Mobile App versus Mobile Website: Busting Myths

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.

How much does it cost to develop a mobile website in XHTML and/ or HTML5?

One of the most frequent questions we get asked is:  what is the cost of developing a mobile website? The answer is simple: It varies almost as much as the cost of developing a website. The price ranges from a few hundred to millions of Euros, but we will try to give a more constructive answer:

The key factors are:

1. Content/Service
What is the purpose of the mobile website? Is it an e-commerce site, a landing page, a news site, a social network, etc?

How much content does it contain? One page or hundreds of pages? The scope of the mobile website will provide a good starting point for estimating the cost of development.

Cost Range
- For a very simple mobile website a tool such as Netbiscuits could be used. Such a solution would cost a few hundred Euros
- If your site is a blog, for example, then it's possible that a free Wordpress plugin could be used to mobilise your existing website
- If the site includes more advanced functionality, then it needs to be custom built. The cost for this usually starts around 10.000 Euros

2. Design
Another important factor is the user interface design. Creating user flows, wireframes, mockups and designs could take several weeks, and therefore costs money.

Depending on the target audience you might want to implement two versions of the site. One optimised for XHTML and one for HTML5 compatible devices. While HTML5 supports a much richer user experience including animations, audio and video; XHTML should be optimised for speed and easy navigation rather than contain lots of graphics.

Cost Range:
- A simple mobile website whose design could be just a sketch that takes an hour to create would cost less than 100 euro
- For a sophisticated m-commerce site, intended to generate millions in sales, the cost and effort could easily rise to tens of thousands of Euros. Experienced user interface designers in London or New York frequently charge day rates of 1000 Euros. You get what you pay for.

3. Usability
Ease of use is not only about user interface design. It is also a matter of building an information architecture that it easy to navigate and optimised for the key use cases. The site should be tested with users and constantly improved over time.

Cost Range:
- Delivering excellent usability is an integrated part of good mobile website development. This means the cost cannot be isolated. However, if you consider your site business critical then plan for at least 2 weeks of user testing and enhancements before launch. You won't regret it.

4. Device support
One of the greatest challenges with mobile is device fragmentation. There are 10+ operating systems, hundreds of browser versions, 20+ display resolutions and lots of exceptions to take into consideration.

In theory HTML5 should resolve some of these issues. Unfortunately the differences are so big that you need to test and optimise your HTML5 site for each of those platforms.

At Golden Gekko we believe in testing on as many target devices and OS versions as possible. This means anywhere between two for an iPhone optimised HTML5 site (OS4.x and OS3.x) and 200 devices for a site that targets a broad spectrum of mobile devices.

Cost Range:
- Platforms such as the GG Server Platform and Netbiscuits provide rendering capabilities that optimise the site for each device type. The cost ranges from about 100 euro per month up to thousands but the service is well worth the money
- The feature set may differ between devices. E.g. some devices such as iPhone 4 have excellent java script support while others do not. Therefore add at least one week extra development time beyond the first platform

- The cost of QA / Testing vastly depends on the desired device support ranging from about 500 euro for a few days of testing on one platform to 10.000 euro for 3 weeks of testing across 200+ devices.  

5. Search engine optimisation
One of the greatest advantages of a mobile website juxtaposed to a native app is that people can find the content on your site through search engines. All standard mobile websites can of course be crawled. Still, just like for the web, optimising the site for search engines can make an enormous difference.

Cost Range:
Search engine optimisations for a big mobile site costs between 3.000 and 6.000 Euros

6. Logging and Reporting
If you've invested lots of money in your mobile website you want to know how many visitors you attract. You are interested in where they come from, what they do, how long they stay, where they leave, when and how frequently they come, etc. Most mobile website tools provide some standard reporting services and stats but if you really want to understand the users and their usage patterns you might have to dig deeper and combine the data with other sources.

Cost Range:
- Standard reporting should be included in the development and hosting services for any mobile website project
- For customised logging the effort is usually one to two days to define the requirements and about one extra week to implement and test the logging

Summary:
So what is the total cost of developing a mobile website? Depending on what you what to do with it, user interface requirements, usability testing, device support, search engine optimisation and logging the cost could range from a few hundred Euros for a simple landing page to 100.000+ Euros for a complex m-commerce site.

Please don't hesitate to contact us for a quote specific to your requirements. info@goldengekko.com

www.goldengekko.com

Why HTML5 sites for mobile require a mobile specialist

Although several mobile browsers now support HTML5 this is a version of HTML5 adapted for mobile:

A.      The design and user interaction of a mobile site is completely different to its equivalent website.  The use of the touch screen, the smaller screen size, different usage occasions and scenarios require a user experience designer with experience in mobile

B.      The browsers vary significantly depending on the OS – for example iPhone vs. Android but also between different Android devices.  Resolution/ screen size and layout (landscape vs. portrait) may differ from device to device

C.      The functionality of HTML5 on mobile devices can integrate parts of the native functionality such as location, messaging, contacts, accelerometer, etc.

D.      Each OS requires particular encoders for video

E.       Android in particular has differences depending on the OS version (1.6, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and soon 3.0) which means that the mobile site needs to be tested across all device versions

In summary there is currently not one version of HTML5 but several. For a mobile implementation of HTML5 you need someone with experience in mobile development. Before there is a stable development standard for mobile sites, there is still a lot of standardisation work remaining.

Top 10 activities and predictions in mobile 2010 to 2011

Once again it’s time for us to summarise the past year´s key trends and predict the future for 2011.

At the end of 2009 we looked back at the year that passed and forward to 2010 to identify some key insights and trends. Maybe we cheated but it looks like our crystal ball for 2010 was right on the spot for 4 out of 5 of ourpredictions.

Review of our predictions for 2010

1. Breakthrough for mobile marketing

Most importantly the breakthrough for mobile marketing and apps have now happened which led to a revenue growth of more than 125% for Golden Gekko in the middle of a global financial crisis. One key factor was that major brands such as GAP, Zara, Domino's Pizza and Mango launched m-Commerce initiatives which all surpassed expectations making the mobile platform a business critical channel.

2. Increased mobile platform fragmentation

We saw an increase in fragmentation, which came true with more versions and hardware configurations of Android, Samsung Bada, Windows Mobile 7, with renewed investments in Palm WebOS by HP and MeeGo announced by Nokia and Intel.

3. Android accelerates past iPhone

As expected Android surpassed iPhone as the most sold smartphone OS, while the iOS market share growth stabilised.

4. Mobile networks collapse under traffic load

Finally, several of the networks in the UK (O2) and US (AT&T) experience vastly reduced performance due to smartphones and dongles.

5. Improved efficiency in mobile service development

The one prediction which did not really materialize was improved efficiency in mobile service delivery through new tools and products. The reason is most likely that most of the tools and services are not good enough yet which could be a great opportunity for 2011.

The key trends 2010

1. Launch of the iPad and other tablets

In January Apple announced the iPad which has ever since been sold at an amazing rate although I think the usage patterns have surprised quite a few. Most of the usage takes place at home rather than while mobile. At the same time other manufacturers, despite promises, failed to bring out competitive devices during 2010 even though Samsung managed to sell about 1 million.

2. Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Maybe it was because expectations were low but reviews of the Windows Phone 7 operating system and phones have been very good. Unique user interface, great social networking integration, excellent SDK for app development and all in all the first real smartphone OS from Microsoft.

3. Launch of iAds

When Apple acquired Qattro Wireless the iAd formats with rich media had already been developed but Apple took it and turned it into a great new innovation. Although the impact in terms of mobile advertising was very small in 2010 iAds has set the benchmark for mobile ads for the next couple of years.

4. Launch of 50+ appstores by operators and handset manufacturers

The openness of Android is both good and bad in terms of security, fragmentation and developer control. One slightly unexpected result however is that everyone is now launching their own appstores. In 2010 Android appstores were launched by Vodafone, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless, Orange, Sony-Ericsson, LG, Samsung and many many more. We expect this trend to continue in 2011 making distribution of Android apps more challenging for developers but also giving them more opportunities to sell and promote their apps.

5. Blackberry proving that they can hold the fort

Many analysts thought that RIM was down for the count in the beginning of 2010 with the competition from iPhone and Android but over and over again they have beaten forecasts in terms of sales. Maybe there is demand for something different than the iPhone even though the app environment and browser is nowhere close even on the latest Blackberry 6 devices? And it will be interesting to see what is yet to come. In the past 12 months RIM have acquired one user interface expert (TAT), one SDK developer (QNX) to be used as basis for the new tablets and a couple of app developers (DataViz and Cellmania).

Our predictions for 2011 are

1. Smartphones for everyone

The price of Android phones is dropping drastically with the low end expected to reach 30-40 euro by the end of 2011.* You can already buy a ZTE Blade for about 120 euro with a specification similar to the Nexus One and other manufacturers such as LG, Huewai, Lenovo and Dell will launch low-end Android phones throughout 2011. In addition to this Nokia will continue to offer Symbian for as little as 50 euro and RIM will offer Blackberries at around the 100 Euro mark. There may also be some surprises from Apple with iOS and HP with WebOS. The exciting thing about the drastic drop in prices is that smartphones will reach mass market allowing businesses and developers to reach a much greater audience. The challenge will be to see if app usage is still sustainable or if the early adopters have a different behaviour.

* All quoted prices are list prices for an unlocked phone without contract. Prices with contracts vary depending on country and operator.

2. Mobile is going from a marketing to a business critical channel

In 2009 we talked about mobile advertising shifting to mobile marketing. Now it's time for the next phase. Based on soft launches in 2008-2010 many brands are now seeing mobile deliver substantial revenues with examples including Opentable, eBay, Amazon and Domino's Pizza. Retail brands such as H&M, Zara, GAP are now following suite with major investments expecting that the mobile channel could be as big as the web or even bigger.

3. Multi-platform strategies will be the key to successful mobile strategies

Although a lot of businesses are now turning to mobile web including XHTML and HTML5 as the base platform for their mobile business, downloadable apps continue to drive innovation and discovery. The app platforms continue to develop extremely rapidly with at least one major release per year from Apple, Google, HP/Palm with new functionality and business opportunities. Mobile web on the other hand is based on standards with considerably slower evolution since everyone needs to agree. Therefore the gap between native apps and browser based services will only get larger for now. Mobile browsers could potentially evolve as fast as the apps but then the advantages of standardised coding would disappear. In conclusion businesses and developers that want to stay ahead in mobile will have to develop for and support multiple platforms including XHTML, HTML5, iOS, Android and maybe Symbian/MeeGo, Blackberry and Windows Mobile 7.

4. Breakthrough for m-payments and NFC

With Google introducing NFC (Near Field Communication) support with the launch of Nexus S and Apple expected to follow with NFC on the iPhone 5 we expect a breakthrough for NFC and related services in 2011 although the eco system will take a long time to develop. In Japan NFC already has already replaced tickets and magnetic cards on the tube and allows you to pay for physical good in stores just like a debit card. And the potential services that can be offered are almost endless. NFC equipped devices should in theory be able to communicate or listen to RFID chips that are already everywhere. We could put sensors in flower pots that tell your phone when they need to get watered, products in the store could give you information instantly without the need for barcode scanning, the phone could store your loyalty cards for air miles or hotels.

The breakthrough in 2011 will be in terms of innovation and initiatives by major players rather than mass market adaptation which will still take many years.

5. Rapid growth for tools that improve mobile service and app delivery

This was a prediction for 2010 that did not materialise but we have not given up. Historically businesses that offer developer and service delivery tools in mobile have not been very successful with the greatest exception being Admob. The reason has mainly been that the buyers haven't had sufficient skills and knowledge to use self-service tools and therefore preferred to buy a full service offering making it difficult for mobile marketing companies to establish scalable business models. Another reason is that few marketing agencies want to use template based solutions something Golden Gekko has experienced with Tino as well as Mobile Rhodi with their service. In 2011 we believe that this will change with more experienced marketers and better tools. The main areas of development will be mobile ad serving (Adfonic), CRM and messaging services (e.g. texting.ly), mobile content management systems (thinkshed), self-service app development services (Tino and Mobile Roadie) and appstore distribution.

Happy New Year 2011!

The opportunity of iAds

What do we think?

When iAds was launched earlier this year the Financial Times called me and asked what we thought about the announcement and it's impact on the industry. I said I was excited about the richness and simplicity and that I was convinced it would give the mobile advertising industry exactly what it needs in terms of strong backing (Apple) and setting a new industry benchmark.

Since then Apple has officially launched the product and sold inventory for about 40m USD so what do I think now? When should you use iAds?

iAds are fantastic in terms of attracting customers to engage with rich media. If you want guaranteed eye balls and engagement then iAds can be a great start. Especially now that media is excited about iAds and will write about it therefore generate positive PR.

Does iAds replace mobile apps?

In my opionion iAds replace mobile microsites and not apps. The advantage of apps compared to iAds are...

1. Apps are available offline and iAds are not
2. Apps can give you very low cost engagement per customer if you have a strong brand and/or concept, e.g. an app that costs 40k USD to develop and generates 100k downloads cost 0.4 USD per engagement vs 1 USD per click for iAds at the moment which would cost you 100k USD for the same engagement

How do you reach customers on other platforms such as Android and Blackberry?

Our expectation is that other mobile advertising platform providers such as Google and Microsoft will quickly follow with similar formats based on HTML5 and that mobile web and iAds will merge over time as the user experience will be almost exactly the same.

Posted by Magnus Jern CEO of Golden Gekko