It’s not so long since many companies were asking “Why do I need a website, when I’m listed in Yellow Pages?” The answer to both questions is the same — because it offers a different and more dynamic way of attracting business.

Your website is a valuable shop window, but a mobile application offers a more active and flexible way of engaging with your customers and attracting repeat business. Both are essential to your marketing strategy, but it’s important to understand that online habits are changing quickly, and you need to be in a position to make the most of that.

Figures show that 81% of adults in the UK have access to a smartphone, and most spend more of their online time on the phone than on a PC. For many of us, the first thing we do in the morning and the last thing we do at night is to check our phone, and many of us check it up to 85 times a day.

It’s vital to have a marketing strategy that plays to the strengths of mobile technology, and apps do just that. You can engage your customers in a way that’s difficult to achieve through a traditional website. For instance, a booking and events company can use its app to deliver reminders to customers. Statistics show that we’re far more likely to open and read a phone notification message than an email, and a message from an app can reach the customer even without an internet connection.

Listing all the reasons why a mobile application may be right for your business would make an extremely long read. If you want to know more, why not contact me using the form or on 01234 632232 for a confidential chat?

I certainly can, and I’m always happy to meet with you at your convenience for a chat about your idea and ways it can be taken forward into developing an app for your company.

Digitwell Solutions takes confidentiality extremely seriously at every stage of the process. We’ll never disclose any details about your business or your app idea without your express permission, and we encourage clients to provide a legally binding non-disclosure agreement for me to sign. If you don’t have one, you can download a standard agreement for free from the UK Government Intellectual Property Office website.

Guidance can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-disclosure-agreements/non-disclosure-agreements

Documents for download can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-disclosure-agreements

To have a genuinely confidential chat about your app idea, contact me using the form or on 07976 913456.

That’s going to depend on a number of things, especially on what you want the app to do and how complex you need it to be. In general, the process of building an app involves six stages, although in the case of very simple apps some of these can be combined.

1. Ideas Formulation

We have a series of meetings to discuss the idea and establish what’s going to be possible to develop on your budget. In the case of a very straightforward app, one discussion may be enough, but we’ll have as many as it takes to get it right.

Timing may be a crucial issue in the planning. If you have a specific target date, e.g. to coincide with a new product launch or in time for Christmas or Easter, we’ll build the timetable into the proposal we write which also outlines work to be done and an idea of the cost.

We generally recommend an Agile approach to building an app — this will be explained in a moment.

2. Designs & Prototyping

Next we produce some sample designs, showing you how the app will appear on a mobile phone or tablet. Depending on the app’s size and complexity, we may develop a prototype, which helps both you and us understand whether it’s possible to incorporate a particular feature.

Once the design and prototype are agreed, we can move on to the development stage.

3. Development

Our normal approach is to use the Agile methodology to develop the app. This means we can provide you with either weekly or fortnightly updates giving you working versions of the app, along with a review meeting. Here, we can make sure everything’s still in your line with your expectations and make any changes needed.

If your project is large, we can keep you up to date by using Trello, a task-tracking application that works on both the web and mobile devices and provides you with status information. We’ll supply a personal login for you, and you’ll be able to track the progress of the development at any time of day or night.

Unless you request otherwise, we’ll build two versions of the app, for Android and Apple devices. The differences between them will reflect the standards and conventions required by the two platforms.

4. Testing

We’ll test the app on a regular ongoing basis while it’s under development to ensure it’s working correctly. We also recommend a period of testing on both Android and Apple once the app is complete.

5. Launch in the App Stores

Once you’re happy, we’ll submit the two apps to the Android and Apple App Stores for approval. All apps have to go through this process; since both stores have a long list of things they won’t accept. We’ll normally have picked up at the ideas stage anything likely to fall foul of these lists, so it’s rare that one of our apps is rejected, but it’s always a remote possibility.

Android normally approves the app within four hours, but Apple tends to take longer, usually about two days on first submission.

6. Monitoring & Analytics

We have a number of tools we can use to monitor your app once it’s live, and we provide regular reports on its progress. The statistics we supply depend on your requirements, and can range from simply numbers of downloads to more complex data on which screens are being used within the app.

t’s not always obvious how an app can help your business until you’ve used it, but many of our customers who had initial doubts have been amazed at how it’s become central to their business operations or marketing strategy. Here are just a few ways a mobile application can help your business.

• It offers a direct channel to your customers, making your company information just a tap away at any time.
• It improves customer engagement by allowing them to call you or send an email simply by tapping an icon.
• It develops new sales by being available when the customer makes the choice, not waiting till they get back to their PC.
• It allows you to cultivate customer loyalty by making personalised offers.
• It spreads brand recognition by being more widely accessible than a website.
• Not everyone has woken up to the advantages of an app, so by having one you’ll be one step ahead of the competition.

Contact me using the form or on 01234 632232 for a confidential chat about how we can help you.

Once your app is live in the Android and Apple stores, we have a number of tools we can use to monitor your app once it’s live, and we provide regular reports on its progress. The statistics we can supply, depending on your requirements, range from simply numbers of downloads to more complex data on which screens are being used within the app.

This data is valuable for ongoing use of your app, allowing you to judge what’s working well and what may need tweaking.

Contact me using the form or on 01234 632232 for a confidential chat about how analytics and monitoring can assist in understanding your users.