Mobile is drastically taking over the desktop and the time people spend on their mobile is seeing a gradual growth. Businesses are increasingly looking at providing more engaging content on mobile to gain a competitive advantage.

By 2020, the number of smartphone users is projected to reach 2.87 billion. 62% of users access the internet using their mobile phones.

If you own an online business, then it becomes all the more important to create a mobile app to reach your audience in a more personalized manner. Having a mobile app can help a business significantly by:

  • Augmenting the revenue by increasing sales and introducing a new revenue stream
  • Increase your brand awareness
  • Build engagement for your audience

Mobile apps are expected to generate $189 billion in revenue by 2020. 49% of people open an app 11+ times each day.



Statistica 2019

But launching a mobile app can be an exhausting process due to the high costs involved, manpower required, complex project management, allocating months of time, and other problems one might encounter along the way. 

Read on to know the most important steps of developing a Mobile App:

  • Sketch your App idea

The first step towards creating a mobile app is having a clear map of the objectives you want to achieve by developing this app. Identify the problem you want to solve with this app, your ideal user base, and how your app can function to solve this problem for your users. Analyze your audience and reflect on whether your app will solve their problems or provide additional resources that your online store might not be providing currently. The most common impacts that a mobile app can create are increased ROI, better productivity, more customers, more brand awareness and social exposure. Think of the features that you want your app to have, remember that the goal is to be simple and de-clutter as much as possible. Once you start focusing on what you require the most, you speed up your app development process. 

  • Do some Market Research

Before handing over the app development process to the technical team, do thorough market research to identify:

  • Potential users
  • Competitors offering the same solution as you propose
  • What is a successful business model for this app to work? 

Complete research should also identify if there are any mistakes that your competitors are doing and you can avoid repeating. Finding and curating these insights will serve to be very crucial in the coming months when you actually start developing the app.

  • Create App Mockups

Before creating an app, it’s better to create a few mockups for a rough sketch of the app’s layout, user interface (UI), etc. The mockups usually do not have finalized UI, color scheme, exact positioning of UI elements. A mockup app should also give an idea of navigation and workflow. What are the buttons and their functionality, is it flowing in a coherent stream or users might get confused. These important aspects can make or break your app. The buttons should be smartly defined and make users reach their desired way with minimum steps and zero interruptions. This mockup will also serve as a go-to point for the technical team or in some cases the investors if you are pitching the idea to them. Having a clearly defined mockup app will make the business goal clear and easier to realize.

  • Create the app’s Graphic Design
To create the app’s graphic design you can either do it from available templates or hire a graphic designer to create customized and unique app design. Graphic design is very crucial as bad design can turn off customers making them not interested in using the app. If you are doing it yourself it can save you costs but it is better to do it from available templates and save time but hiring experienced designers will give you a 100x better-looking app that customers will feel good engaging with. Another thing to be aware of is copyright and license law because you do not want to be caught with someone else’s copyrighted idea!
  • Build the Landing Page
Creating a good landing page with interesting and smart content, responsive design, will automatically increase its appeal among the users. The key is to write smart content, not give in to technical jargon and see that the core message of the app gets delivered. The few components that you can consider for your landing page are:
  1. A crisp headline at the top
  2. Brief introductory paragraph or a short explainer video
  3. A strong Call to Action button
  4. App features and benefits
  5. The landing page is the first thing that users interact with first when using your app. Hence, ensure that it is the best thing they witness.
  • Test your App
Test your app whether with a focus group or with developers or CEO’s to gather their opinion. Check the functionality and see if it actually is communicating to the customers the way you envisioned it. Compare it with the mockup to understand if all the desired functionalities are applied or not. Check for bug fixes and other technical issues to provide a seamless experience to the users.
  • Launch the App
If you have developed an app for Android users then launch it on Play Store and if it is for iOS users then use the Apple App Store platform. Developing an app and seeing it getting ready for download is an exhilarating feeling! But launching it alone will not serve the purpose. Get user feedback and work on it to improve your app further. Solving end-user problems is a litmus test for any app and what will truly make your app useful for consumers. Working on these insights will open up the market for you.
  • Market it to the users
Just developing an app won’t get your users to start using it. Marketing your app to the target audience and doing it correctly will yield results for your brand. To do so reach out to your audience via blogs, newsletters, social media marketing, advertising through print and radio spots. Speak to them in a way that addresses their problems and make them realize that your app has the key! How you decide to market your app is actually dependent on your budget and where your core audience lies. If speaking to the millennials then reach them via digital marketing or use traditional advertising sources like TV or newspaper if catering to the older demographic. Create a planned marketing strategy to gain maximum traction. 
That’s a lot to process and it can become overwhelming if managing alone! This is why we are here to help. With years of mobile app development experience, Citytech has a leading team of mobile app developers who have helped brands across the world in making their desired app. We guide you through the entire process with our analytics and make this complete journey fruitful through critical technical expertise. To know more about Citytech, please visit: https://www.citytechcorp.com/services/mobile-applications/