Once you have gone through the development process and you have an app that is ready for the public, it is time to begin the app launch process. There are multiple ways to launch a new app, but the most common way is to publish it is on one of the app stores. Regardless of which store you choose, there is a process that you will have to go through to get your app released into the marketplace. In this article, we discuss the app launch process and how to get your app released in one of the perfect app stores.
Choosing the Perfect App Store
The first step in the process is to choose the perfect app store for your app. Depending on how you develop your app, you may be able to submit it to multiple app stores. This usually happens with apps that are developed to work in more than one of the main ecosystems. For example, an app that is designed for iOS is not likely to run on Windows unless you specifically included Windows compatibility in your development process.
If your app can only work in one ecosystem, then choosing the perfect app store depends on which systems are apt to work in. If you are asked to work in multiple ecosystems, then the choice is more complicated. You want to put your app into the store that has the largest collection of your target audience. This will maximize your chances of successfully launching.
Applying for Consideration
To get your app onto an app store, you have to apply for consideration by the administrative team. Every app store has its own process for this, but they are relatively the same. You fill out an application, submit your app's code for review, and negotiate the publisher agreement. In many cases, an agreement cannot be negotiated if the app store is unwilling to negotiate. Many of the larger stores are unwilling to change the terms of service for anyone regardless of evidence. On some of the smaller stores, you may be able to negotiate minor changes in their agreements.
If for some reason your app is denied, the admin who reviewed it will usually tell you why. Many apps are denied on the first attempt for violating safety concerns or other guidelines set forth by the marketplaces' admins. If this happens, you can go back to the development phase and fix these issues before resubmitting. If you are accepted, you will be notified and will need to complete the publishers’ agreements and any other requirements that the store has. This process can move relatively quickly, although there are stories of it taking a long time for various reasons.
Creating Your App Profile
What is your app is accepted, you will begin to prepare all the things you will need for launch. This includes creating a profile page for your app for the app store is this profile will play an important role in how successful your launch is. Use whatever content development strategy that you have to create high-quality content that sufficiently explains and sells your app to the public. Do not forget to include keywords and other SEO friendly processes since you want to show up at the top of the app store's search engine and the Internet search engines.
Market Your App
Just because you put up a profile in the app store does not mean that your advertising efforts are over. The profile page in the app store is used as a landing page for the app. To get people there, you are going to need to market in other places.
There are several ways that you can go about this. You can try creating a press release for relevant media outlets to notify them about the release of your app. If your company is known in the industry and you have a solid reputation, these media outlets may want to publish information about it. You can also create your own blog posts for your website as well as guest posts for other websites. This is an effective way to spread the word about your app quickly so that you can see larger returns closer to the launch.
Your marketing efforts should begin when you get clearance to launch the app in the App Store. It may take a little while for you to complete the process to publish your app. You may also have a specific launch date in mind that gives you some time before the launch to do some marketing. The more interest you can create before the launch, the higher your returns will be on launch day and immediately after. This can lead to long-term growth in downloads because more people adopted the app early on.
Launching and Maintenance
When everything is ready, you can launch the app in the store. After you do so, it is important for you to continue to support that app and help customers resolve issues. One of the practices that you should follow is to collect feedback about your app. The more feedback you collect, the more effective the changes and upgrades that you can make will be. Plus, this lets you collect social proof that you can use as testimonials on your app profile and in other places to promote more downloads.
Get Help Through the Process
There are many steps that you need to take during the launch process. Fortunately, you can get help from companies that help build apps regularly. They often manage the launch process for their clients making it much easier to bring apps to market. Call KitelyTech at (800) 274 2908 for help building and launching your next app.
