5 Questions Before Building a Mobile App: Understanding ASO and SEO marketing

In this article, you will learn the key questions you need to answer before building a mobile app for your startup.

1.  Why Do You Need a Mobile App?

This question might seem like an obvious one to answer, but you will be surprised by how many mobile apps have been built just because someone on the team felt like the company needed it. According to the statistics on buildfire.com, it is stated that there are about 4.5 million apps available for download on the Apple Store and Google Play Store combined. The statistics above show that the competition is HUGE in the mobile app industry. The best way to stand out is to have an app that has a solid WHY. 

As a startup or an established company, you need to have a clear idea about why you want to develop a mobile app. This is not just important to the present growth of your company but to the future evolution of your application. 

2.  Can You Protect the Idea of Your App?

While the first step of building anything begins with the conception of an idea, the eventual creation and growth of a particular idea depend largely on the protection of said idea. While you can’t prevent other startups from benefitting from your idea one way or another, you can take the steps necessary to ensure that your idea is protected from theft. One way of protecting your idea is patenting it, but according to an article on Forbes.com, you need more than just patents to protect your ideas. For an idea that you believe will be game-changing, you need a wall of intellectual property to establish and defend your ownership.

This is because, for a successful app idea, competitors are bound to enter the market and do something similar to what your app does. Your best line of defense is a solid intellectual property wall. It is a good idea to consider signing NDA forms too. 

3.  What’s Your Preferred Platform?

Of course, many startups eventually choose to release their app for the Android and iOS platforms. However, statistics show that most startups prefer to launch an android application first rather than one on iOS. This is partly due to the idea of Lean Startup’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach discussed by Wajahat Karim in his Medium article. According to Wajahat, Startup founders need to quickly and sporadically iterate over their products and customers as a means of reducing the product-market fit-gap. He states that there are three major reasons for choosing to develop an Android app over an iOS app, they are:

• Low entry barrier
• Huge market

Easy customization
He stated that Android apps allow you to experiment with your product features and get faster feedback rapidly. Plus, Android covers over 70% of the smartphone industry, meaning it provides a larger audience. 

4.  What Special Feature Does Your App Offer?

The first question relates to the relevance of your application to your company. The question of what special feature your app offers to the customer has to do with the value that your potential customers expect to gain from using your app. Therefore, while you might need an app to boost your products’ sales on the mobile platform, there needs to be a reason your app will be chosen over similar apps that do the same thing. This is an important question as this can become the main reason your app fails or succeeds. That is on top of good design, of course.

5.  How Much Will Your App Cost?

This is a huge question because it depends on the features you intend to implement in your application, the chosen platform, and more. However, having a particular budget for your application can be a good place to start, as it can help choose what features get implemented and those that don’t. Typically, a good application could stand in the six-figure range. Of course, the cost of your application depends on several factors which may push up the cost or lower it. 

Now that you know what to do before and during your app’s development, here is a short introduction to marketing your app with ASO and SEO marketing practices.

ASO and SEO Marketing Practices

Yes, ASO is app-specific SEO, but the app and web marketers concur about untapped potential businesses can explore and leverage right now. Most marketers are knowledgeable about similar ASO and SEO optimization processes. But there is an urgent need to understand what separates them.

If you’re just familiar with SEO, understand the strategic perspective of ASO to achieve better results. Now, let’s look at the combined SEO and ASO marketing practices to drive more traffic:

Perform Keyword Research

Did you know that almost 70% of search queries have four or more words? Whether it’s ASO or SEO, keyword research serves as the foundation for all marketing practices. If you want to place the “right” keywords, be strategic and calculated to position relevant keywords.

Ideally, you should base your optimization practices on thorough keyword research. You can check the competitive keywords and spot long-tail phrases for more accurate results. Plus, the process to conduct keyword research in SEO and ASO is the same.

Just make sure you have access to keyword research tools and software. You can also use metrics to improve your overall strategy. It will help you find more opportunities between Google’s search algorithm and store algorithm.

Increase Search Visibility

Using ASO and SEO combined will increase app and website visibility. It means users will have more chances to discover your app or website. For instance, if you want to organically increase mobile app installs, you will have to find multiple ways to promote your app to people.

It means you have to be precise and communicate the offering of your app to users with more clarity. You can use the same tactic to increase your website visits through SEO.

Opt for Non-Branded Approach

As a marketer, you should focus on non-branded visibility on search algorithms. So, start by optimizing the app title, description, icon, and preview. Usually, you would focus on elements that would draw more attention to your brand.

But SEO and ASO optimization revolves caters to non-branded searches. Focus on famous generic searches and keyword placements to rank high on Google and drive traffic to your app and site.

Be More Creative

Depending on your business, you might need to implement one or more ASO and SEO strategies. It is crucial to understand that ASO and SEO are headed in different directions. As a marketer, you have to find creative ways to combine and use the best practices of both.

Be More Strategic

Besides, users perform on-the-go searches from millions of apps each day. If you want to succeed, focus on the unique approach of SEO and ASO that would bring tie together your marketing strategy.

In the realm of SEO and ASO, you don’t necessarily have to have all the answers. Instead, focus on practices that would complement one another.

Sum Up

In essence, you should understand the process, assign realistic expectations, communicate goals to stakeholders, systematically implement practices, measure and analyze results, and raise the bar of expectations. Repeat this cycle, and you’ll be surprised at the increased traffic and engagement level.

Hopefully, this article has provided you with an insight into the questions you need to ask before developing and marketing an app for your startup. We hope this has been helpful to you on your startup journey. Good luck!

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