about forever. For it to be successful and financially viable, you need to achieve ongoing and consistent engagement.
Make sure that you have a plan for how that’s going to be guaranteed. You’ll also want to make sure that your app is able to deal with that kind of heavy use. All of these things are important when building a successful app.
6. Personalise as Much as Possible
These days, people expect more personalised experienced when they download and start using apps. Like it or not, that’s the way it is now. They want interactions to be tailored to them and their specific needs as a user.
Because so many people now expect this, you’ll be letting them down if you deliver an app that isn’t personalised and able to deliver those kinds of user experiences. People will have a better time and engage more if they get a personalised experience.
7. Collect Analytics Data
If you want to keep improving your app, you’ll first need to understand how people are using and interacting with it. Without that, you will fail to keep the quality of the app moving in the right direction. Analytics data allows you to do all that.
Collect and track in-app analytics data and see what it tells you about what people are actually doing with your app. There’s a lot you can learn and then you can act on your findings to improve the user experience going forward.
8. Ask for Feedback from Users
Asking for feedback can be tough because no one likes their passion project to be openly criticised. But user feedback can actually be very valuable because it can help you understand what people like and don’t like. If you notice the same criticisms and problems coming up time and time again, it’s a sure sign that you need to something about it.
As you can see for yourself, there are lots of things that have to be considered and worked on when building a successful app, and it can be tough to do it all alone, especially if you don’t have the right technical experience and training. Luckily, there are some easy options, such as using a team of experts like those here at The App Match to do that stuff for you.