How to build apps without coding
How do you build the next Facebook? Or maybe creating a dating site is more your thing? Then again, perhaps you just want to sell scented candles. Many would-be entrepreneurs have ideas but don’t know how to realise them, mainly because they aren’t familiar with coding, and it all seems a little bit too complicated. But what if we told you there was a way to build a website to promote your vision, and you didn’t need to know a single line of coding to execute it? Welcome to the world of no coding, my friend. And in this guide, we bring you everything there is to know about building an app without using any code.
Ok, so what is no code?
Generally speaking, websites, apps, and other digital products and services require complicated coding to come to life. If you don’t know how to code, the experience can be costly and overwhelming: you’ll need to hire a developer to see your idea come to life. Moreover, you’ll need to trust that the developer knows what they’re doing and can deliver your conception.
On the other hand, there are no coding platforms. They allow you to build digital products without using coding. It’s an alternative to traditional development for non-technical people with ambitions of starting their own business, whether it’s an eCommerce store, online community or whatever else your brain can conjure up.
A better way of doing it
Suppose you know how to code or have access to a team of coders. Great, right? But if you’re like most of us, it’s hard to imagine how a few lines of code translate into a fully-functioning digital app, let alone knowing how to actually build it from scratch. There’s a lot to cover – learning code to a decent level takes years and plenty of resources.
This is where no-code shows its strength, giving ambitious people the opportunity to start their own projects. And if you want proof of the power of no-code platforms, you only need to look at Not Real Twitter. It’s a Twitter-like application built without one single line of code using a tool called Bubble that visually describes the product and publishes an interactive website.
You can find many other apps built with no code with some research. It may even be that a website you regularly use was built with a no-code tool like Bubble. Here are a few of the best startups that used no-code to develop their applications.
Sounds great, but how do I get started?
Before you can start building an application with no code, you first need to feel confident that your business idea will be a success. It all begins with some customer research: who is your ideal target audience, and what are their pain points?
Customer research
Conduct interviews, and get to know your new audience. Start with a MOM test, a set of rules designed to help ask questions that create honest responses. In other words, don’t ask your mom questions about a business idea because she’ll tell you it’s awesome. But by asking good questions to your target audience, you can flesh out honest answers that help you better understand demand.
Sketching out your app
Ok, so you’ve got the concept, and the research says you might be onto something. Now it’s time to sketch out your application and think about how you want it to work. What does it look like, how does it flow, what urges customers to use it, and will it be on iOS, Android, or both? You’ll need to answer these questions to give yourself the best chance of creating something that pops and is popular with customers – something that has everyone telling you how much they love your app.
Choose a no-code app builder
There are more than 400 no-code app builders (or app makers if you prefer to call them that) on the market. That’s a lot, and maybe even too many. So you’ll need to perform some research to identify which option is the best fit for your needs. This largely depends on what you want to build. For instance, small businesses might use Adalo thanks to its simplicity for creating things like mobile apps.
Or you might choose Glide and make use of the templates already in place. Starting with a Google Sheet, Glide allows users to quickly transform their data into an application. And then there’s Bubble, probably the most well-known no-code app. Bubble is one of the most powerful no-code platforms on the market, yet it’s also easy to use and has a built-in eCommerce system.
Design your app
Now that you’ve settled on a no-code platform, some decisions must be made. For starters, do you design the app yourself or hire a designer? While no-code apps don’t require coding (thanks to elements like drag-and-drop) and are simple to use, mastering them requires some experience. You may need to spend some time with no-code academies, learning and perfecting the tool. Learning to use no-code isn’t the same as learning to code – it’s much easier and doesn’t require the same time and resources.
Alternatively, you can select a template and tweak it as you go. This option is helpful for many first-time no-code users. Although, you won’t have as much control over the final look and feel of the app if you use a template.
Test, test, test
Once the app is built, you’ll want to test it and then test it again. User testing is the only way to see if your application works as expected and if it’s easy to use. You will learn a lot during this phase and can make adjustments based on user feedback. Now is the time to iron out bugs and ensure you’ve got the smoothest app possible.
Publish
The app development has gone well, and it’s ready to go. That means it’s time to choose a platform to launch your new project on. The App Store and Google Play are the most obvious (and popular) places to start. Fortunately, you can publish no-code apps on these stores, making them accessible to the public.
Marketing
You may have the best app in the world, the next Facebook, ready to become a social media Behemoth. But none of that matters if you don’t get your marketing right. You’ll need to invest in marketing and creating content around your business idea.
So write blog posts, use social media, spend some resources on paid advertising across search engines and create video content for platforms like YouTube. If you build it, they will come. But first, they need to know that you’ve built it.
No code, no problem
No-code platforms open up the door for entrepreneurs to realise their business dreams regardless of their technical expertise. Of course, coding has its place, but no code offers an alternative to creating high-quality products and services.
Fantastic opportunities exist for non-techy people, but they can be slightly overwhelming. That’s why we want to share our favourite Bubble tutorials and resources, where you can learn from people who have done no-code projects to a high level.
Or get some help from the pros and be inspired to build your masterpiece without using a single line of code.
