Attempting to grow my user base

Now that I’ve released three apps - two of which I’d like to think have the potential to be really useful to a decent number of people (sorry MP Checklist… I think you might just be a bit too niche!) - I think it’s time that I make a bit more of an effort to get help more people to find the apps!

So, as well as releasing updates to both WristCheck and Air Fryr recently, I’ve also undertaken a couple of tasks with the hope of getting the apps in front of more people.

The landing pages

First, now that my apps have broken even (another long overdue post! Since monetising the apps I’ve earned enough to cover my annual development fees, but I’m a long way from what I’d call ‘profitable’!) I thought I’d spend a little and register some domains for the apps.

Starting with getAirFryr.com and then following the same pattern with wristcheck.app.

If you’ve clicked on the links above you’ll see that not only have I registered the domains, but I’ve put up landing pages for each app too! I found a super simple Jekyll template created by Emil Baehr which let me create simple homepages for the apps really easily - it was as simple as forking his repository on github, changing some config and page content and then publishing via github pages (which also means they’re currently free to host!).

Having a simple landing page for each app, where I can provide direct links to each app store, highlight the key app features and publish a quick and simple changelog for each (and link back to this blog where I can continue to write a bit more in-depth, diary style about the apps) is great, as it means I just need to provide a simple web link if I want to share the apps with anyone, rather than trying to direct them to find the app themselves on the appropriate app store.

Am I an influencer yet?

The next step in my master plan (lol!) was to create a social media presence for the apps - I’m approaching this from a couple of directions.

To start with, I set up an Instagram account for Air Fryr - as I built the app to help me get the most from my air fryer, it probably comes as no surprise that I use it to cook a lot, so I thought I could capture and share lots of pictures and short, poorly filmed videos (I’ve only posted a couple so far, which have had about 150 views each) - for Air Fryr I think I’ll also branch out to TikTok as it seems fitting.

For WristCheck I’ve done something similar, but with more of a focus on just sharing pictures - I often post watch shots to some Facebook groups already, so all I’m really doing here is the same but now I’ve got a wee dedicated Instagram corner to do it in!

I’ve also set up a profile for WristCheck on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

My intention is just to share watch and air fryer related pictures, comments, reels etc in the hope of getting the apps a bit more visible (with minimal effort and expense)… will it work? Who knows! But it’ll be fun anyway!

I’ll post an update at some point in the future if I ever manage to get more than three followers…