Feb 1, 2021 Written by David Barlev

Looking for Google Play Developers? Here’s How to Find the Best

A group of guys at computers

If you’re looking for Google Play developers, it’s important that you know how to find the best ones. For businesses today, software development is no longer optional—you have to have a good website and functional software that aids in operations. Apps are part of that ecosystem.

There are two camps of mobile apps: Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store. Their apps aren’t interchangeable, and while they may share similarities in how they function, building them requires different approaches.

As there are over 120 million Android users in the U.S., developing a good app to market on Google Play is a worthwhile strategy. Let’s talk about how to find the best ones for the job.

Find a Style You Like

A dual monitor set upBuilding a good app means it has to meet your own standards. There are countless software experts out there, but only a handful of them will understand how to do it exactly how you imagine—find them.

A good place to start is to make a list of all the apps you like. You’ll have the names of developers worth talking to, and it will also force you to identify what you like about their apps and improve your own.

As you explore each developer, you can browse their portfolio to get a better feel for how they might be able to help you. The more you know about what you like in an app, the easier it’ll be for your developer to get it up and running.

Plus, identifying your style makes it easier to pick which developers you don’t want to work with. Experience, expertise, and credentials aren’t substitutes for the ease of working with someone whose design sense you trust. A little homework upfront saves you from pointless phone calls and consultations.

Work with Veteran Google Play Developers

You know your business better than anybody. Making an app that fits the needs of your ideal customer is easier if your developer understands those needs as well. If you find a team that has built apps similar to yours, start there.

Finding developers with experience in your industry saves you time and money, sure, but the real treasure is the lack of headache that stems from a communication breakdown. It’s hard enough to explain your wishes on color schemes and font styles—don’t complicate things by having to educate a newbie about your business model.

Your Google Play developer should know the basics of marketing a product like yours. Why? Because marketing an app is a painstaking process. A developer that has successfully launched an app like yours can handle the heavy lifting of getting your product out where people can find it.

If a better option comes along, though, go with your gut.

Get a Firm Timeline

Working with a good design firm has some great perks. You usually have some sort of project manager who will take the reins of your project and keep communication simple. It’s important to have clear and realistic expectations about when to expect progress.

Ask for a Gantt chart so you have some timetable about milestones for your app. This isn’t a license to pester your developer about what’s going on, but it will clear up a lot of miscommunication that comes from being kept in the dark.

It seems like everybody has a story about a developer disappearing after being asked about the project. Conversations get more and more awkward because there’s disagreement about how things are advancing. The timetable just keeps everybody honest.

Shop for Great Marketing

A group of team mates at a software companyUnfortunately, no matter how great your app may be, it’s going to take a marketing campaign to get people to notice it. Your Google Play developers should have a decent track record in marketing because they’ll be in charge of launching your app in Google’s Play Store.

You may have to advertise. Budget for that. The better your developer understands marketing and how to get the word out, the easier it’ll be to launch your app successfully. But good advertising is a quick way to get there.

Apps are expensive to develop. You’ll probably spend tens of thousands of dollars over the course of development. The best way to recoup those costs is for lots of people to download it. Of course, growth is its own challenge. App popularity correlates with the need for greater server capacity, which leads to the next point.

Design for Scale

The more people download your app, the more you’ll have to spend on maintenance and upgrades. More accounts mean more space on servers, and if your app isn’t prepared for growth, your app will suffer from bugs and glitches.

Your developer has to have a plan for how to scale your user base. You wouldn’t pay thousands of dollars for an app that doesn’t work—why would you pay for one that cracks under heavy traffic?

Ask your developer about what scaling entails. This gives you a better idea of how to plan for the future of your business as well. Even if massive growth isn’t a priority, a good app should at least prepare for the maximum possible traffic.

Again, there are plenty of developers out there that have the skills and knowledge to build these features, but only some of them have the relevant experience to your unique project.

Ease of Communication

Is your developer there when you need them? Are you comfortable giving them feedback? How easy is it to explain things to them? Seems easy enough to pass on working with a developer you can’t communicate with, but you may be surprised at how many people sign contracts that were doomed from the outset.

No, your developer doesn’t have to be versed in conversation techniques, but they should be approachable enough to make it easy for you to bring your thoughts and opinions to them—this is why you should interview a few different agencies before paying for any work to begin.

A brief conversation about your project should help you get a feel for how they work. This is important because once it’s time to get started on actually building your app, you should feel confident that they clearly understand your expectations and can safely make decisions on your behalf.

This goes hand in hand with receiving an accurate timeline. Your developer should let you know when to expect certain milestones and what will be completed by that time.

Use Everything You Can

As you get to designing your app and building its features, do what you can to use existing materials. APIs are a great way to give users a better product, and they save time on development because you’re not building tools from scratch.

Ask your developer about APIs and how they might benefit your project. This is where thinking outside the box comes into play—the more existing tools you can use, the easier it’ll be to get your app out the door.

So in closing, plan your app as thoroughly as possible, then find someone with experience building an app like the one you want. Have some conversations, and remember that this person/team will be part of your network for years to come.

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