Creating a WeChat mini-program isn’t as difficult as you might first think. Here’s a breakdown of the basics: 

1. Setting up your WeChat developer account 

First, to get started businesses are required to open a WeChat developer account. To do this, you will need to be either a Chinese company or a WFOE, meaning your business has been approved to operate in mainland China. 

With this approval, you can take the following steps:

1. Go to the official WeChat registration page, and select ‘mini program’ 
2. Fill in the required information, including your email address and personal details
3. Select your ‘applicant type’, which in this instance, is likely to be ‘Enterprise’ 
4. Provide company information and documentation, including bank details 
5. Connect your bank account to Tencent (WeChat’s parent company), and pay the specified amount to verify and confirm your application. 

WeChat developer accounts usually take between 1-3 days to be approved, and it is likely that you will be asked to provide further documentation in support of your application before your account is confirmed. 

2. Getting started with your mini-program development 

Once your developer account is confirmed, you will be able to log into WeChat, add developers, and download the WeChat ‘Development Tool’ to start building your mini-program:

The WeChat development tool is an intuitive interface where your app developer will be able to write the code for your brand’s mini-program. The interface is very user-friendly, and a developer with good knowledge of JavaScript will be able to quickly build a complete mini-program, thanks to the system’s simple tools and pre-existing templates. 

A few things to consider when building a WeChat mini-program

• Simplicity: mini-programs are intended to be very simple and straightforward, so it’s important that your ‘app’ is as streamlined as possible. Any unnecessary steps or design elements that don’t directly serve a purpose should be removed. 
• Research: look at your competitors and identify what works for them, and what doesn’t. You should also research what works well on your brand’s own application, if it has one, and try to translate that to your mini-program. 
• Stay focused: a mini-program is usually intended to serve one or two core functions. Keep this in mind and stay as focused as possible when it comes to the purpose of your mini-program. Is it a game? A store? A map? Whatever it is, do it and do that alone. You don’t want to overwhelm users with too much functionality. 

Once you and your team have worked through the above points, it’s time to get developing. 

Building a mini-program can take anywhere between three to six months, although it could be sooner depending on its functionality. 

And in terms of cost, mini-programs are significantly cheaper than building traditional applications, since the WeChat software helps to automate a large part of the process. That said, you should still expect to pay anywhere between $3,000-$20,000 for the program itself, and the team required to build it. 

3. Submit your mini-program for approval 

Once you are happy with your mini-program, you must submit it for approval via the WeChat development interface. Approval will be dependent on your program’s functionality, design, ease of use and overall compliance. 

4. Launch and advertise your mini-program 

After approval, it’s time to go live, which can be easily initiated within the WeChat development tool. 

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