Websites are more important than ever for businesses of all kinds, and that includes apps. In this post, we’ll discuss why you need a website for your app, and how it can benefit your business.
While an app is obviously important for getting your product or service in front of potential customers, a website is also a valuable asset for promotion and converting your audience to app downloads and in-app purchases. Especially if your app is your product.
Here’s why:
1. A pre-launch app website is a great way to build excitement and community before your app is published to the app stores.
By creating a pre-launch website, you can start generating buzz for your app and get people excited about its release. It adds the advantage of having a hub to send traffic to when promoting your app on your social media accounts. Additionally, it can help you build a community of early adopters who can provide feedback and help promote your app.
Create content to keep people coming back to your landing page, Develop a blog page with demos, interviews, and other content. This will help keep people engaged and checking your website for news on your app development.
As you get closer to launch, keep your website updated more often with the latest information about your app. You can also use your website to announce launch discounts, special features, and other news.
2. A website helps your app get found in searches initiated in places other than the app stores.
When potential customers search for an app or even a service of the type that your app provides, you want to make sure your website is returned in the search results. An app for your website can help you do exactly that.
Since it’s easier to optimize a website for web search engine rankings than it is an app store listing, you can get your app noticed by users who may not be specifically looking for an app to solve their problem or provide a service and convert them to new downloads. If the website SEO is done with properly researched SEO content and landing page best practices a website for your app can contribute greatly to your app promotion.
3. Inform potential users about what your app does.
Your website can be used to give potential customers more information about what your app does or the problems it solves. If your app has many functions, it’s possible that not all of the capabilities that users are interested in will be immediately obvious on your app store listings. Leveraging a website for your app gives you the opportunity to fully educate potential and current users about all aspects of your app and its benefits to them. Links to your app store listing in Google Play and the Apple App Store are necessary so people can easily find and download your app.
4. Invaluable when tracking your marketing campaigns with a single landing page for both Apple and Android users.
The app stores are competitive places. One way to get your app noticed is to use paid ads outside of the app stores that link to a website. This will give you the exposure you need to get your app noticed by potential users and provide them with the option to download the version of your app they need.
Using the advanced analytics gained from the website traffic helps you to better fine-tune the website content and layout so that you can continue to raise conversions. Also, learn more about which ads are delivering the highest rate of new user downloads.
5. Fine tune your conversion strategy
Once your website is created, the content and flow can be updated and we can make changes as needed. This is important since you’ll want to test out different layouts and content to find out how to reach your audience in the most exciting ways and get the highest app download conversion rates. These strategies can then be applied to your ASO (App Store Optimization) to convert more listing views to downloads.
6. A website for your app allows you to show the best reviews and testimonials.
One great way to show your app’s value is through reviews and testimonials. By displaying them prominently on your website, you can show potential clients why your app is worth their time and attention. Showing users the best and most applicable reviews helps potential users determine how well your app will work for them.
This also helps you to filter out negative reviews that may have been left by users that didn’t actually use all of the functions of your app, or possibly downloaded your app thinking that it performed a different set of functions.
By placing reviews and testimonials on your website, you can show that you value user feedback. This helps to create a community around your app and builds trust between you and your users.
7. A website for your app builds credibility with current and potential users.
When users see that you have a well-developed and informative website they have more confidence to go ahead with downloading and making in-app purchases. Knowing that there is an avenue to contact your support team outside of the app if they have questions or a problem provide them with the extra insurance needed to spend their hard-earned dollars in your app.
They can see the history of app updates so they know that your app is maintained and any purchased features will continue to work for them in the future. Your app website should also be used as a platform to show off any user-generated content to increase social proof that encourages new users to download. It is important to remember that potential users will judge your app by your website so make sure it is attractive, easy to navigate, and informative.
8. What type of website is best for your app?
Now that we’ve covered how useful a website for your app is, we thought we’d cover a very frequently asked question we get from app clients. Should we create a one-page website or a full website to promote our app? The answer, like with most things in the digital world, is that it depends.
On one hand, a one-page website is typically less expensive and easier to create and maintain than a full website. For a simple app, a one-page website is effective enough to get your message across. Particularly if you add a short video demonstration of how your app works. We highly recommend a video for both your app’s website (be it a one-page or full website) and app store listings.
On the other hand, a full website gives you more opportunities to rank in Google search, since you have more pages to optimize for keywords. A full website also allows you to more clearly present your app’s features, pricing, and screenshots and can be a better platform for driving conversions (e.g. app downloads or in-app purchases). Particularly with more complex apps that have functionality that your users may want to access on a laptop or desktop such as e-commerce or social apps.
As you can see there are many reasons for having a well-done website that displays the benefits and features of your app is an important tool for being successful when launching and promoting every app.