Nowadays, apps provide us with the possibility to keep in touch with our close ones, shop, watch movies and do many other things virtually. As for businesses, having an app allows to attract and interact with customers, promote products and services, and generate revenue. Custom application development company can help your company to build a successful app from scratch and avoid common mistakes, which can affect the outcome.

The number of apps worldwide is growing each day. According to Statista, there are nearly 4.5 million apps on the Google Play Store and Apple Store together and around 1.7 billion websites, plenty of which are web apps.

Source: Statista

App development is a challenging process. To stand out from a bunch of other apps and appeal to the customers, you should define and avoid common pitfalls before developing an app. Neglecting them can result in numerous problems and even worse — the app failure. Below is the list of six top app development mistakes to avoid.

 

  • Integrating too many features and functionalities

 

Adding every possible feature to your app won’t bring you as many benefits as you expect. Even though it might have seemed like a good idea, over-stuffing the app with a lot of functions have rather negative consequences:

  • The app is supposed to be streamlined; the more complicated it gets, the fewer users are eager to use it
  • Overboard apps are more prone to bugs, errors, and crashes 
  • Every new feature increases the overall cost and time spent on the app development
  • More features equal to the larger size of the app and according to the survey conducted by The Manifest, every fourth user deletes a mobile app due to the lack of storage

Think about including potential features prior to the beginning of the app development process. If the app can serve the primary purpose of your business without a particular feature, there’s no need to include it right away. Thus, you can start by developing the minimum viable product (MVP) and gradually integrating new features after users’ feedback.

  • Develop your app with ROI in mind

Once you’ve developed your new app, the work doesn’t stop there. You also need to promote it, and this is a great opportunity to increase the ROI of your app for SEO too.

Apps shouldn’t be seen as a standalone component of your overall strategy. Promoting your app is a chance to drive more traffic to your website via paid ads, social ads, email marketing, and so on. This, in turn, increases your SEO too.

  • Developing an app with no clear objective

 

Companies create apps to follow the trend and keep up with the competitive market. However, some often forget to establish app purpose and whom it should target. The useful app with a well-defined goal can be an ultimate bookmark for your users and serve your business purpose.

For instance, if you want your users to reach you, make sure that it is easy to access your contact information, like phone number, e-mail address or live chat. In case you want to promote and sell your products, ensure your top products and bargains immediately attract the user’s attention.

 

  • Designing UI/UX without users in mind

 

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) is two fundamentals to the success of your app. Even if your app is full of useful features, not appealing interface and unpleasant experience can turn away current and potential users. According to Forrester Research, a user-friendly interface can increase a conversion rate by 200% and better UX by 400%.

Creating an innovative design is not always a good thing. For example, whenever a user visits a website, they expect to navigate the pages seamlessly. The main menu, which is usually placed at the top of the screen, provides such a possibility. Of course, you can place the main menu anywhere else on the page; however, it won’t be the design users are used to, and there’s a high chance they won’t like it. The same approach applies to apps.

 

  • Lack of testing

 

The high-quality app is more likely to get attention in a competitive market and build an excellent reputation for a brand. Testing plays a crucial role in ensuring apps’ quality and eliminate bugs before the release.

Testing should be performed throughout the whole development process and usually takes quite some time to be conducted properly. Rushing to release the app as soon as possible often results in multiple mistakes. 

To guarantee well-performed beta testing, you should arrange the testing schedule and choose experts to conduct the testing. You can use both in-house and outsourced app testing experts. For in-house testing, you should create a dedicated environment and get the necessary tools.

Outsourced testers will be able to spot problems quicker since they haven’t seen the app before and haven’t been involved in the design process. But do not chase after the cheapest option. Conduct the research, understand their work habits and make sure they share your values.

 

  • Absence of marketing strategy

 

Developing an app requires money and time investments. Until you have no marketing plan to how to reach your target audience, it is likely that you’re endangering your efforts. 

With an enormous number of apps already presented in the market, it is hard to catch users’ eye. Solid marketing plan comes as the only option which ensures your app will reach a wider audience. Conduct research to come up with the marketing strategy:

  • Find the market niche for your app
  • Analyse your competitors
  • Explore your target users and potential customers
  • Indicate prevailing trends
  • Perform SWOT analysis

The market research will help to indicate your app USP (unique selling proposition) and your buyer’s persona. In addition to the research, you can obtain app reviews and use social media channels for marketing your app more successfully.

 

  • Neglecting further updates

 

The app’s release doesn’t mean the end of the development process. In order to meet consumer’s expectations, introduce new features, fix possible bugs and increase the overall app’s life span, an app should be occasionally updated. According to an AnyPresence survey, 80% of apps are updated every six months.

Include such updates into your budget at the beginning of the development process. If you spend all your costs on initial app launch, further updates require additional expends.

Summary

Developing an app is a complex process, especially if go through it for the first time. To create a flawless app, it is vital to have in-depth market understanding, best testing methods, design expertise and many other competencies.

Whether you want to develop the app on your own or to hire a custom application development company, following provided above list of the most common app development pitfalls will undoubtedly save you time, spendings, and efforts.