The Keys to Great App Discoverability-App Store Tricks for Mobile 2.0 (PART I)

I will be presenting some ideas from my book, Location Aware Applications, next week in Malta, which made me think about an issue that keeps popping up time and again in mobile development: how to get a great app downloaded by thousands of users.

With an 'app universe' of over 300,000 applications, over 8 mobile development platforms and over 50 app stores to choose from, it is has never been this tough to pick the right distribution option(s). And if you zoom into individual App Stores, the level of detail becomes even more  mind-boggling: the iTunes Store has over 200,000 apps available in more than 30 individual country stores, with over 20 different App Categories!

First, a disclaimer: there is no one method that guarantees a successful distribution and discovery of your app.

However, there are some tips and good practice that you can follow to boost your chances of succeeding. 

The first step to get you on the right track is to answer five fundamental questions:

1. Who is your app for?

2. Which geographical market are you going for?

3. Is the release of your app time-critical?

4. Is your app for a single operator, Operating System or Handset model?

5. Is your app free or not?

Armed with the answers to these questions, you can then proceed  to define your App Discoverability Strategy....(to be continued)