Creating an online presence for your brand is very crucial especially if one desires to harness the power of digitization. While planning on whether to create a website or a mobile application or both, the pros and cons of a mobile app and website are debatable. It depends on a lot of factors like your total budget, your target audience and their feasibility, and the main reason behind building it. You can make a list of advantages for both a mobile app and a website, but your business structure and needs will determine in the end which option is preferable. So, before digging into this topic let’s have a look at how a mobile app and a mobile website are different in ways.

Difference Between a Mobile App and a Mobile Website

A mobile application needs to be downloaded from Google Play Store or Apple Store and installed in a smartphone for its usage. One needs internet connection to use the features of these mobile apps but sometimes content can be downloaded to access in offline mode. On the other hand, a mobile website doesn’t require any extra installation apart from a search engine that comes already downloaded in your smartphone.

A mobile website may seem like any other regular website that you open from your desktop or tablet. But, a mobile website that contains browser-based HTML pages is designed for a relatively smaller display and touch-screen UI. Since mobile compatible websites are becoming very famous, the best way to build one is using responsive website design which is scalable to bigger devices (computers).

Which Option is Preferable for your Business?

Before we jump right into conclusion regarding which option is more suitable for your business, let’s have a look at the benefits of both. A mobile website and a mobile app have their own advantages and one needs to decide which one will serve the objective better for the business and its target customers.

Benefits of a Mobile Website

If you are new in business and want to focus on marketing primarily, mobile websites will serve a better purpose. Moreover, when it comes to cost and maintenance, mobile websites are better choices for young businesses because you need to take care of the budget as well. But, there are several other advantages as well.

• User compatibility: When you are building a mobile website, it can be opened in other smart devices like tablets as well. Users can easily access the mobile website irrespective of both the size of the device (scalable responsive website) and operating system of the mobile (Android, iOS).

• Less expensive: Mobile websites are cost-effective as compared to mobile apps as you design the website which can be accessed through any type of mobile. This also assures having a broader audience as websites can be found only by typing in search engines. Along with that, for mobile apps you need to create separate apps for Android and iPhone which escalates the budget.

• Easy to share: The contents of a mobile website can be easily shared via SMS or any messaging platform, So, even if an Android user wants to send your website link to an iPhone user, he or she can readily do it through any texting (online and offline) platform. So, in the case of mobile websites many people can share your website’s content among each other without worrying about devices.

• Instantly available: When you are developing a mobile application, the user needs to visit either Apple store or Play store to find it followed by downloading and installing it. This consumes a great deal of time and generally users tend to avoid following so many steps if it is not absolutely necessary. But, a user can always check the products and services offered by your business by simply visiting your website as it is a single step job.

• SEO and brand visibility: If your website is optimized for mobile devices. You are likely to rank higher in search engines than other relevant non-optimized websites. So, if your website ranks higher this means your brand visibility will increase and it will generate more traffic. 

Benefits of a Mobile App

A mobile app represents a strong presence of your brand and they are separately developed for both Android and iPhone. If your business is generating enough revenue to develop applications for both OS, you should consider the option of mobile apps. Mobile apps have immense advantages especially when it comes to providing an authentic experience for your users.

• Personalization: Personalization becomes easier when it is through mobile apps. The customers after downloading and installing the app are free to decide what kind of data it wants to share with the company. Apart from the mandatory data requirement, a user can choose if it wants to share GPS location all the time, audio and video features, etc. So, an app always provides a more personal user experience than a mobile website.

• Increased engagement: We have experienced how AI in every mobile application we use shows us relevant recommendations from our past search history. For example, consider an online shopping app and how it frequently sends the users notification for special discounts and offers. It also saves relevant information like banking details so every time the users check out, the information isn’t required to be provided. All these factors reduce the pain points of a customer which in turn enhances user engagement.

• Using features of the device: While a user is using a mobile app, it can access his or her camera for scanning, contact list for sending money (payment apps), access GPS location for delivery services, reminders for schedules and medicines, etc. In a nutshell, a mobile app will try to harness the power of a mobile device and offer an optimized experience to reduce your customer’s troubles.

• Strong brand presence: When a person is downloading and installing your app, that app is the constant reminder of your brand. Even if they are not using it everyday, a presence of the app in their device works as a method of branding and thus creates an opportunity for marketing.

• Accessing offline: Mobile apps can run without internet connection as well. Though the app won’t be able to provide its full functionalities, it can offer certain content in offline mode as well.

Conclusion

This article gives a clear idea about the pros and cons of mobile websites and mobile apps. You and your team should decide which one will serve the purpose of your company better and then make a choice. In many cases, companies tend to develop both a mobile website and app for their target audience and increase the power of their branding game. But, if you are still confused, feel free to contact the team of android app development of Xornor Technologies and make a better choice for your brand.