Over the years, mobile apps have become the lifeline of businesses and it is hard to imagine success, or even survival for that matter, without having one. For this reason, mobile app development has become a highly demanded service today. However, everything is not done once you have an application developed for adding the mobility edge to your business enterprise. You need to maintain, monitor, and measure its performance so that you can identify the weak areas and make improvements as well. The fundamental concept behind an app’s success is its ability to engage the users and convert them into customers via app-revenues or in-app purchases, as the case may be. Experts have come up with certain key performance indicators (KPIs) that need to be tracked for assessing the app’s performance.
1. Downloads: The number of downloads is widely used for measuring an app’s performance. At the same time, it cannot be trusted in isolation because an effective online marketing campaign can generate millions of downloads but users may not install them or later uninstall (after installation) if they do not like it.
2. Installations: Installation is a far more reliable KPI for appraising an application’s success. Though users may sometimes fail to find the difference between downloads and installations, these are diverse terms. A downloaded application can be used only if it is installed in the device. A seamless installation engages the user and also encourages him to explore the application.
3. Daily Launches: Daily launches make another critical component on this list as the figure indicates the number of times the application is accessed by a user within a given day. It also gives the number of screens visited by the users per session.
4. Conversions: Conversions refer to the users creating an account and making an in-app purchase. While the former indicates the user’s intention to stay as a long-term customer, the latter generates direct revenue, both translating into success.
5. Retention Rate: Retention rate is another key parameter to judge the performance of a smartapp. As the name indicates, it measures the capacity to retain users by giving them great experiences. The mobile UI/UX design is vital for this purpose.
6. User Growth Rate: Besides retention, an app’s user growth rate is another parameter that assesses its success. It refers to the number of users who install the app within a specified time period. But you should not confine yourself to numbers, rather also look for the reasons behind the growth, such as a new feature implementation or a tweak.
7. Load Time: Users love apps that load fast and deliver seamless experiences. This is the reason why tracking an app’s loading time is essential. App speed encompasses the time taken for it to load after the icon is tapped and the time taken to transition page to page.
8. Session Length: Next on the list of 10 key KPI’s defining app success is session length. While it is important to know the number of user sessions, measuring the average session length is crucial too. But this metric may vary as longer sessions with less frequency indicate better performance for some apps while this may be the opposite for some others.
9. App Crashes: The number of app crashes has a detrimental impact on its performance because they increase the probability of the application being uninstalled and abandoned for good. A high number is a cause of concern and requires some action by an expert mobile app developer.
10. Revenue and Lifetime Value: Performance evaluation is all about tangible numbers and nothing can be more reliable than an app’s revenue and its lifetime value for measuring its success. In-app purchases, ad clicks, and ad impressions are some ways in which a mobile application generates revenue. The lifetime value refers to the total revenue generated by a user since he first started using the app.
Conclusion
The role of an application development partner does not end with creating a mobile app for your business; it extends to providing constant maintenance and support services as well as monitoring its performance on a consistent basis. These KPIs provide reliable means to evaluate the performance of the app. We, at Mobiindia, extend expert iPhone and Android app development services at your doorstep. Get in touch with us to avail high-performance business applications for diverse requirements.
