5 Questions to Ask Before Developing a Mobile App If you're considering starting a mobile app for your business, make sure you do it right. This guide can help.

Major corporations and small businesses are recognizing the need to have a mobile app. Both are incorporating these apps into their business strategies, making their companies (no matter how big or small) more accessible to their customers. And if you're considering starting a mobile app for your business, there has never been a better time.

Here are five things you should ask yourself before you get started:

1. Do I Outsource?

Developing an app in house involves having much more control and direction over a project. It provides you with the opportunity to voice your input and have a more hands-on approach, all of which are extremely helpful to a marketer. The downside is that it can be time consuming, and occasionally, more expensive. Usually in-house mobile development teams are more expensive than outsourced equivalents.

Businesses that choose to outsource instead lose that hands-on input, but can save money, and save themselves the time and stress of developing an app. If you're willing to relinquish some control, this might be the way to go.

2. Which Device Should I Develop For?

Over 60% of Americans currently own smart phones, and global tablet ownership will reach 905 million by 2017. Consumers are completely it comes to their devices; from phones to tablets, deciding which platform to use (Apple, Android, etc.) can be a tricky decision for your business.

It all depends on your business and your users. Which platform do they typically use? Check out the data. If the majority of shoppers relevant to your business access goods from an Android site, you should focus on Android. Recent data shows, however, that Apple users are more likely to spend more than Android users. Tablet use also boasts more revenue than smart phones, so that's something else to consider.

3. What Should My App Do?

There are several approaches you can take, but you should strive to provide a fun yet helpful app with good features and better information. It all depends on your business, the user and what you want to offer them. You could even consider creating more than one app for various features, if your business is large enough to support such a venture, but there's nothing wrong with keeping it simple.

4. Can My Business Handle the Traffic?

Developing an app will draw in a ton of new users and customers, and you need to be prepared for the new business. Make sure to update websites and programs accordingly, you don't want to appear out of the loop with an impressive new app but older sites and systems. And don't forget the customer service/satisfaction, new apps and programs are worthless without the positive reputation to back them up.

5. How Do I Go About Design?

Once you've got the other details ironed out, you can focus on design. Decisions must be made regarding things like aesthetics, functionality, visibility, and more. Design is a super-important part of developing an app. If your app doesn't look good, doesn't have a good "vibe", or worse, isn't readable or easily navigated, it is dead in the water. The average smart phone users download around 25 apps, and you need to make sure yours stands out! The app must be elegant, streamlined, easy to use and highly functional, users won't accept anything less.