App Developer Virtual Assistant

The pace at which technology is changing the way we do business is incredibly fast. In many industries, particularly in retail and eCommerce, real estate, IT, healthcare, finance, tourism, and hospitality, there’s a global trend to provide a mobile application or even several mobile apps to satisfy your customers.

Mobile app development is slowly becoming a necessity for companies of all sizes regardless of industry, product, or service provided. To keep up with the competition and the clients’ demand, a company must have a mobile application on different platforms – an Android app and an iOS app at least. For bigger businesses, think enterprise-size companies, they also develop apps on other less popular marketplaces to alleviate the fear of missing out on a potential niche market.

This means that having mobile apps is slowly becoming the norm, whether you’re a startup company or a global enterprise. To ensure that your competitors don’t leave you in the dust, you need to act swiftly and start the app development process for your company’s mobile application. To do this, you need to hire a mobile app developer.

Here are some of the major benefits of mobile apps for business:

1. Mobile apps help increase sales.

Some reports show that mobile app users spend more money on average than those who don’t use a mobile app. Aside from the convenience of using a mobile app, it is also a useful tool for marketers. They can do some A/B testing on their applications and determine which features make users more likely to buy a product or service.

2. Mobile apps provide convenience.

Customers want to be able to get in touch with your company anytime, anywhere. You can provide that convenience by giving them an app to help them get the answers they need 24/7/365 with a few taps on their mobile device.

3. Mobile apps help improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Having a mobile app for your company helps improve your site’s rank on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo because people tend to visit the brands they see on top of the list. The more time people spend in your app means more opportunities for them to know about you and what your business is all about.

4. Mobile apps improve customer engagement.

There’s a reason why big businesses invest in mobile app development – they want their customers to engage more with the brand to improve customer retention and loyalty. For example, if you run a restaurant, it would be helpful if your customers could schedule a table ahead of time through your app rather than calling the restaurant and asking if they have any available tables.

5. Mobile apps help your company collect data.

Mobile application analytics can help you determine which app features are most popular, what time of the day is the busiest for your business, or which part of the world has many users. This helps you improve on all aspects of your business and provide better services for your customers.

Now that you understand the benefits of mobile app development for your business, how do you get app development services? There are three main ways to get app development services: getting service from an app or software development company, hiring in-house mobile app developers, or outsourcing app development to mobile app development freelancers or mobile app development virtual assistants (VA). Whatever method you choose, you’re going to need the help of Android or iOS app developers.

An app developer, or mobile app developer, is responsible for creating a mobile app from scratch. Mobile app development is a fairly complicated process that requires skills and knowledge in software development or programming, design, and UI/UX.

Currently, most mobile app users use either an iPhone, which runs on iOS, or an Android phone. Because iOS and Android are completely different software, a company would need to hire Android and iOS developers to get their app on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

Unfortunately, mobile app development doesn’t come cheap. A well-known app development company can charge you an arm and a leg to do just a beta version of your iOS and Android apps; that doesn’t even include app maintenance and updates yet. Even if you don’t rely on development companies, getting an in-house app developer or a team of mobile app developers is still pretty expensive. For a major enterprise, this is necessary spending. But for a smaller company, hiring a mobile app developer to focus on Android development and another to focus on iOS mobile development might not be within budget. The solution? Hire mobile app development virtual assistants.

A mobile app developer virtual assistant (VA) works remotely on the app development or mobile software development process for you. Unlike in-house app developers, a mobile app development VA just works using their own computer, their own tools and software, and their own internet connection. This means that hiring a mobile app development virtual assistant incurs less overhead costs versus hiring them locally.

A mobile app development VA is also typically more cost-effective compared to outsourcing your app development task to an app development company. An app development company usually charges per project instead of per hour, and they put very strict limits on the software development process. You will probably need to pay additional fees for any changes you wish to make and other additional software development requests when you work with an app development company.

With a mobile app developer VA, you only need to hire their services for a specific amount of time. Depending on your app development needs and how much you’re willing to spend, you can hire them on a project-based or permanent basis.

A mobile app development virtual assistant can do anything related to the design and development of an app. This includes but is not limited to:

Creating Wireframes, Mockups, and Design Resources

Mobile app developers can create wireframes, mockups, and design resources during the initial software development process. They need to consider the app’s features, marketing materials for iOS App Store or Google Play Store apps, possible digital assets needed to create an iOS or Android app, and other related materials.

Creating Prototypes for User Testing

A mobile app development VA can create prototypes for user testing and App Store or Google Play store testing. They need to create a prototype with the project’s specifications, such as current features and specs. Since not all mobile app developers have access to beta testers, they will need to find UI/UX beta testers themselves or wait until you upload the beta version in the App Store or Google Play store.

Coding Mobile Apps

A mobile app development VA can do the coding required to create a fully working version of a mobile app. They can code for iOS and Android as well as further develop an existing app. Depending on your initial specifications, you might need them to take care of back-end coding if you want your mobile app to load data from a database or connect to a company’s server.

Testing Mobile Apps

A mobile app development VA can test the mobile app to find bugs, glitches, and other problems. They need to test the functionality of an app and see how users engage with the app. The goal is to create an iOS or Android app that works according to specifications, so you don’t have to make any major changes later.

Providing Post-Implementation Support

Even if you hire a mobile app development virtual assistant to handle all your Android or iOS developer needs, there will still be times when you need post-implementation support for both platforms. Your mobile app development VA can also take care of this.

Here’s a list of the most important skills to look for when hiring a mobile app developer VA.

UI/UX Design Skills

Since they need to create wireframes, mockups, and other design resources, your mobile app development virtual assistant needs UI/UX design skills. They should also know how to create User Interface (UI) elements that are responsive on both Android or iOS devices.

Knowledge of Software Development Process

Your mobile app development VA needs to be able to work within the standard software development procedure. They need to know how long specific tasks take and how long a mobile app takes from start to finish. It takes around 8 – 12 weeks for a mobile app developer VA to code an app in most cases. Of course, the duration of the software development task will still depend on the technology to use, how many app developers you hire, which platforms they need to be on, the app specs, and the complexity of the code.

Understanding of Beta Testing

If you want your mobile app to be successful, then you need to test it first. Your mobile app development needs to know how beta testing works and what testers they will need for an Android or iOS app. They should also know how long the beta testing process takes, especially if they do the actual beta tests themselves.

Knowledge of Mobile App Development Programming Languages

An app developer is required to have in-depth technical knowledge of the programming languages used in mobile development. Since they need to code for an iOS or Android app, your mobile app development VA needs to have at least a basic understanding of Objective-C and Java programming languages.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

As you can imagine, mobile app development is a collaborative project, so your app developers need to have great communication skills. They need to be able to work closely with other team members to get everything done on time.

Since your app developer will work remotely, it’s natural to hire someone online. Unlike developers who work at a development company, a mobile app development VA can be found through online job boards for freelancers, social media groups for software development freelancers, or through virtual staffing companies.

If you want the easiest way to hire freelance developers, the most efficient way is through a fully managed virtual staffing company such as 20four7VA. A trusted and experienced company like 20four7VA handles a big chunk of the hiring and vetting process so that you can focus on finding the right app developers to complete your virtual team. Unlike the freelancers you find on random social media groups and forums, the VAs at 20four7VA have already been vetted before being endorsed to clients, so you don’t have to worry about the usual risks that businesses encounter when they outsource to un-vetted freelancers.

Ready to get your mobile app development off the ground? Hire a vetted and screened mobile app development VA from 20four7VA today. Book a free Business Growth Call to get started.