Smartphones have become an increasing trend in today’s modern world. According to Statista, In 2017, about 64% of Earth’s population owns a mobile, and this percentage is increasing. That’s huge. Isn’t It? Therefore, it becomes inevitable to create a mobile presence for your business. The two major ways that can help you with this are by creating a mobile website or by making a mobile app. You must understand the concept of a mobile experience. Your mobile experience will be best only when it reaches your target audience and guides them with their journey. So we decided to let you know what among these will be the best option to make your mobile experience the best mobile experience for you as well as your consumers. Another great and upcoming technology is Progressive Web Apps. They are comparatively new and are gaining importance. We will discuss this further in the article. So let’s get started with Mobile Websites, Mobile Apps or Progressive Web Apps?
Your mobile presence depends on what you want to achieve. Once you decide on this factor, You will be able to decide whether you want a mobile app or a mobile website.
What are Mobile Sites?
Mobile sites are websites built for mobile devices. These websites work on all the devices and can be accessed by a wide number of audience.These are also called mSites, mWeb and web apps
What are Mobile Apps?
Mobile Apps are native applications that must be downloaded and installed on mobile devices. These are useful for deeper re-engagement with existing customers The mobile app development process involves designing the app, developing the app, testing the app, and launching the app. These are also called native apps.
What is the need for Mobile Site or a Mobile App?
Now arises a question as to why I need any Mobile app or a mobile website.
Can’t I just resize my site for smaller screens?
Let me try to answers these questions
- Need for a mobile app or mobile website is important as mobile has a unique ability to meet the consumers in even micro-moments of their customer journey.
But you cannot get this benefit just by simply resizing your desktop’s site in a mobile version. - Mobile Customers are always multitasking or on the go and you just have a moment to influence them which practically doesn’t seem a good option while they are on a small screen.
- A customer’s mobile experience must be smooth that is it should be easy to navigate, it should be fast because mobile customers would not like staying on your resized website for long.
Therefore, resizing your desktop website has many complications It doesn’t provide the ease of navigation that mobile customers require. It also takes time to load on small screens that lose the interest of your users.
So if you want the benefit of meeting all your customer’s expectations, then you should go with creating your own mobile website or mobile apps.
A Mobile Site or a Mobile App. What should I build?
So after knowing the importance of having mobile apps and mobile websites, the question arises whether you need a mobile app, a mobile website or both? The lines between web and apps are starting to diminish, mobile websites are becoming more app-like, and apps are becoming more web-like. And each has very different time and budget requirements. Let us discuss the major differences between both:
| Point of Difference | Mobile Site | Mobile App |
|---|---|---|
|
Easy to Find |
Very Easy to Find. Customers can stumble on it while browsing. | No. Customers must come looking for. They will have to search the app in the store. |
|
Effort and Cost |
Less effort and less cost. Mobile sites are built once in HTML5 and run on any device and platform with browser and connection. Cheaper than a native app. | More effort and cost. You must build dedicated app for each operating system and update for OS updates. This also requires separate development team which is costly. |
| Easy to Update | Very Easy. All the site visitors always see the latest version of the site. | Not easy to update. Every app user must consent to any update. |
| Analytics and Conversion Tracking | Can be done with Less Effort. Existing metrics tools can extend to your mobile site. | It will require more effort. You can require adding a software development kit (SDK) to your app. |
| Distribution | Less effort. Requires no approvals, revenue sharing, or marketplaces. | More effort. May require approvals, revenue sharing, and marketplaces. |
It is true that the line between the Mobile Sites, Mobile Apps is blurring slowly. But if you look at the difference and each point of consideration, you will find that Mobile Sites are a great way for meeting new customers.These sites are quick and effective especially when you need anything simple.
On the other hand, if you have long-term customers, then mobile apps are great. You can add real value directly from their mobile phones and keep them engaged with all the advanced features.
So you are finally there. You can now choose what you want to increase your mobile presence. Whether it’s a mobile site or a mobile app.
There is an also a new technology which is pacing up called Progressive Web apps . They are a mix for both as they have the reach of a mobile site with the engaging experience of a mobile app. And you can include popular mobile app features with the mobile sites.
Mobile Sites: They do not require anything. Just the deep links to the apps.
Mobile Apps: They require Background sync, Near-field-communication support, Splash screen and Bluetooth support.
Progressive Web Apps: These require access phone contact list, camera, user location, phone media and adjust screen orientation.Also, Monetize with ads and subscription fee, Homescreen icon, Access phone media, Deep links to web page content.
So Why Built a Progressive Web App?
I will tell you some major points as to why you should go with these:
- Increased Engagement: It gives you the feeling of a natural app on a device and increases user’s experience and improves conversion rates as well.
- Progressive Web Apps also give Rich App Like experience for your customers without any required installation.
- No matter what the network conditions are, these apps work reliably.
- Progressive Web Apps are fast as compared to mobile sites or apps.
Wrapping Up
The most important factor that you should keep in mind while choosing between Mobile Websites, Mobile Apps is your mobile objectives and the resources you can invest.
Mobile sites are a great example if you want to start off with new customer relationships and telling the basics information. Mobile apps, on the other hand, lets you retain and engage your customers in a better manner. You can use them to build long-term customer relationships. Mobile sites are also faster and easy to maintain while mobile apps require more cost and resources to build. Similarly, if you decide you go with Progressive Mobile apps than you will have to incur huge expenses as well as a good amount of resources.
So what do you choose among these? Let us know in the comment section below or to know more/development contact us.
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