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So this is the first desktop application I have ever written.

Over the weekend, I set up Adwords, and started getting some clicks.

What is my next step here? Should I continue to work on the software?

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You could link to the product in your blog, I'll show you mine if you show me yours. – David Dec 12 '11 at 21:13
hey David, I currently don't like to advertise it yet, but in private I can show you it. but I don't know how to contact anyone here privately as there seems to be no private messaging feature. – Kim Jong Woo Dec 12 '11 at 23:21
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@Kim - if you can't figure out how to contact David then there is not much hope... – TimJ♦ Dec 13 '11 at 0:37
@Tim, please enlighten me. Your advice is paramount of importance Sir. – Kim Jong Woo Dec 13 '11 at 0:46
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You're not giving enough details. What do you mean? How can we give you options or next steps if we have no idea what you've built, how far it is or how many clicks you're getting? – HSS Dec 13 '11 at 10:24
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5 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

Kim, getting downloads is a good sign since it means there is 'some form of interest' in your product. The next steps should be about understanding your target audience and measure their interest in your product so you know what direction to take. Two critical metrics are:

1 - Web Analytics: Get to know who are your visitors are what they are searching for to arrive to your product.

2 - Software Usage Analytics: Start measuring whether people are just clicking on your download button and stopping there, or else whether they are actually installing and using your software. If so, HOW are they using it and which features or product sections are they using most? This will give you a good idea of what your customers are looking for so you know on what areas you should focus your development.

Once you have these non-intrusive measurement tools in place you can start experimenting with different features and see how users respond to them. The trick is to always listen to your audience and give them what they want.

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Not every software has at least one bug, thats bs. does a hello world app have at least one bug? No. Computers always follow instructions, so it is possible to eliminate all bugs from a software

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You need more thank clicks. You need people to buy. Are they buying?

If they are buying, start to measure. For example, how much do you have to expend to get one sell? make different campaigns in adwords, and see how that reflects on your sells. See what drives more traffic, to figure out what gets people attention.

Then start improving the software in the direction that you are getting more clicks.

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You should keep working your software and make it better, Remember, nothing is perfect, every software product has at least one bug.

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I think it would be good to track the conversion rate, for example with something like mix panel or kiss metrics.

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