Online social networking sites have absolutely exploded in popularity with all age groups on the internet. The ease of use and navigating of these social sites has opened the door to even the technically timid. Facebook has even recently reported that baby boomers outnumber high school age users at their site. Connecting with others at various online communities has become as common as watching TV. The advent of online social marketing has helped to further boost the overall use of social sites. Currently there seems to be no limit to the growth of online social networking.The booming popularity of these online communities was initially started by blogs. The ability to interact with others online was recognized and immediately embraced by users.
Wanting to further personalize the online experience many flocked in droves to blogs.From this evolved blog marketing which quickly became the accepted blueprint for what was perceived to be the future of online marketing. All told blogs became the popular choice of internet users for both socializing and marketing. Then along came online social networking.Now the question is whether blogs are in danger of fading into oblivion in the face of the growing acceptance of social network sites?On the surface it would appear so and here are 3 reasons why:Established Traffic at Social Network SitesWith the popularity of many social network sites it is easy to find an already established flow of traffic at the site. The need to invest time and energy to generate traffic for your site is not necessary as would be the case for individual blogs.Site Optimization is Not NecessaryCapitalizing on the traffic you find at any social site allows you to circumvent the need for various forms of site optimization.A social site allows you direct contact with others making it easier for you to deliver your message. Site optimization techniques such as keyword usage, quality content, and backlinks are necessary in order to increase your rank with search engines. A higher ranking is needed so that you may then gain direct contact with prospects in order to deliver your message.In a nut shell gaining access to prospects is quicker and easier using social networking traffic.Ease and SpeedThe ease of leaving quick and casual promotional comments or posts is attractive to many marketers online. Within any of these online communities communications are generally highly unstructured and informal thus allowing promoters to speak on a more personal level with site members.Online social networking sites no doubt have gained a tremendous following. As noted above there are some very compelling reasons for the popularity of social networks sites. Addressing the idea that blogs could fade into oblivion due to this popularity, well that’s not likely. Blogs still offer tremendous flexibility to the site owner along with the opportunity to put a personalized stamp on the site itself. This is a huge benefit that can’t be overlooked. Both these sites serve similar yet different purposes which should allow them both to coexist and flourish online for some time to come. So don’t kick your blog to the curb since it remains a uniquely effective platform for making money online!

Once the app is downloaded, you have little time to take a sigh of relief, and then again start focusing on making things easier for the them till their goal is achieved.

According to the AppsFlyer, an app marketing company, the global uninstall rate for apps after 30 days is 28%. Entertainment apps are most frequently deleted, whereas apps based on Finance is least frequently deleted. No matter which app category you belong to, your strategy should be to remain in the mobile phones of users for a long time, and not just sit around but to fulfill your purpose as well.

If we analyze the encounters of users with an app step by step, it can help us unveil the critical factors that influence mobile app audiences, so that we can work upon those and achieve our purpose. Here are the details:

Step1. Finding Your App in Appstore

For this, we have to first find out what exactly users type to search an app. Based on a research, it has been found that 47% app users on iOS confirmed that they found the app through the App Store’s search engine and 53% app users on Android confirmed the same.

What have been their search queries? Interestingly, as the per the data provided by the TUNE research, 86% of the top 100 keywords were brands.With little scope for non-branded categories, most of the keywords were either of games of utility apps. Common keywords in the non branded category are: games, free games, VPN, calculator, music, photo editor, and weather.

Leaving brands aside, if we analyze the user-type of a Non-branded category, we will get two types of users:

1. Users are informed, and they know what they are search

2. Users are exploring possibilities, have no precise information in mind.

If you are a mobile app development company, targeting non-branded users, then your efforts must be directed to creating apps that compel these two types of users. To do so, we have to analyze once they are on an app store, what keywords they use to search. Regina Leuwer, with expertise in marketing & communications, bring some light to the subject. She reached out Sebastian Knopp, creator of app store search intelligence tool appkeywords, who shared with her the data of unique trending search phrases. And according to that data, in 2017, there were around 2,455 unique search phrases trending in the US.

Now, if we study these data to get information, we will find that name of the app is critical to attract the attention of the users.

If your app belongs to non-branded category, then make sure your app name is similar to the common search queries but also unique in comparison with your competitors. So that when your app name is flashed, they click it on to it, finding it purposeful and compelling both.

Step 2. Installation

Remember your users are on mobile devices has limited resources, from battery to storage and RAM to Internet. Everything is limited. So better create an application that is easy to download or say get downloaded with 5 minutes. One critical advice here:

1. Keep the application file size small.

If you are a developer, use APK Analyser to find out which part of the application is consuming maximum space. You can also reduce classes.dex file and res folder that contains images, raw files, and XML.

Step 3. Onboarding

After the user has successfully downloaded your mobile application, don’t leave anything on assumptions. Guide them properly. This you can do through an onboarding process, where users can learn the key functionality and where to begin with the mobile app. Below are the 3 things you need to keep in your mind when creating an onboarding process for your users.

Short and Crisp: The entire guidance of features and functions should be completed within few seconds, with easy options loud and clear option to skip.

Precise Information: Don’t introduce them to the app. They already know what they have downloaded. The objective to inform about the key functions and features.

Allow Users to Skip: Let the tech-savvy users skip the intro. Your app is to meet their requirement and not to have a friendly session.

Step 4. Purpose and UI
Here, the stage is set for your app and it is the golden chance for you to impress your users. What is needed here is the collaboration between purpose and UI of the app. It totally depends on the problem-solving capability and ease of use of the mobile app. Interface design plays the critical role, allowing the users to access features of the apps easily and quickly to perform the task for what they have downloaded the app. When it comes to interface design, make sure that the design is interactive and task-oriented. Here are some factors that you must take care off while creating mobile app interface:

1. Usability: The Mobile phone is an epitome of convenience and if your users find it difficult to use your app, then there is no way there are going to make the space for it in their mobile phones. From screen size to the color of the app, there are many factors that are equally critical and need attention.

2. Intuitive: To create an intuitive User Interface, you have to read the mind of the users, and develop a model based on that. The next should be precise, clear and ‘obvious’ in an interface.

3. Availability: Key features should be hidden in the drop down menu or even if so, it should be obvious for the user to look into the drop-down. An intricate work of design and research is required to make essential features available for the customers and they don’t need to navigate here and there.

If you need more help with the user-interface and innovative ideas for a mobile app, write to me [email protected] and I promise to get back to you with interesting mobile app designs.