So business is booming and you decided to take the plunge and join the mobile world (or you read our last blog and had a glorious epiphany- let’s go with that!). Now you must decide whether you want to design a mobile website or an app. This can be a tough decision since it the most important factors are your budget and your brand, which are of course are yours alone. Nonetheless, here are some facts that can help decide which will be a better match for you.
In our last blog, we pointed out that mobile apps have to be installed by viewers in order to be seen, which is a pricey endeavor. Normally, that should be enough for you to go with the mobile website. BUT NOT SO FAST! Fast is actually the key word here…apps are much, much faster than a mobile website. Not only that, apps can be used regardless of where you are while viewing a website requires wireless connection.
Also apps are currently more popular to mobile consumers. According to Mashable, users spent 20 or more minutes on mobile sites over apps; today the relationship is reversed. People are spending most of their time on their Smartphone on apps than anything else.
Before deciding between app and website think about your consumers. Are most of your customers finding your business via search engines? If so focusing on SEO and web design for mobile devices is a simpler way to increase traffic to mobile web users. According to a study by CEM4Mobile, out of 56 million mobile impressions that were sampled, app users use up 2.4 times more impressions on average to mobile browser users even though the browser users outnumber them.
Your mission for delving into the mobile world is also a factor for making a decision. If you simply want to re-create your website so that it is easier to view on a mobile device, simply optimizing your page so that it is mobile-user friendly will suffice. Is your purpose to inform customers of your brand or to facilitate some service that you offer? An app can do wonders if you want to do both, but a mobile website might be all you need if your goal is to build awareness to mobile users.
While apps are at the forefront of the mobile world, a more user-friendly mobile website may be a simpler way for your company to enter into the ever-growing mobile community. It could also depend entirely on your business. Although you must take your budget and type of business into consideration, a mobile optimized website can go a long way for your business and for the growing amount of consumers using mobile search engines every day. However either way to choose, both mobile websites and apps are extremely beneficial for internet marketing and brand awareness.
