With a flooded app market there is much more to mobile app success than design, graphics, and functionality. Look what drives the most successful apps in iTunes and Android Market, like Angry Birds, Instagram and Fruit Ninja. Instagram’s blog pops in in Google Search before their iTunes link does (followed by their Wikipedia page). Fruit Ninja is on Xbox Live. Angry Birds had a full-length major motion picture based on it. These examples are what the top dogs in the app market are doing to get to the top and stay there. Though your budget might be a ways off from an animated film, here are a few preliminary assets that all apps should have.

1. Website

Users are not just looking for apps in the iTunes Store; they’re searching online in review sites, media sites, blogs and more. Take advantage of this market by building a website strictly based on your app that breaks it down in detail and has all the necessary download links easy to find.

1. Facebook

Facebook is a necessary app tool for many reasons: Users are on there constantly, you can gain, retain and grow a loyal fan base with a FB page, and you can do some highly targeted Facebook advertising when the time is right. It’s free to set up a Facebook page, take advantage of it.

1. Twitter

Twitter has a two-prong approach for mobile app marketing: You can get a popular hashtag link for your app that spreads like wildfire, and you can get endorsed tweets from Twitterers who have a huge following. Limited character can have unlimited possibilities.

1. Video

YouTube is the second most popular search engine just under Google.  Tell you users what your app is and why they should download it in a 3-minute-or-less video, and you’ll witness your downloads and rankings increase dramatically. Don’t stop at YouTube; get on Vimeo and Vevo when you can.

1. Android Version

iTunes may be the leader, but Android is growing at an alarming rate. Android phones are smarter, easier, and faster than iPhones, and the rest of the world is catching on to this. Also, there is no approval process for Android Marketplace, so you can get on there as soon as your app is ready.

        Mobile apps today are what websites were 10 years ago: Everybody wants one, everybody needs one. Be it for a business, website, or as a stand-alone product, mobile apps are becoming a business platform standard.  The app market is flooded nowadays, and if you want to build an app that has the best chances of getting in the top of iTunes and Android market, you need to take certain preliminary steps in the beginning to ensure that you have a successful mobile app. Little bumps in the road  can become barricades after launch, so be precise, exact, and detailed from the start to avoid any future conflicts. From our experience of working with hundreds of apps, large and small, this is our top 6 imperative steps for developing a mobile app.

1.  Hire a Designer and a Developer

Don’t expect an app developer to design a great app if it isn’t their cup of tea. App developers and designers are typically separate professions. Get a designer to design it, then a developer to build it.

2.  Get a solid proposal from your developer

Developing an app is usually an hourly or flat rate fee. If it’s hourly, make sure a rough estimate of how many hours it will take to develop the app is included in the proposal. You might go in thinking it will be much less hours than it actually becomes, and spending way over your budget.

3.  Save money for marketing and advertising

We have encountered dozens of app clients who spent thousands on the development and are left with a small fraction of that after launch. No matter how stellar the app is or how large and interactive the audience, if you don’t have money to spend on marketing and advertising after launch it will never break the top 50 in Android or iTunes – period. Budget your cash flow to ensure that you have at least half the amount of your development budget to spend on marketing and advertising.

4.  Get your ad assets installed asap

If you plan on doing in-app advertising (which you should) most ad networks require some kind of SDK installment that your developer will have to implement. If you do this in the beginning before launch, then you only have to submit to Apple only once instead of twice.

5.  Social Media integration

Having some kind of social media integration in your app will only increase downloads dramatically. If users have to sign in, have some functionality where they can sign in using Facebook or Twitter. If it’s a game, let the users share their scores and stats with social media.

6.   Have a “lite” version if possible

Hundreds of new free apps enter the app market every day, which means if you have a paid app, users are typically going to see if they can find the same thing for free. A free version with ads or in-app purchases is the best business model for ROI that we  have seen. Avoid falling off the charts because your app is paid only.

A list of the Top 10 Chuck ‘em apps provided by APPSPIRE.me.

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A list of the top 10 Shooter apps provided by APPSPIRE.me.

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Tower Defense games are in a realm of their own, and once you get hooked on one, it can be just as addictive as Angry Birds. Problem is that there is a smorgasbord of Tower Defense games available in iTunes. So to help you make your choice of which TD game is right for you, or if you already have a winner and are looking for another awesome TD game, we rated our top 10 personal favorite Tower Defense app games for the iPhone. Check out our Tower of Power for a breakdown.

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