Many brands find themselves debating whether to develop a mobile website, a mobile application or both. There are many things to consider when choosing a strategy.
A website optimised for mobile is an important part of any long term mobile strategy. For specific campaigns, and complex user interaction, an app often is a better solution. Apps deliver a richer user experience and can therefore create a more intense interaction with customers. A mobile website however, will give broader reach and as they are more accessible to search engines can be a great tool to point users to your service.
When should you develop a mobile website?
- As the core element of your mobile presence in any long term mobile strategy
- If you expect to get a lot of traffic through search
When should you develop a mobile app?
- If the concept/service you want to deliver is too rich for a mobile website
- If the app is used as a tool that complements an existing web online presence
- To make the service more convenient for your users, often re-locating and re-loading a web site takes a lot longer than starting an app.
Common Myths of why mobile websites are better than apps
1. Mobile websites are much cheaper
A mobile website with the same functionality and similar user experience to an app will cost pretty much the same. Especially if you want to deliver it across multiple platforms. However, expectations for a mobile website are generally lower than for an equivalent app. So bringing down the functionality will also bring down the cost. Yet still, the service needs to be tested on the target devices if you want to be certain that it works, which can be fairly expensive.
2. Mobile websites always give access to a wider variety of devices
In theory WAP/XHTML should work on most devices. Differences in browsers, display resolutions, input methods (touch screen or keyboard), API differences, etc. still cause a lot of customization work per device group. For a richer user experience you need to invest in a platform that renders the mobile website correctly for each device.
3. HTML5 will solve all these problems
Unfortunately this is not the case since:
a) The browsers still vary significantly between different platforms, OS versions and in the case of Android between different devices. This is unlikely to change and creates a lot of work for effective QA.
b) The functionality supported by each device is different. HTML5 on mobile devices can integrate with parts of the native functionality such as Location, Messaging, Contacts, Accelerometer, etc.
c) The codecs for video in particular are different depending on the OS
4. It's easier to find a mobile website
If the mobile website is available among the top 5 search results on Google this may be the case. But even this can be challenging since websites and mobile websites are mixed. Also note that you need to implement redirects from your website to your mobile website so that the user gets the best customer experience.
5. A website bookmark is just as good as having the app icon on the phone
One of the greatest advantages of an app is that the icon is or can be visible on the home screen of the device and therefore always a few clicks away. Bookmarks are usually hidden considerably deeper down in the menu structure and therefore used less frequently.
6. People will just use the mobile app once anyway
Some mobile websites and mobile apps will only be used once. This has been the case for websites since the beginning and it will always be this way. But good quality apps and websites are already showing that when the service warrants it, users will come back again and again.
