Since the launch of App.net nearly one year ago, millions of users have installed mobile apps from our landing pages, download widgets and Facebook tabs. From the resulting data and along with much feedback from users and developers, we have learned three significant lessons about driving app downloads from the web:

Go Direct
For many apps, users who decide to download prefer an install link sent directly to their phone versus having to click into an app store.

Social Proof
Users are more likely to install an app if they see that one or more friends also use it.

Analytics
Having visibility on app store clicks and download links is valuable for optimizing performance.

Based on these learnings, we went back to the drawing board and supercharged our download widgets to give all developers a more powerful and effective way to drive installs from anywhere on the web. Each widget is an easy replacement for the standard buttons or links you may be currently using, can be configured in multiple ways, and feeds each user action into the App.net analytics dashboard for full visibility.

Let’s take a closer look:

Fully Customizable

Each widget comes in a variety of shapes and sizes that you determine. Go with the official app store badges, our buttons, or use a design and color scheme of your own. Use separate buttons for each platform, or choose a single button that lets users self-select.

You can even turn any mention of your app into a text link that surfaces the install options on a click or a hover (e.g. – download picplz for iPhone).

Send to Phone

Users can choose to email or text an app download link for quick, easy installation on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry devices. Many of our developers are already finding this to be a more popular option among their users versus clicking into an app store, and less friction means fewer installs left on the table.

Click or Hover

Set up any link or button to activate on click or by a simple hover.

I Know You…

Potential users of any product are more likely to give it a try if they know a friend is also using it. Grab attention and increase conversion by displaying faces of friends and others who use your app. Along with showing a facepile, this configuration of the widget will generate an Open Graph story for users who want to share that they downloaded your app. A single install event reverberates across Newsfeeds, Tickers and Timelines and brings your app exposure (with social proof) to many more people and potential users.

Visibility

Last but not least, instead of sending traffic directly into a black box (or black boxes, depending on how many platforms you are on), you will see in real time the number of app store clicks and other stats such as install links sent and opened. This is further broken down by source, so that you can compare traffic and conversion rates between your App.net widgets, landing page, and Facebook tab.

Thanks for all the feedback that went into this new version of the widget. We believe it has led to a significant upgrade over the use of standard download buttons, and hope that you continue to let us know what you think about this and all of our improvements to the App.net platform – contact us here.

The App.net Team

Last month, we added enhancements to the App.net Page Tab to support Facebook’s new Timeline layout. We have been carefully monitoring and collecting feedback as Facebook has transitioned everyone’s Pages to the new layout. And today, we would like to share some best practices based on what we have seen.

Here are our best practices on how to effectively use App.net to market your app(s) on Facebook Pages with the new Timeline layout:

Make Your Tab Visible. The Timeline layout has 4 slots available to highlight your top tabs. Once those slots are taken, the remaining tabs are hidden under a small drop-down, making them almost invisible. Ensuring the App.net tab appears in one of those 4 slots is important if you want people to visit your app’s Page Tab. Luckily, Facebook allows you to customize the order of those tabs. You can do that by hovering over the App.net tab and clicking the pen in the top right corner.

Announce Your App.  Both the App.net tab and the text below it should alert your users to your app.  Depending on your app/service, we recommend using strong calls to action like “Download” or “Get this App” under your tab.  Or using “Mobile” when your app is part of a larger service.  Yelp, Pandora and Voxer are some good examples of developers putting these practices to work:

Post App Updates to Your Timeline.  Engaging your users (and potential users) is important when building a community.  Posting a story to your Timeline when you update your app is a great way to engage your users and leverage Facebook’s Social Graph to spread the word about your app.

To make this easy, we added an option to automatically post a story on your Timeline when a new version of your app hits the app store.  For paid apps, we also have an option that posts a story when you put your app on sale. You can enable these options by clicking on Edit Facebook Tab from your Applications list in App.net.

Link to Your Landing Page.  Adding your App.net URL to the About section of your Facebook Page is good way to direct desktop users to the videos, reviews and other rich content on your App.net Landing Page to learn more about your app.  In addition, mobile visitors who click on your App.net URL get directed automatically to the appropriate app store based on the type of phone they are using.

Have suggestions or more best practices that we’ve missed? Send us an email/tweet. We love hearing from you!

The App.net Team

The App.net team recently shipped some improvements to our app management tools & workflow. We hope these changes make it easier for app developers to manage and add new apps to App.net.

Overview of some of the recent changes:

• Managing app assets is now done in a single place. Previously, editing details about your app (like your app description or screenshots) was more cumbersome than it should be. We condensed the management of your app’s assets into the ‘Edit Apps’ form. From there, you can view and edit all the information about your app. We hope this makes it easier for you to update your app’s details in App.net. Click on Edit App from your Applications list to try it out.
• Better Module management. Enabling and customizing all Landing Page Modules has been moved to the Modules tab inside the Landing Page editor.
• “Import from app store”. Need to refresh the information about your app on your Landing Page and/or Facebook Page Tab? We added an “Import from app store” button to the Edit App form to make refreshing your app details simple. Use this button to quickly update your app’s assets using iTunes or Google Play.

Thanks for all the feedback!  Please keep it coming. And let us know what you think about our recent changes – contact us here.

The App.net Team

This past Saturday, App.net took over the Beauty Bar in Austin, TX and turned the stage over to eight developers debuting new apps or announcing major updates during SXSW Interactive. The idea behind the event was to provide a leg up to these companies in sharing their apps with an audience and the press during a time in which it’s normally difficult to attract any attention. Each app was carefully selected from over 100 applications App.net received in the weeks leading up to the event, and together made up a diverse group of teams each with something unique. Recaps and videos from the demos are below, and we highly recommend that you download and check out each app for yourself.

Fashism

Fashism is a web and mobile app for getting real-time advice on what you are wearing. The company, which launched an iPhone app in 2010, debuted their brand new Android app on Saturday. The app features a feed of photos posted by the community, multiple ways to get and give feedback on outfits, and tools to share looks and advice into Facebook and Twitter. Brooke and Ashley, the co-founders of Fashism, also announced a brand-new feature to the service: e-commerce. The team is curating accessories and other fashion items inspired by the top posts from the past year and informed by the analysis of hundreds of thousands of looks and comments. Items can be purchased on the web and on your phone, all without leaving the app.

• www.fashism.com
• www.app.net/fashismandroid
• New: www.shop.fashism.com
• Contact: Brooke Moreland – brooke@fashism.com

Cause.it

CityMaps

PayDragon

By March 30th, 2012, Facebook will switch all Pages to the new Timeline format. In preparation for the switch, we’ve been working on some great new features for our App.net Facebook Page Tab, designed to improve your mobile app marketing and distribution on Facebook, and today we’re making the Beta available to you.

Here are the details:

Convenient Posting Options. The Facebook Timeline view will be the first thing your visitors see when they arrive at your page. Timeline News Stories appear front and center, and posting news stories about your app will be more important than ever. With that in mind, we developed a Facebook tab integration that automatically posts news stories to your timeline. You’ll have the option to post a news story to your timeline when:

• Your app is updated in the app store
• Your app goes on sale

We think this is a great way to take advantage of the new Timeline format and keep your fans up-to-date on what’s new with your app. A newly added “Updates” section will display your latest news stories on your App.net Page tab too. The default custom tab feature in our previous version has been removed, as the Facebook Timeline no longer supports this feature.

Prominent Tab Pages. Facebook added nearly 300 pixels to the available width of the page—and we’re making the best use of it. While maintaining our clean and simple aesthetic, we’re making your download feature more prominent by placing the “Get this App” button at the top, where more users are more likely to see it and download your app with ease.

Custom Tab Icons. Tabs are now displayed in larger boxes on Timeline and you can create customized icons (111 x 74 pixels) for them. We recommend using your current app icon or creating a new image to make your tab stand out. Here are a few examples:

Send us an email/tweet if you’re interested in getting one for your tab.

Revisions to Like-Gates and the Wall. With the removal of the default custom tab, we think Like-Gates are less likely to be effective at driving Likes and the need for the Wall is probably a thing of the past. We’ll be closely monitoring activity on Like-Gates and depreciating support as necessary, and removing the Wall from the new design.

New & noteworthy features of the Facebook Timeline:

We’ll post more on best practices for the Facebook Timeline as the dust settles on what works and what doesn’t. In the meantime, here are a some noteworthy features of Timeline to keep in mind.

Bold Cover Photo. You can now display a static cover photo (851 x 315 pixels) at the top of your page.
Private Fan Messages. Your fans can now send you private messages.
Visible Friend Activity. Your fans will see their friends’ activities on your page at the bottom of the timeline.
Pinning & Highlighting. News stories can be pinned for 7 days to the top of your timeline. You can also highlight individual new stories to increase visibility.

If you’d like to try out our new Beta, all you need to do is switch your current Page to the Timeline format inside Facebook.com. We’re excited about these new changes and we hope you are too. Shoot us an email/tweet and let us know what you think!

The App.net Team