“The decision dilemma between Mobile Driven Websites and Mobile Apps”
If you build it, will they come?
Gone are the days when you could just setup your store location, get some products, get listed in the yellow pages and you’re all set. That model followed what could be called the days of “if you build it, they will come.”
Customers are not just coming so much anymore. It takes more than a store front to run a successful business and build an active customer base.
Amazon.com has grown to be one of the largest sellers of merchandise across the world but yet, it has no true “store front”. Nowadays, you must be able to pull customers to your business via every possible method you can afford, which includes all digital systems.
Then once you’ve pulled these customers in, it still doesn’t even stop there, you have to keep them pulled in close with more new age tools to maintain customer relationships.
Website or Mobile App?
Today I would like to touch a little bit on websites and mobile apps and the need for businesses today to choose at least one. In this era, customers want easy access to products and services, that’s one of their most important needs.
We can fool ourselves and call it the “Age of the Lazy” but it’s a little more than that, it’s about doing things faster and better hence pushing productivity through the roof.
The old way of connecting
I used to at some point or another, pick up that massive book called the yellow pages to find a company I needed for service. Now, all I need to do is pick up my smartphone and type a few words and that’s it! Am I lazy or am I just efficient-working smarter not harder?
The same principle applies to your business and having a website or a mobile App. The title of this article speaks to us choosing one or having both. This premise holds true. The companies or businesses that have a mobile driven website, will definitely get more conversions from their “hits” by customers than one that doesn’t have a mobile driven website or worst doesn’t have a website at all!
This is where we are, customers are searching for convenience — they want to be able to checkout most of your products and services online, even before picking up the phone to call you! Can you imagine? This is what is considered a paradigm shift, changes in an area of life that seem so out of this world even in thought.
Make yours better!
Now, not all websites are created equally. I used the term mobile driven website to spark the conversation about having a website that can easily and fully be navigated from a tablet or a smartphone without the need to be scrolling from left to right, trying to deduce broken sentences, crumpled images or disoriented graphics.
A mobile driven website gives businesses this option, to be able to connect with users seamlessly. The worst thing you can have is an online presence that is not presentable, no pun intended. MD Websites will have properly formatted click to call or email buttons, possible pop up instant chat and support buttons and constantly updated information.
This keeps your business current and refreshing for customers to visit and revisit even when they are not currently seeking a product or service.
How do they differ?
I made it clear that you can choose one because essentially they both can be designed to act in the same way and provide the same accesses and reach to customers. Smartphone and Tablet App development can however cost thousands of dollars so it is very wise to start on the cheaper side and create a properly designed mobile driven website for your business.
But what’s the difference between having a mobile driven website and an App?
The main difference comes down to ease of access. That’s it! Since MD websites can be designed to mirror Apps, then the difference is which one a user is more likely to reach for when they think of your business provided that they have both. The simple answer is, the mobile App because it’s right there on the home screen. Additionally, the rise of the “App Culture” has created a certain buzz around having Apps mainly because they are fancy looking, interactive and very responsive as opposed to websites.
This can be credited to the early times when websites lacked flair and functionality but were merely designed to hold a space on the internet. Whether you have an App or MD Website, there is one other loophole to consider, if they want to connect with you, they will! Whether by your App or MD website. So in the end, what matters is the quality of your business.
In Summary
To patch things up, Mobile Driven website or Mobile App, you must choose one though you can have both. To truly stand out, your business must be accessible, it must be digitally reachable and provide value and functionality to customers. Don’t waste too much of your budget spending on exotic looking apps, instead focus on core functions.
Happy Hunting!
Leighton Brown www.hi5jamaica.com www.blackberryfriends.com www.shareconltd.com
Credits Photo Credit to www.tech.co