Mobile websites and Apps. Which one is right for your business?
There is no question that mobile is the fastest growing online space. As millions worldwide migrate to smartphones, the number of people who are downloading apps and browsing the web on their phone is growing at an incredibly rapid pace.So, What is a Mobile website?
A mobile website is just a website that has been optimized for mobile browsing. It can be reached through a phone's web browser directly.
There are some great advantages to doing a mobile site:
- One mobile site can work on any mobile platform (iPhone, Android, etc.)
- It is generally faster and cheaper to develop a mobile site than an App.
- A mobile site can just be a 'version' of your primary website.
- Customers can google you and land on your mobile site.
- Since it's a website, it can be easily updated through a Content Management System.
- They aren't written in native code, so performance can be an issue.
- You cannot access all of the phones features (camera, etc) that are available to apps.
- It requires some number of steps for a customer to bookmark your mobile site.
- It is hard to charge for access or usage.
An "app" is a software application that is written in the native language of a particular platform.
This has some tremendous advantages:
- By using native code, the application can run with high performance.
- It is easy to follow the User Experience conventions using provided libraries.
- The app is available in an App Store.
- It can work offline.
- The App can be launched in a single step .
- Your native code only works on one platform.
- You must learn development skills that just apply to one platform.
- Your app can't be found directly on the web, it requires more "investment" for a customer to download it.
