Mobile Websites or Mobile Applications...which one is the better?
This question is the same question that has haunted every entrepreneur and business owner who wants to digitize their work with the help of a great medium. But to choose between creating a mobile website or developing a mobile application is the real issue.
With each day passing, the companies and enterprises are becoming more aware of the rapid growth of technology in every industry vertical. And to stay in sync with this evolution of technology you need to have an effective strategy for the process of digitization.
Looking at the data for the last five years, you will notice that the number of the mobile-only internet users have taken over the desktop-only users with a great percentage. Because of this significant change in the users' preferences companies have redesigned their mobile strategies.
It is time for you to re-think your decision as well!
Because the big players of the industries have changed their mobile strategies, it's time for you too to re-think some decisions regarding mobile strategies, apps, and mobile websites for the products and top website development services that you are offering.
At this point in time, half of the audience might be in the favor of developing a mobile application and another half might be favoring the option to create a mobile application for their business.
There are also some misconceptions spread in the market about the app and website usage for a majority of mobile apps and mobile websites, so to clear them out; we will be mentioning the advantages as well as disadvantages, so keep on reading to know them.
Last year, in 2017 the Statista reports stated that approximately 64% of the Earth's population owned a mobile phone and by the end of the year 2019 i.e. in just two years the total number of mobile phone users will cross the threshold of 5 Billion and that's a huge number.
Another surprising mobile app vs mobile website statistics report revealed that from the year 2016 to 2017, the average time spent per day on the mobile phone increased by about seven minutes i.e. making the total of three hours and fifteen minutes (3.15 hours) per day. And the average time spent on television was decreased by approximately five minutes and the average amount of time spent on the desktop was reduced by one minute.
Difference between Mobile App and Mobile Website
Now, let's know about the differences between the mobile website and mobile app and what makes them apart. If you own a smartphone then you can easily access both mobile websites and also mobile applications from that mobile device.
Basically, a mobile application is a software application which is downloaded from any app store like Apple's App Store or Google Play Store. Once the user has installed or downloaded the app then they can use that particular app whenever they want. A majority of mobile apps can be accessed online as well as offline.
Whereas, the mobile websites are the HTML pages that the user can directly access from the web browser. But for accessing the mobile websites, it is mandatory to have an internet connection which can be 3G, Wi-Fi, 4G and now even 5G is in progress.
Nowadays, when we access a mobile website we can surely say that they have now become more responsive and mobile-friendly than they were before. For example, the mobile websites today optimize very well with the screen size and resolution of every mobile device.
Plus Points of a Mobile Website
As already stated earlier, a mobile website has a responsive design that works by being in sync with various screen resolutions of the mobile devices. You can also think of it as a more customized version of a regular website that is only available for the mobile phones.
Here are some of its advantages:
1. Cost Efficient
Although the cost factor mainly depends on the level of complexity of the mobile website but still the whole process of building the mobile website is more cost efficient than developing an application. This is because there is no need to create separate models for various platforms as a single mobile website can run on all platforms.
2. More Brand Visibility
Now, the mobile-optimized sites tend to rank higher in the Google search engine results which means better search engine optimization for your brand. Comparatively, the search engine pages like Google have higher caliber than the app stores in increasing your brand visibility and also promoting your services.
3. Higher Reach
With mobile websites, you can reach to have a much higher audience reach this is because of the fact that it can be easily accessed across any platform and can be further shared to a much larger audience without any hassle of downloading it from any app store.
Even though the mobile websites can be a lesser expensive option but they are also very limited in their functioning and also in terms of offering various features to the end-users. Another point that is important to note is that mobile websites also constantly rely on a steady internet connection. So, if there is no internet connection that there is also no access to the mobile website.
Plus Points of a Mobile App
The mobile apps enable much more interactive user engagement with the content that the particular application is featuring it can be image, text, video etc. The things that actually draws the line between mobile websites and apps are the features that the app is offering to its end-users.
Let's have a look at some of the main advantages below:
1. Accessibility
One of the major points is the accessibility because the user doesn't have to depend on the internet connection for the app's working. It may be possible that some of the app's features are enabled with Wi-Fi but still, the user can access the majority of features. The user can have the advantage, of using the data anywhere and anytime.
2. Customization
In order to make a customer feel, many brands and companies are opting for the option of personalization and the mobile apps help them to fulfill this criterion. With mobile websites, the option of customization is not efficient as we are not able to get a tailored outlook as per our preferences. The user engagement is also seen to increase when the user gets customized recommendations and updates in the app itself.
3. Greater Opportunities
Yes, when it comes to the branding opportunities the mobile applications takes the cake as they always have new opportunities to offer its end-users. This is because the mobile applications act as a versatile platform for brands to try out their different strategies and tactic styles.
4. More Engagement
As the applications, run with their own interface environment to provide the end-user with a more engaging environment to make their mobile experience more pleasing. For example, in an online shopping app where the user gets access to a number of features that are not available on the store's mobile website.
The above-mentioned list of plus points on applications is the answer to the question why do we use apps and not mobile websites.
Is it better to use an App or the Website: Application vs Website
So, you have seen and compared the plus points of both sides, the choice to pick the right option depends on your key business objectives including the industry vertical, target audience and many more. So, if your aim to just to spread awareness about your company and offer content to the people then a mobile website is what you should go forward with.
But, if you are aiming to have a greater interaction and user engagement with your targeted user base than a mobile app is the option that you should opt for. Nowadays, many brands are coming forward with both tactics to maximize their brand awareness as well as the user interaction. We also think that is budget is not a constraint for you then why not pick both the options of having a mobile website and an app as well!
We hope that we have answered one of the most asked questions properly and in case you still have any doubt regarding the same. Just leave a ‘Comment’ down below and we will surely have a look at it.
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Sr. Content Strategist
Meet Manish Chandra Srivastava, the Strategic Content Architect & Marketing Guru who turns brands into legends. Armed with a Masters in Mass Communication (2015-17), Manish has dazzled giants like Collegedunia, Embibe, and Archies. His work is spotlighted on Hackernoon, Gamasutra, and Elearning Industry.
Beyond the writer’s block, Manish is often found distracted by movies, video games, AI, and other such nerdy stuff. But the point remains, If you need your brand to shine, Manish is who you need.
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