Tips to Provide the Best Website Experience

The world of mobile applications has been continuously growing for years. Apps are on their way to becoming what software used to be. One of the biggest sectors of growth has been in branded apps. Companies create an app under their own name, and use it to help their customers and clients. The list of things that can be done with apps is endless, and so many companies have taken advantage of that. Is a branded app the right move for your company? Well, that's up to you, but here are a few of the benefits that come with offering your own app

Make sales

This is one of the most direct benefits of having an app. If you offer your products or services through your app, many customers will find that making purchases through the app is even easier than any other method. This can lead to more sales. Examples of this can be found especially in the travel industry, for example, airline apps selling flight tickets, and in the online superstore industry, such as Ebay and Amazon.

Stay in touch

Most apps include a way to contact the company who created them. How user-friendly you make this option is up to you, but any client or customer appreciates the ability to contact a company that they do business with. It can be even more helpful if the contact options can be accessed while offline.

Advertising and updates

Consider advertising through your app. Users are already interested in your service or product, and your app is a very efficient way of communicating other things you have available. You don't have to worry about annoying customers, because it only happens when the app is open, and best of all, it's free. Since it's your app, the only cost to advertise there is the cost of creating the content. The same concept is true when it comes to updates. If your company is selling something new, putting on an event, or looking for new staff, your current customers are the best market to share that information with first. If they have downloaded your app, you can share it with all of them, instantly, and of course, it's still free.

Keep your company in their mind

Every time someone opens your app, they think of you. Even when they're doing something else, they'll see your logo every time they use their phone. When customers think of you often, sales go up.

Offer additional services

Depending on what your company offers, your app may be able to offer additional services to your customers. For example, an airline might offer an app that lets their customers keep track of their own flights, and then send them real-time updates on delays or cancellations. People like when they can streamline everything through their phone. A grocery store might offer the users of its app the ability to create a shopping list, and then suggest coupons based on the products they need. Thinking outside of the box will lead to an app that does something for users that no other app can do. Imagine that app that everyone wants to use having your company's name and logo on it.

Keep tabs on your customers

Although it's important to be careful about which information you choose to store, there are some basic things that it might be helpful to learn about your customers, but that you just can't get effectively from website data. For example, an app, if coded properly, can track where the users are, giving you some clues as to where most of your market base is. It can also help you keep track of everything they've bought, and maybe even tie that to a phone number. If you're careful about how you treat your users and their privacy, you can learn a great deal of useful information about them.

Think a mobile app might be able to help your company? Contact us. We can answer all of your questions, help you decide, and even help you get started, if you'd like.

Lately, it seems like a custom web app is absolutely necessary to do business online, and even companies that have excellent responsive websites have companion apps. Despite this, very few of these apps live up to their promise. What can you do to ensure that your app will keep people's interest? Here are a few things that will help ensure that your offering won't end up being uninstalled:

1. Keep it relevant. Most companies have caught on to this, but there are still a few that make the mistake of releasing an app that has nothing to do with their main service. An example of this would be a food company that puts out a video game. That may work if children are the target market, but if you cater to adults, you need to keep a tighter focus. The food company in the example would be better off with a cooking app or one that promotes eating the types of food that company sells.

2. Don't just duplicate your site. This is especially true if you have a great adaptive site that offers just as much functionality on the small screen as the app would. This offers no value and will soon find its way to the uninstall list. It's a good idea to offer shopping capabilities if your business involves online buying, but remember that your mobile site is already there to take orders. Your app's main function should be to augment it rather than duplicate it.

3. Come up with something unique. Don't worry if you draw a blank on this one. If you talk to a full-service development company, they should be able to brainstorm with you to devise a new angle. Developers get orders all the time, so they can tell you if an idea is something different or a "yet another X" concept. Developers are also good sources of ideas for methods of presentation and other areas that can be made unique even if the main concept has been done.

4. Don't charge unless you're in the app business. People will pay for apps if they're being sold by app companies, but it's a much different story if your business is something like selling cars. In the latter case, people expect your app to be free and will generally refuse to "pay for your ads."

5. If you are in the app business, avoid saturated concepts. This is basically a matter of supply and demand, but it also ties in with the fact that it's much harder to excel when a market is already full of top-notch competition. Avoid saturated categories unless you have a truly unique concept. Go ahead and commission a custom app that you think could be the next Angry Birds - but avoid copying the one that already exists.

6. Hire an experienced and adaptable developer. This is an essential requirement no matter what you intend your app to do or why you want one. Modern developers can keep up with changing project requirements and use processes that assume that changes will be needed. This is much different from ones who use old-fashioned methods that demanded exact specifications from the start and couldn't accommodate changes midstream. Of course, the value of experience barely needs to be explained. Developers who have plenty of it are the ones who are most likely to deliver a glitch-free product and do so within the estimated time frame.

By keeping these six key factors in mind, you'll increase your chance of being successful with your app. To learn more or discuss having a custom app produced, just contact us. We'll be glad to work with you.

Waterfall development is a software development model. With this model, there is a designated progression of actions that are taken throughout the time that the software is being developed up until the time that the software is released.

This system is one that has been in existence for several years. For the most part, it is made up of six distinct phases:

1. Requirements analysis
2. Design
3. Implementation
4. Testing
5. Installation
6. Maintenance

One thing about waterfall development is that it is a fairly controversial process. Many developers will agree that there are aspects of this system that simply do not work well. In fact, below you will find 10 things everyone hates about waterfall development.

1. Limited Flexibility

Arguably one of the biggest drawbacks of this system is the fact that it has not been designed to offer flexibility. When software is being created, there are times when the customer isn't completely sure of what they truly need. Unfortunately, knowing what is needed up front is the basis behind the first phase of this system.

2. Inaccurate Financial Planning

Another issue that is huge for developers who choose the waterfall model is that it is extremely difficult to determine how much time and cost will be needed to implement the software. Since the requirements are to be laid out beforehand, this can be an incredibly inaccurate process.

3. Projects become Difficult

After the design phase, many enter into the project only to find that implementing it is nearly impossible. While the designs may look feasible on paper, they turn out to be extremely expensive. This could cause a re-design to be necessary.

4. Division of Work

The waterfall development process also designates certain work to be completed by certain types of workers. For example, there is a clear distinction between designers, programmers and testers. However, dividing this type of work in the real world is not realistic.

5. It Wastes Time and Resources

Throughout each phase of the waterfall process, only a select number of team members are qualified to complete work. This means that others will simply be sitting idle while waiting for their phase to begin. Naturally, this is a great waste of resources and can actually make the project take longer.

6. It's Risky

Using the waterfall method can also be very risky for software development companies. Each phase takes quite a bit of time to complete. Also, changes to the requirements can mean that the entire model will need to be started again. This can be devastatingly expensive, especially if the client decides to cancel the project after going through several phases.

7. It's not Mobile Friendly

In today's world, developing a complete set of requirements up front is not feasible. This is not something that will be possible when building a mobile app or a website. Since this is one of the main items that is completed by businesses of today, a different process will be needed for these types of tasks.

8. Updates are Difficult

After the software has been completely designed using the waterfall process, many developers find that it is more difficult to update in the future. While updates are possible, they are difficult when this method has been chosen.

9. Doesn't work for Difficult Projects

The idea behind the waterfall development system is that it is intended for a simple project. Unfortunately, there are very few projects these days that are simple. Instead, most require a great deal of attention and focus in order to complete. Using the waterfall method for these types of projects can cause them to be more expensive and take more time.

10. Can't look back

Finally, once a phase is completed, it is closed. This means that it will be nearly impossible to make changes to a completed phase. This is why gathering requirements upfront is so important. Making changes to a closed and locked phase is a nightmare.

Choosing the right software development strategy is important for any business. For this reason, it is crucial to learn more about the pros and cons of the development options that are available. Contact us today to learn more about the options that are available for your project.