The rising popularity of smartphones and tablets has given many businesses new ways to connect or engage with their audience or we can say, customers. We all do agree with the point that mobile phones are becoming a significant part of our life and there is no sign of being replaced. Entrepreneurs are going to create mobile-friendly versions of websites that add an edge to their business. Apps have the potential to make services more flexible.

You should have a look at some statistics which will help you to understand how fast the mobile world is growing.

Do you know that any app development falls into one of these three categories? They are:

• Consumer App
• Modernization App (an effort to make new business process)
• Migration of a web application (turn into an app from a web application)

As discussed earlier, organizations rush their mobile apps to market without considering several key factors that can affect badly on their business. One main factor is the lack of planning. It will lead us into re-work, diminish profitability and decrease utility.

I have dictated the key factors on which developers and owners need to focus before developing mobile applications. Let’s see them one by one.

1. 1. Market Research and Analysis

      Before starting to develop your application, you should conduct proper market research. Market research techniques can be both qualitative such as focus groups, in-depth interviews as well as quantitative such as customer surveys, analysis of secondary data.The information gathered from market research helps budding entrepreneurs make wise and profitable business decisions. Like it will give you insights about your competitors, their strategies, strengths and weaknesses. Researchers who look after research also go for customer reviews. These reviews can help you too.

   2. Choose the right type of App

      You need to understand that there are three types of mobile apps. Native apps, Mobile web apps and Hybrid apps. Native and hybrid apps are installed in an app store,whereas web apps are mobile-optimised web pages that look like an app. Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to the question - which one is right for your needs? Your decision should be based on the following:

      • Business goals
      • Target audience
      • Features of the app (including future requirements)
      • Budget and time

   3. Exactly know your target audience

      Before making a new app, you need to focus on fundamentals such as solving a problem or addressing a need in a new or unique way. The one-size-fits-all approach might not work here because it’s not focused enough. If you have actually known your targeted audiences then you can meet their expectations and your app is likely to get more popularity.

   4. Design your app for multiple devices

      Since your audience accesses information from an increasing number of devices, the design is more than just resizing content to display on different screens. People shift from device to device, and so they expect their services and products to shift with them. Some factors need to be taken care of while developing for multiple devices like screen size and resolution, network bandwidth, connectivity, storage space, etc.

   5. Language Localization

      Language localization is an extremely important factor to encourage app adoption. Your app design should be universal enough to attract a large number of audience. The majority of HTML5 based mobile operating systems have a large number of non-English speaking audience, therefore language localization is necessary. Content should be rendered on the basis of the user's location, irrespective of whether it’s a hosted or packaged app.

   6. Design better icons

      As the use of mobile devices has become so increased, it’s crucial for online businesses to communicate their objectives clearly. The first thing you need to understand when setting out to create your icon is what exactly an app icon is and what job it has to perform. An app icon is a visual anchor for your product. You can think of it as a tiny piece of branding that not only needs to look attractive and stand out, but ideally also communicate the core essence of your application. So, make it as appealing and clear as you can.

   7. Don’t keep your users waiting

      One of the primary challenges with apps is when users experience intolerably long waits. It adds to create a negative impression in the user’s mind, hence giving them a bad user experience. Zona Research, Inc. estimates that over $4 billion in lost revenue is due to slow downloads over the Internet. When loading time exceeds the maximum amount of time, a user will either close the app or will go on another similar kind of app.

   8. Determine the Right Price For Your Mobile App

      Building an app is much easier than determining its cost, or whether or not to charge for the app. It’s all about finding the right balance between what it costs to produce and maintain the application, and how much users are willing to pay for it. Other factors to take into account are revenue from in-app purchases and in-app advertising.

   9. Test your App before launch

      Competition in the app store is fierce. New apps are being uploaded all the time. Users can have a wide variety of choices available to them. How can you create a positive user experience even before you release it into the wild? By Testing your apps before launch! Users will delete an app in the minute if a feature doesn’t work or there is an issue with an app.

   10. Focus on App Description

       Most users only read the first three lines of an app’s app store description. This is quite unfortunate, as an app’s description is a great opportunity to deliver a strong marketing message. Hence it is important to make the first 2-3 lines catchy enough to convert your app users into potential customers. So, when you deploy your app in the app store, make sure that you provide a proper app description that helps users to identify what your app is all about.

There is no success pill of anything you make/do in this world, but these tips and tricks can definitely help you if you’re planning to develop your mobile app.