From reading press stories you might think being a developer of apps for the mobile devices is a gold-mine, and for some it may well be, but for many of us, sadly, it is not. For all those stories of overnight success there are many other stories where developers actually spend more producing an app than it ever makes in any app store. So what gives? What makes one app successful and another fail?

These days publishing an app, whilst a mammoth task in itself, is just the start of the story. The infographic included, “7 Do’s and Don’ts of Mobile App Marketing”, from Dot Com Infoway, highlights some of the important considerations that app developers and publishers should note. In itself this infographic doesn’t guarantee any success but it does help both food for though and as a reminder to “cross the i’s and dot the t’s” so at least you’re on the starting line.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard we search the internet for clues there is no “right way”, or “secret to success”, when it comes to having a successful app (if you know otherwise please get in touch!). Even some of the big developers can’t quite put their finger on why one app is successful when others fail. Few developers hit the sweet spot and even fewer hit it a second time.

Even making an app completely free these days is no guarantee of success.

Having a failing app doesn’t necessarily mean your app is useless – it’s more likely that people simply haven’t heard of it and that it doesn’t stand out from the crowd.