An idea for improving app installs: Get rid of the website

A lesson from Yo and Sunrise

Some apps have extremely minimal websites. Here’s the website for Days, a social diary app.

The thinking here is clear: if the primary purpose of the app site is to get you to install, then any element beyond the “Download on the App Store” call-to-action button is a distraction.

Recently, I’ve come across app sites that take this idea even further.

If you click a link to the Yo app website on your smartphone, it’ll automatically forward you directly to the relevant app store. This graphic illustrates the difference.

If you click on the Yo website link on your computer, it opens the app site without the forward, of course.

Sunrise is another app that does this. If you come across the Sunrise URL while on your phone (say, while reading a tech blog, or from Product Hunt), tapping the link takes you straight to the app store.

It’s a simple idea that’s obvious in hindsight. Why send the user to your site (where they’re likely to be distracted by your blog/social media links/cool parallax effects) when you can get them one step closer to closing the deal?

If you’ve done your job right, your app store page should have all the important descriptive information, great screenshots, reviews testifying to your greatness, and of course, the button that matters most: “INSTALL.”