These days, there literally seems to be an app for anything. From calorie counting to job hunting, people can do all sorts of things simply from the palm of their hand—which means it can mean big bucks for your small business. By having an app specifically for your product or service, you increase its availability and expand its market. But, being that it's still such a new and evolving concept, many people still don't how to go about creating one.

Thankfully, many courses and programs have popped up lately, promising to teach the basics of application creation and development. So, if you’re looking to create one for your blog or business but don't know where to start, give one of these courses or programs a try. It is sure to make the process much easier.


Building Mobile Applications

Offered through the Harvard Extension School and taught by an instructor from Harvard and MIT, this course gives students an in-depth look at how not only to build their apps, but also how to properly market them in both the Android Market and App Store. Not offered exclusively to students enrolled at Harvard, anyone can follow along online and they even encourage professors to adapt some of the concepts and materials into their own teachings.

An in-person edition is also available for those who would prefer to take the class in the traditional manner, but it's really up to the individual.

Developing Apps for iOS

Another option for potential app developers is a course offered through Stanford University. Featuring 20 video lectures, the class is very informative, but only covers the iOS market, so those interested in Androids should look elsewhere for more information. Some previous programming experience and design familiarity is necessary and makes the course easier to understand.

Comprehensive iOS App Development Course

If these courses just don't have what you were looking for, there is one other alternative I recommend. Touting itself as the most Comprehensive iOS App Development Course, this class has over 66 lectures and 11 hours of content—teaching you everything you want to know about developing apps for the Apple market. Taught by a seasoned professional, the course even comes with a guarantee that you'll learn something or your money back—talk about a deal!

Some Things to Remember

While these courses offer great information about how to build an effective app, it's important that you don't let it overshadow or discount the importance of other things such as overall design and interface. You may have just created the most effective app in the world, but if it's not attractive or user-friendly, it will do nothing—but possibly HURT—your business, and I'm sure that's not exactly what you're going for.

So, while you code this or link that, remember to not ignore your creative instincts. Make the most of the little square that will be yours. Design something that will reflect not only your business, but also your personality, so give it character. After all, long before the advent of smartphones or apps, people used old-fashioned ingenuity to attract business, and that's something that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Author Bio:
Stephanie Brooks is a freelance writer and blogger who mostly enjoys covering all things education, including online universities and traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. When she' snot writing, she can be found at the gym working out to Zumba and cooking healthy recipes at home. She welcomes your feedback.