Software Development
August 22, 2023
8 Steps of Building a Mobile App For Your Business: Ultimate Guide
8 Steps of Building a Mobile App For Your Business: Ultimate Guide
Explore the ultimate guide to business mobile app development – 8 steps, benefits, and common mistakes. Boost your business today!
In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to streamline their operations and enhance their customer experience. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by developing a mobile app for your business. A mobile app can help you connect with your customers, increase brand visibility, and improve your overall business efficiency.
But, developing a mobile app can be overwhelming and scary. Especially if you are not familiar with the technical aspects involved.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through the benefits of having a mobile app, and how to build one. And, help avoid the mistakes that most companies make.
How to know that your business needs a mobile app?
There are several factors to consider to make sure your business needs a mobile app or not. Here are the questions you should ask yourself-
– If the answer is yes then you should consider getting an app for your business
– If the answer is yes then again you should consider getting an app.
– If you can enhance your business process through a mobile app, then you get an app.
– If yes, then you might be at the disadvantage of providing a seamless experience.
– If yes, then you know the drill.
Why Do You Need Mobile App Even If You Have A Responsive Website?
A mobile app offers ease and convenience. A website with general information about your company is necessary. If you have one for marketing or eCommerce, it should be mobile-responsive. But even the most mobile-responsive website can be more complex than a mobile app. And, according to current stats, 85% of shoppers prefer a mobile app over a mobile website. And that’s all the reason you need to get a mobile app for your business! Now that you know why you should invest in a mobile app, let’s jump into some of the benefits of having a mobile app for your business.
Why Do You Need Mobile App Even If You Have A Responsive Website?
- Enhanced Customer Experience: With mobile apps, you can provide a personalized experience to your customers with features such as push notifications, in-app messaging, and personalized offers.
- Increased Brand Awareness: Having a mobile you can reach a wider audience. Which will enhance your brand’s visibility.
- Strengthen Customer Relationships and Loyalty: 76% of consumers want to shop on their phones and save time. People don’t want to wait for a website to load. They want fast and easy access to your business. A custom mobile app is an efficient way to provide customers with the goods or services they want. And with features like loyalty programs, you can enhance customer loyalty as well.
- Increased Sales: You can increase sales through your mobile app with personalized offers and push notifications.
- Better Analytics: You can track your customer data and the way they interact with your business better with a mobile app. And you can use this data to make a more informed marketing and product strategy.
- Competitive Advantage: If your competitors don’t have one, then developing a mobile app can give you a significant advantage in the industry.
Things To Consider Before Going In For The Development
Before going in for development, there are certain things that you should consider. Let’s delve into the factors to keep in mind
Define Your Goal
Before starting the development, clearly define your goal. Think about how you would use the app, what specific features you need, and how you want your customers to interact with your business.
Who Are Your Customers?
Next, you want to research your customers. Analyze the customer base and how likely they are to use the mobile app. Research shows that young users (13-24 years old) visit apps twice a day, while those over 45 prefer using the browser rather than an app. Most businesses seek users from a wide age range, starting from 25 to 65.
Define Your Strategy For The Development
Once done with the above, now you want to define the strategy for the development of your app. You can develop it in two ways: one, you can use an off-the-shelf app builder and other you can hire developers to build your app from scratch. There are several app builders in the market, which include AppMachine, BuildFire, GoodBarber, Shoutem, etc. These are great for people who have the time to learn and develop their apps with no coding involved. However, you may not find this to be the case. You may not have the time to learn and develop the app for your business, let alone do its maintenance. In these cases, you can hire a software development company to build the app for you. Now that you’ve gone through the factors you need to go through before going in for the development. Let’s jump into —
How To Build Your Mobile App For Your Business In 7 Steps
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 1
Define Your Business Need
First of all, you need to define the business need that you’re trying to fulfill through the app.
Step 2
Hire App Development Company
At this point, you want to hire a reliable app development company. Most app development companies will also offer UX/UI services as well as product consultancy. So, you can hire them from the very start if you wish. The app development company usually includes project managers, UX/UI designers, app developers, and product consultants who will consider your vision and provide valuable suggestions.
Step 3
Decide Your App Features
At this stage, you want to decide on your app features. It’s crucial to integrate the right features into your app. You want to figure out the features that are necessary for your customers and incorporate UX thinking while choosing the features. Adding popular features may sound great, but unnecessary features may leave the users frustrated.
Step 4
Choose An Intuitive UI/UX Design
The first thing the user sees in your app is the way the app looks and how it interacts with them. So having good UX/UI is not a choice, it’s a necessity. The functionality of your app is useless if the user is not able to implement it in real life. Therefore, it’s a good idea to hire UX/UI designers to bring your ideas to a realistic realization.
Step 5
Build MVP
Building a minimum viable product (MVP) is important to ensure the app meets its target market. MVP is the version of the app that has the earliest features of the app. You want to prioritize the feature that’s most important. At this stage, you want to test your idea through the MVP and attract early adopters.
Step 6
Beta Testing
It is inevitable to test your app. At this stage, you want to test everything from app features to content to user experience. Also, you want to have early adopters who will test and provide feedback on the app. Proper testing also helps to reduce costs as you are testing and pointing out problems and bugs beforehand.
Step 7
Commercial Launch
After successfully finishing the beta testing, finally, now you want to launch commercially. At this stage, you want your app released in app stores such as the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, etc. But before launching it, you’re going to have to comply with Google and Apple developer guidelines and align the monetization strategy with their requirements.
Step 8
Post-Release Activity
The last step of the process is the post-release activity. At this stage, you wanna start the marketing activity. What’s the point of building an app if no one knows about it? To have people download and use your app, you want to spread the information. Market your app across the web through informative and attractive content.Now that you know how to build your app in step by step process, let’s explore the types of mobile app development
Wrapping up
In conclusion, developing a mobile app for your company has a ton of benefits. But, it is imperative to keep a few key considerations in mind before starting the creation of your app. Whether you choose to utilize a ready-made app builder or hire a software development firm to create your app, it is crucial to include the proper functionality and pay attention to the user experience. A mobile app may take your company to new heights and give your clients a smooth experience with the right planning and execution.