Many businesses have found that adding a mobile application to their suite of services can enhance their brand, build customer loyalty and increase their profit margin. Perhaps this has inspired you to build your mobile app! While your app idea is commendable, there are some important things to remember when it comes to app development.
It does not make sense to develop just any app idea to gain bragging rights simply! It is much wiser to take the time to create an efficient and useful app that meets the needs of your target audience! Although some businesses have made similar mistakes in their approach to app building, you don't need to! This guide includes straightforward steps to build an efficient app. Following this list of steps, you will find the right tools to create a successful mobile app for your business.
Steps to Consider to Build an Efficient App
The discovery or research phase is the first place to start when building an app. During the discovery phase of building a mobile app, some important factors will determine how truly efficient it is.
Who Are Your Users?
Businesses need to answer the who question at the beginning of the app creation process. Businesses need to determine who their app target audience is to decide what mobile app features are most appropriate for users. By making your app's target audience as specific as possible, companies can create an app that solves the problems of their potential users.
The profile of potential app users can be narrowed down to social, demographic, or geographic factors. The behaviors, motivations, habits, and pain points of your users can also be included in the relevant app metrics. It is paramount that businesses decide on their ideal target audience before embarking on the app creation process. Decide your business's ideal audience. This ensures that your mobile application is efficient and that your end-users will appreciate it.
Who is Your Competition?
As an extension of the discovery phase, the question of 'who' also includes your competitors! Before you build your app, thorough research on your competition is necessary. This app development phase is not about copying another company or 'reinventing the wheel'. For your app to be most efficient and useful to its app target audience, it will need to solve the needs of its users in a unique way. Your mobile app should stand out by solving the pain points of its users in a way that its competitors haven't.
Businesses need to do thorough market research on the features of competing apps. This is integral to identifying the right solutions for their app target audience. It doesn't make sense to create yet another app that solves the very same issues or has the exact features of your competitors. Users will not be able to identify your unique selling point. Also, a carbon copy of another company's mobile app is not a very good look for your brand! By analyzing your competition, you can build apps with better, faster, or more convenient features than your competitors!
Additional Steps to Consider to Build an Efficient App
What Are Your App Features?
The core features of your app define what the app is about. Its user profile can determine the most useful features of your mobile app. Before you begin to build your app, your business needs to identify the what of your product. These app features should be specific to the pain point, problem, or 'what' your app is intended to solve. Do you wish to build a mobile rental app? If so, its users would appreciate accurate geolocation features, photo galleries, messaging platforms, and price comparison tools.
If you want to build a fitness app, a BMI calculator, weight tracker, and nutritional scanner would make your app most efficient. E-commerce apps would benefit from secure payment processing, in-app advertising, and app monetization features. Do you wish to monetize app features for your app target users? These monetization features would be conceptualized during the development process. The list could go on, but the point is to make the features of your mobile apps as useful and efficient for users as possible.
How Will You Create Your User Journey?
A user journey is an overall experience and interaction of a user with an app from start to finish. It defines the process of the user interfacing with your app to receive some value from it. How efficient this user journey is for your app target audience depends on how you build out your application. The ideal user journey should be convenient and easy to use.
Your app's target audience appreciates an accurate and reliable user journey that gives them quick access to the information they need. Your app should facilitate its user journey in a pleasant, seamless, and hassle-free manner. Your application's user journey should also be consistent and reliable in solving the problems of its app target audience. Reliable apps create trust, rendering it the mobile application of choice by appreciative users. Because of its efficient user journey, your app's target audience will be more likely to use your app instead of the competition.
How Much Does It Cost to Build an App?
The cost of building a mobile app solution comes down to your budget, app code features, and your app development team. The more complex an app's customization is, the costlier the app will cost to build. However, it is to be noted that a no-code solution costs significantly less than a more generic mobile solution.
Can I Build My App for Free?
Absolutely! With so many options available, even no coders can build their apps for free without the services of app developers. Simply select the app-building platform you wish to use to develop your app. Once you have selected your app-building platform. Users can modify the app features and layout by using a convenient 'drag and drop interface. Then finally, make your app available in your app store with a simple upload!
The Google Play Store is the most popular app store, with over 2.7 million apps on its platform to date (Source: Wikipedia). Once your newly built app has been uploaded to the Google app store, it has the potential to be seen and downloaded by millions of app store users worldwide. These simple steps allow non-coders to build their free apps without app developers. Using no-code platforms significantly reduce the cost of building an app. It also speeds up the turnaround time to get these apps ready to launch within the app store! Because of its advantages, no-code app platforms are a good option for app development novices to build their apps.
How do Free Apps Generate Money?
Businesses can monetize apps even if they have been promoted to users for free on the app store. Monetization strategies may include charging subscription fees to utilize the application's services. This is a straightforward way of app monetization. Users would be required to pay an app monetization fee upon sign-up or registration to receive access to its services. These app monetization fees are usually charged weekly, monthly, or yearly by way of subscription renewals to the app.
Businesses that monetize apps occasionally entice users with promotional pricing and in-app marketing incentives. App monetization outlets include news media apps, fitness apps, or even productivity and scheduling apps. These companies monetize app offerings by charging an in-app fee to users. Users are happy to pay for app monetization once they see the value of the in-app services.
In-app monetization is a less direct way of charging users for in-app services and products. Once users have been 'hooked' into the app by way of an initial free offer, they are 'reeled in' by in-app advertising. Businesses that monetize apps with in-app advertising directly market products and services to their users within the app. In-app advertising utilizes banners, pop-ups, messages, videos, or even mini-games within apps that facilitate monetization. Businesses that monetize apps benefit by generating money from their in-app target audience.
Can I Build a Mobile App by Myself?
With no-code platforms available, it is possible to develop and build out mobile app ideas yourself. App-builder platforms allow users to build their mobile applications without the services of app developers. Once built, the apps can easily be uploaded to an app store. No code platforms simplify the app building process by using simple drag and drop. These no-code app builders are visual-based and user-friendly.
But based on your app features' complexity, it may be too much for a non-coder to tackle. The complex features of your app idea may require the services of a no-code developer ( engineer specializing in working with no-code platforms) to build out your custom features. An app developer has the expertise to build on your app idea and create the most efficient app for your users. Their expertise can take the hassle out of building an app from scratch. You can ask AppMaster for a list of official partners with licensed engineers who can create your app by AppMaster. So, the real question is not can you build a mobile app by yourself, but rather, do you want to?
Can I Build an App Without Coding?
So, you have this amazing app idea you'd like to build out, but you aren't a coder! Can you still build apps that users will find helpful? The answer is yes! Your brilliant app idea is possible with no-code platforms, such as AppMaster.
Building a no-code app is seamless with the AppMaster platform. The success of building your mobile app depends on selecting the best app development team and platform. AppMaster gives businesses the benefits of app development without the hassle!
Whatever your app idea, AppMaster can build app solutions to meet your business needs. We build apps that are reliable, efficient, and conveniently meet the needs of your users. AppMaster also has excellent ongoing customer support and maintenance. Schedule your consultation today with our expert team of no-code developers, today!
