In 2020 mobile app development company are essential to the marketing strategies used by a wide range of businesses. They allow companies to improve their brand awareness and customer satisfaction which results in faster business growth, increased revenue and customer reach.
The app development process requires a considerable investment of money, time, and skills. Unfortunately, not every software development company is capable of delivering a product that would fully meet your business requirements and the needs of your customers.
Therefore, the choice of an app development company will directly impact the quality of the application you will get. In this article, we would like to share 10 actionable tips on how to choose the best mobile app development company.
10 Tips on How to Choose the Best App Development Company
1. Define Your App’s Purposes
Before searching for an app development company, you need to have a clear idea of what your app is going to do and what problems it shall address to motivate your customers to use it. Examine your target audience and learn about their needs. This way you’ll better understand what features you need to include in your app and get a clearer picture on how to estimate your budget.
2. Get Cost Estimate
Budget planning is an essential part of any project. And although it may be tempting to choose a company with the cheapest hourly rate, you need to keep in mind that it may have a detrimental effect on your app’s quality.
Moreover, app development companies with low hourly rates may have teams with limited technological expertise, and as a result, they’ll have to perform endless app modifications and improvements.
The price of your app will only grow due to the increasing number of development iterations and you’ll keep on waiting for your final product while your competitors will be making profit and expanding their businesses.
Instead of opting for the first cheapest app development company, we suggest you explore the software development market and learn about average prices. Nevertheless, there’re lots of ways to cut down on expenses while keeping the product quality high.
When looking for a software development partner, you may want to consider outsourcing app development to a company from a different country. For example, outsourcing mobile app development to Eastern European software development companies can save you 40% of your budget.
It is a viable solution many businesses have already given their preference to, as it significantly reduces development costs and provides excellent service.
3. Search for the Right Companies on the Right Sites
As you’ve shaped the main idea of your app and analyzed your target audience, it’s time to search for a software development company that could implement your project the best way.
It’s not a good idea to choose companies that you’ll find on the first page of Google search, it only means that they invest in search engine optimization and marketing. It’s better to opt for some specialized sites such as Clutch or GoodFirms.
4. Focus on What’s Important
Make a list of the companies that have experience in building the kind of app you need.
Browse through the companies’ websites and examine what technologies they use. The tech stack is what really matters since every language, framework, etc. is effective in certain scenarios.
For example, Java is used for the development of a wide range of apps, including web apps, mobile apps, desktop apps, cross-platform, and cloud apps while Swift is used only for the development of iOS mobile apps.
5. Check companies’ portfolios
Try to find out if they have already carried out similar projects and how many years they are in this business. Avoid companies that have poor sites, portfolios, or low-rated apps. The process is lengthy and even tiresome but this is the only way you can ensure you get a quality app in the end.
6. Check Clients’ Feedback
This tip is closely linked to the previous one and involves conducting a reference check. It means that you should gather some more data on the potential companies by:
- contacting companies’ previous clients and ask them for feedback on customer experience and the solution they got;
- checking feedback on professional and social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Clutch, and others;
- check out the feedback to the apps placed in app stores (if possible).
This review will help you to exclude the marketing ploy.
7. Get Prepared Before Negotiating
When meeting your potential mobile app development company for the first time, make time for preparation:
- think of the questions you’d like to ask;
- collect business requirements to present and think of the specificities of the niche you work in;
- gather some business statistics related to the app you want to develop: what operations could be enhanced by the app, your business efficiency, and how it could be improved with the app, strengths, and weaknesses of your business, etc.
The right mobile application development company will be ready to listen to your concerns and offer an effective solution. Besides that, they will consult you on the effective app building process and suggest ways to cut down your app development expenses.
8. Inquire About the Development Process
Ask your potential mobile app development company to provide you with a business proposal. It will help you to understand how well the company addressed each aspect of your project. Evaluate the following information with project stakeholders and ask your questions each time you have doubts or concerns.
- which type of mobile apps is better to develop in your business case: an iOS, Android, hybrid or cross-platform solution;
- which programming languages and frameworks they’ll use: C, C++, Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, .NET, and others;
- what features you should or shouldn’t include in your app’s user interface: offline access, design customization, search engine, and application optimization, and others;
- how to ensure your app’s security, easy scalability, and migration.
9. Always Sign an NDA
Signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is an important part of establishing cooperation with your app development company.
This document ensures that the business information you share is protected and your ideas won’t be used by third-parties. Besides that, it defines you as the owner of the developed application and secures your holder’s rights.
10. Discuss Post-Deployment Maintenance and Support Possibility
It’s essential to discuss the terms and conditions of post-deployment maintenance and support. After its release, your mobile app will require further updates, its users may run into technical issues and it’ll need some bugs to get fixed.
For these reasons, a quality-oriented software development company never terminates its contracts once the app is released and provides clients with technical support.
Conclusion
Mobile app development is in high demand all around the world. Mobile apps can significantly improve companies’ marketing strategies, facilitate the interaction between a company and its customers, boost sales, and help businesses grow.
To enjoy all these benefits, you need a robust mobile solution that can effectively address your customers’ and your personal business needs. That’s why it’s important to carefully choose a mobile app development company. We hope that using the tips outlined in this article will help you to choose the right best mobile app development company.
