In my opinion it can be a GREAT win to get a positive review on an iPhone app review site.

Would you agree?

Maybe you tried and either got no or bad reviews.

Here are some questions you might have:

• Why is it even important to get reviewed by iPhone app review sites?
• Which sites should I approach for reviews?
• How do I put my best foot forward with these sites?

Why is it even important to get reviewed by iPhone app review sites?

There are a lot of reasons to get your apps reviewed:

• People use these sites!
• App review sites will drive people to your app, generating downloads that will drive it up in the iTunes rankings
• A great quote in a review can be a nice addition to your app description
• Links from your reviews to your app website can help your SEO efforts
• Bigger tech sites (like TechCrunch) can see these reviews
• Apple may find you on one of these sites and promote your app

NOTE: That being said, most of the time app reviews alone will not drive your apps into top ranking. This should just be one of the things in your marketing plan.

Which sites should I approach for reviews?

Here is a list of iPhone app review sites below that I suggest you consider. I’ve listed them from most to least monthly visitors to save you time.

Just to be clear, they may not all be right for you based on the type of app(s) you’ve got. Try also doing a search for “[your category] iPhone app review sites” in Google. You may find other sites that cater more to your app.

How do I put my best foot forward with these sites?

It’s important to realize these sites now get flooded with app review requests.

Use everything in your power to put your best foot forward. When submitting by email or through an online form be sure to:

• Read the submission instructions carefully
• Give them all the information they are requesting
• Tell them what is unique/special about your app
• Keep it brief
• Explain how your app is better/different from others like it
• Give them promo codes or something they can give away
• Link to a fact sheet on your product if you have one
• Link to a short (30 sec to 1 minute) YouTube demo of your app
• Include a plate of warm cookies and/or a wad of cash

Hope this helps. Best of luck in getting some great reviews!

Need more help? – You’ll find it in my How to Market iPhone Apps eBook

photo credit: somegeekintn

Need iPhone app development help? Well help is on the way.

One the resources I mention in my iPhone Marketing eBook is Matt Drake. He’s an iPhone app developer, who’s written a comprehensive eBook on How to Make iPhone Apps.

Matt wrote his eBook: “so that you can get started developing your app more quickly, with less pain and so you can avoid the roadblocks that held me up.”

Here are 5 reasons you should get this eBook:

• It has a HUGE amount of content (341 pages)
• Will help you with both C, Objective-C, and Cocoa-Touch
• Helps you with a “12 step” program for app development
• Has tips, tricks, and resources
• So many different developers have commented on the merits of this book here.

Good luck with your iPhone app development (and happy 4th of July as well)!

The more data the better when you are making iPhone app marketing decisions.

Perhaps you’re asking:

Should I develop my iPhone app for the Blackberry or Android Platform or both?

If my app hits a top category ranking, how long will it stay there?

Where’s the best place to spend my mobile ad dollars?

Three reports help me find answers to these types of questions:

• Admob Mobile Metrics Report
• Distimo Report
• Millennial Media’s S.M.A.R.T. Report

Admob Mobile Metrics Report

Admob has a monthly metrics report that it’s been publishing since September 2007. It is based on data they collect from the over 18 billion ad requests they receive monthly.

So if you’re trying to answer: “Should I develop my iPhone app for the Blackberry or Android Platform or both?”

You may want to peruse their reports. By combining a survey they did to developers in mid March with their monthly report, I’d say Android is currently a bigger and faster growth opportunity for apps. 

Not that you should just follow the crowd, but this March survey suggests that more than 70% of iPhone app developers plan to develop for the Android platform in the next 6 months. On the other hand, only 15% of developers plan to develop for the Blackberry platform.

That’s just one data point of many that can help you form an opinion.

A couple of other points from the March 2010 metrics report:

• Admob is talking more and more about Android and less and less about Blackberry
• Android traffic on the Admob network has grown from 72M requests to 2B requests per month in the last year
• A year ago 2 devices represented 96% of the Android impressions, now 11 devices make up 96% of the Android impressions

I’m just barely scratching the surface here. Admob’s monthly reports are full of helpful information.

Distimo Report

Distimo, an app store analytics company, just recently put out an interesting report.

So if you’re trying to answer: “If my app hits a top category ranking, how long will it stay there?”

Free apps stay in categories on average this long:

• Top overall => 19 days
• Games => 21 days
• Business => 39 days
• Entertainment => 43 days

Paid apps stay in categories on average this long:

• Top overall => 27 days
• Games => 39 days
• Business => 59 days
• Entertainment => 38 days

This information, combined with some download estimate, can help you better forecast the revenue a new app may produce if it reaches a top category ranking.

Millennial Media’s S.M.A.R.T. Report

Millennial Media, a mobile ad network, has a report as well.

The latest, MillennialMedia-SMART-April-2010, might help you answer:

“Where’s the best place to spend my mobile ad dollars?”

Here is a screen shot from the report:

Some interesting facts from the screen shot above:

• Broad targeting is less expensive (makes sense)
• Cost roughly 8x in April to do a takeover ad versus a RON (run of network) ad
• Targeting by channel appears to cost roughly 30-40% more than by RON

This data can help me model how my tests might perform.

In Summary

Hope by using these metrics, you’ll make better marketing decisions! Best of luck.