Things You Need to Do Before Releasing Your App to the App Store
There are so many various apps that are being developed and submitted to the App Store daily that it may give one a headache. Consequently, the standards are getting higher and higher — not only tech-wise but also on the customer (target audience) side. All the expectations and demands to hit the brief can be very intimidating. This is why we want to guide you through a very important fraction of it — all the things that you need to do right before releasing your app. As it all is usually being taken care of pretty late in the timeline it is very often neglected or forgotten. Or simply, people are too much in a hurry to properly focus on what is there to consider before launching an app.
I would venture to say that the very final part of the development process that we are going to be talking about now is crucial in order to nail the release of your product to the App Store. So, are you ready to launch your mobile app with us?
Am I alone in this?
Most self-respecting professional developers will guide you through the whole process of development, deployment and store verification of your product so that you do not have to do it alone. They will provide you with tips, a checklist or ideas/strategy options for you to reach the market and customers you desire so that you can launch your app painlessly. Sadly, sometimes people have to take care of it themselves.
However, even if you have a great software development company taking care of you, you may want to get to know this secret formula by yourself as well.
App Store Optimization before launching your mobile app
Nearly all of the App Store Optimization steps are vital when it comes to succeeding on the market. Some of them may be obvious for the more experienced readers, yet we decided to keep them here for the sake of beginners in releasing apps. Let’s see what you need to prepare and decide on before launching your app, shall we?
Study your contenders
Before releasing an app you definitely need to scroll through the App Store & Google Play Store & the Internet in order to search for similar apps to yours. Analyze both the apps themselves (their features, layout etc.) and all the other provided traits, such as screenshots, mockups, descriptions and anything else that is provided. This way, you can learn a lot about your competitors’ strengths and take advantage of their weaknesses pre-launch.
Check compatibility, rendering and the size of your app
Make sure that your app will run freely on the versions of Android and iOS that you chose earlier on as well as name the oldest versions of operating systems that it will be available for.
A well-rendered app will easily load on all kinds of screen sizes and pixel densities. It is important to remember about it unless you do not want to call your app scalable.
Do not forget about the fact that in both Google Play and App Store in order to download the app using a mobile network (not WiFi) it has to be 100 MB maximum. Any bigger ones will have to be downloaded outside the cell network and this fact is a limitation that may stand on your way to success in the number of app downloads and users.
Decide on pricing
It makes a big difference whether an app in the store is free of charge or not. An important thing to note is that it is impossible to change from a free to a priced app later on in the app store. Pricing also affects the regions where your app can be downloaded in the world. There are still some places that do not support paid downloads and/or in-app purchases.
Decide on the launch date
Find a suitable moment for your app to be launched officially. You may want to think it through as it is not “launching your app as soon as it is possible” that gives you the best results. What works way better is focusing a bit on marketing and making the buzz around your project beforehand! A good marketing strategy is half of the success.
Also, bear in mind that your launch date should not be on the same day as any of the special events in the industry or ‘busy’ calendar days when people have other things pulling them away from the store.
Choose the distribution area
Think about your target audience, analyse the market or go big and allow downloads from all over the world! Remember that (especially if the language of your app is not English by default) you should provide all the necessary translations.
Write a catchy description
Remember that it should be a rather short, highly informative text that sticks to the policies of your brand. You may want to ask yourself how formal do you want it to be and what tone you want to use. It should be coherent with your app marketing, website, social media channels etc.
Remember that the formal requirements are as follows: you should not exceed 30 words range and not overuse the app keywords. However, done right app keywords for ASO can be very helpful.
Do the screenshots
Prepare various screenshots of your app and decide on which ones of them are the most representative. Some of them will surely look better than others, put them in the mockups!
Moreover, make sure that you have a neat landing page that you can freely brag about. The screens of your mobile app and its description should be available there as well!
Create and upload mockups
Put the screenshots into mockups that are app store optimised. This makes it easier for the app to go through the verification process and makes the whole arrangement look more professional. You can easily find them online or hire a specialist who will do it for you.
Depending on the app store you choose, you can upload up to 5, 8 or 10 mockups aka screenshots.
Create a video teaser of your app & spread the word
This is another way of making people want to download your app. A nice video showing off all the nicest features can really do miracles. Especially if you decide to release it earlier on as a part of your marketing strategy. Focus not only on the looks but also on other aspects of the app launch video, such as,
Focus on social media & Internet marketing strategy of your app
Promote your app! Think about it months before the planned app launch date. This way you can ensure yourself a good amount of downloads (clients) right away. If you make an interesting campaign, people will be literally counting the days until your app gets on the market. Consider creating social media accounts where you will post some teasing screenshots and videos. Your aim should be to hook people within a few weeks/months time so that they are willing to go straight to the App Store (or Google Play Store, etc.) as soon as your app is ready to download.
Something that you may also want to contemplate is creating a preorder or an early sign up for your project. Having marketing done right, you should be able to get many people interested in this form of exclusive app access. This form of early access is the most popular in the gaming industry, however, it works for other applications as well.
To Conclude…
Remember that success is never guaranteed, however, you can do certain things in order to increase the likelihood of your app launch hitting not only the sky but also the target audience and customer satisfaction.
As you can see, the process of launching your app into the app store is a much more complicated thing than a lot of people think. We advise you to take it into consideration and take care of all the mentioned above points at least a few weeks before the set launching date or/and before finishing off the development process. This way you ensure yourself the best start possible. Good luck!
