From small business apps to fitness and e-commerce apps, there’s an app for everything you can imagine. Apps can be developed to create a new business from scratch or used as an extension of your existing business.
According to a report by Statista, as of the first quarter of 2021, the App Store had roughly 2.22 million apps. On the other hand, Google Play Store had nearly 3.48 million apps available, which were downloaded 108 billion times in the same quarter. These numbers project the unprecedented growth and popularity of the mobile app market.
With such popularity of apps, business leaders and entrepreneurs are also keen on developing custom mobile applications. Building an application helps them stay ahead of the competition, attract more customers, and increase profitability.
In this article, we will go through the custom software development process that you can follow to create a seamless and profitable mobile application for your business. Let’s get started!
10 Steps to create a custom application in 2022
If you’re wondering how to start an app business or give an edge to your existing business with a new application, well, here are certain steps that you should consider before the development begins. These steps are crucial to the success of your application, so don’t skip over them.
Define your goals
When starting with the app development process, you must clearly define your goals.
What are you setting out to achieve? What problems are you trying to solve with your application? Your goals will ultimately establish your entire app development process. If these aren’t clearly defined from the start, it’s easy to get lost along the way once you start building your app.
Don’t set any goals – set measurable goals. Otherwise, you won’t be using your time and resources effectively. You can set goals related to the end-users as well as your business. Every goal should have clear KPIs to measure and track its success.
For instance, let’s say you want to build an app for your e-commerce shop. Your goal might be to reduce shopping cart abandonment rates on mobile devices. To make sure that you achieve this goal, you must know your current abandonment rates to measure them against the numbers when your own app launches eventually.
Research the target market
When developing an app for your business, you need to conduct research and find out more about your target market. This will help you understand how consumers interact with brands, leading players, market dynamics, and more. You should also check user reviews for top apps in the market. This will help you come up with a better product.
You also need to understand your target audience. Learn about your users’ location, average age, and the types of devices they use.
Decide your app features
It’s important to have the right features integrated into your app. You have to identify the features that are necessary to serve your users in the best possible way. While adding popular features to your app might sound attractive, unnecessary features may leave your users frustrated.
Furthermore, the more features you add, the more it will add to the cost and lengthen the mobile development time. So, it’s advisable to focus on simplicity in the early development stages.
Choose the right platform
Your custom application can be compatible with both iOS and Android platforms. But, in case you have a limited budget, you can develop just an iOS or Android app. Later on, you can boost your service so it can perform on another platform also.
Select the monetization model
The main intent of developing an app, across genres, is to earn revenue. When we talk about how to earn revenue from an app, there are commonly four types of monetization models –
- Freemium model
- Subscription-based model
- In-app purchases
- Advertising
Hire an app development company
Consulting a reliable and trusted mobile app development company in Dubai or other locations will ensure that your app includes all the latest functionalities and features at affordable costs. A mobile app development company includes UI/UX designers, project managers, app developers, and market specialists who always consider your vision and offer valuable suggestions. The company also offers access to industry experts and the latest technologies.
Build MVP
The next step is to build a minimum viable product (MVP). It is the first version of the product with a basic set of features. For a successful MVP development, ask your hired company to identify key USPs and must-have features and then develop an app accordingly.
MVP development also allows users to share their feedback, telling what functionality they would like to add to your application.
Test your app
This is another crucial step to consider when developing an app for your business. Test everything from user experience to app’s performance and content. Proper testing helps reduce the development cost as well as time, identify bugs, and greatly improve your reputation as a service provider.
Submit app to stores
Once the testing is done, submit your app to Apple’s App Store or Play Store. But when publishing an app on the App Store or Play Store, you need to comply with the developer guidelines of Apple and Google. By submitting your application to the Store, you can reach millions of potential and global users.
Launch and track performance
Once you have successfully launched your app on app stores, make sure to track its performance using the in-app analytics tools, introduce updates to increase user engagement, and address users’ requests and concerns.
Final thoughts
We hope you found the article helpful and got an answer to your question – about how to create a custom app. So, when planning to develop a mobile app, make sure you follow the above-mentioned steps to ensure the success of your app. Also, it is important to note that developing an app is not a one-time process. Your app needs continuous improvisation of the features and functionality to post the release and according to the market trends.
So, it’s advisable to hire an app development company. The experts will guide you through the entire process and make the app development journey easier for you.
Interesting Related Article: “How to Market an App: The Dos and Don’ts“