
Your App’s Website Sucks - nirmal
http://mattgemmell.com/2010/06/20/your-apps-website-sucks
======
credo
Matt makes some good points.

However, he doesn't seem to touch on the most important thing - most users
don't go and look at websites before downloading apps.

My website is reasonably good and I also released a couple of #1 apps (in the
News and Finance categories), but the website played a fairly small role in
the success of those apps.

~~~
jbrennan
While this is true of mobile (ie iPhone apps) I get the feeling the article is
more aimed at desktop apps, where I think the advice makes more sense (as
there is no App Store).

~~~
credo
I should have mentioned that my apps are iPhone apps.

You're correct in saying that his advice makes more sense for desktop apps.
However, he doesn't say that and the only store he explicitly mentions in the
blog post is the iPhone/iPad app store.

That said, I think that the website will probably be more important for a $99
mobile app than it is for a $0.99 mobile app.

~~~
kmfrk
I think his entire "Priority 2: TRY" makes it quite clear that he has other
platforms than iOS in mind. :)

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chc
Since a lot of people seem to be misunderstanding: When Matt says "apps," he
doesn't mean "iPhone apps." He's just talking about software applications in
general, with a focus on the desktop in fact.

Mac users were using the word "app" long before Apple co-opted it for the
iPhone, and this is the culture Matt comes from.

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michaelfairley
Patrick McKenzie's advice is also quite good (and contradictory in some ways):
[http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/08/06/landing-page-design-
tips...](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/08/06/landing-page-design-tips/)

~~~
patio11
Keep in mind that a homepage is _not_ a landing page. The homepage serves many
masters, the landing page -- on the other hand -- is laser targeted at moving
a prospect who you know one very salient data point about exactly _one step_
further in their relationship with you.

I'd point out the differences between my home page and landing page for you,
but honestly I have so many tests going on right now I'm not sure what you'd
be seeing.

------
kmfrk
A small plea from this humble user, if you include a Twitter link: I love that
you let me follow your prospective and released updates using Twitter rather
than the slew of RSS feeds and newsletters for a plethora of other apps I also
use, but I will unfollow the profile in a heartbeat if I see three tweets from
your company every day - _particularly_ if they are retweeted testimonials;
God dammit I hate them.

At the very least, find out what and who your Twitter profile is for and don't
fit all the things Twitter can be used for into that one account; you can
always divvy yourselves up into multiple profiles.

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rgejman
This is excellent advice and is actually one of the easiest ways to get an App
website up quickly. Our app site took about 30 minutes to get up
(<http://www.losttribeapps.com/>), once we had the description written. You
can't go wrong with a front-and-center "Install Now" button, a 1-sentence
description and a bunch of screenshots.

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augustl
Personally, I use screenshots alone to judge the app, or product, or program,
or whatever.

It reminds me of IRC: people tend to abstractly explain and talk about their
code, rather than just pasting the code itself. Same thing with screenshots:
for almost all apps, screenshots is the most 1:1 description there is.

------
blownd
OK, be honest with me, does my voice suck on my app screencast & does my
website make sense?

<http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout>

All feedback is appreciated.

~~~
tszyn
No obvious information on what platform your software is for. The only hint
that it's Mac-only is that you got that MacUser award.

~~~
AndyKelley
Looks pretty obvious to me. My first reaction was "I'm not a Mac user, I don't
want this"

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kasted
App sites should have what they can't show on the app browser (video, hi-res
screenshots, etc...). But I honestly don't see the point of spending lots of
time on a site for it.

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user24
Much of this is applicable beyond apps and into browser addons and software in
general.

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napierzaza
So I'm thinking with these aggregators (reddit, HN, digg) you get a lot more
clicks if you say "you" "your" in your title. It think it's kind of
manipulative.

"Only you can prevent forrest fires"

Eh.

~~~
jbrennan
The joke is on Matt: I don't _have_ an app website.

