In recent years, the rate of mobile adoption is increasing rapidly among businesses. Why? – Because sleeker designs, higher affordable rates, and increased convenience have led to augmented usage of mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. Many brands and businesses require mobile presence to increase their brand value and provide a competitive edge to their businesses. And, mobile website and mobile app is a channel for adopting mobility in their businesses because any one of them or both can help their businesses boost sales, retain targeted customers and expand their reach. But, which type of mobile presence is best for your business? A Mobile App or a Website? Or should you have both?
Business Needs a Mobile App or Mobile Website
However, both mobile websites and mobile apps help businesses capture their target audiences and let their customers find and access their businesses from devices they use the most, but mobile website and mobile app are not similar. They both are important and play a key role in showing mobile presence. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two and how they can benefit your business.
What is a mobile website?
The mobile website basically refers to access the World Wide Web through handheld devices including smartphones, tablets or a feature phone. It is specifically designed for smaller screens and touch-screen capabilities of smartphones and tablets. Mobile website can easily be accessed using any mobile device’s Web browser, like Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android. How it works? – Just type the URL or click on the link of the website you want to open, and by automatically detecting the mobile device, page will be redirected to the mobile version of the website.
Benefits
- Mobile Website makes regular websites more accessible for mobile users.
- It incorporates all the same elements as the regular version of the website including its look and feel, layout, pages, text, images, and other content. But, through its mobile-friendly layout, it offers enhanced readability and functionality when accessed through a smartphone or tablet.
- One of the most important features is users can access the website anytime, anywhere using any device, without even compromising the user experience.
What is a mobile app?
Mobile applications are becoming very popular among brands and businesses now days. It works only on smartphones and tablets. Unlike a mobile website, a mobile app needs to be downloaded and installed from an app marketplace. Every different mobile brand has its own play store like Apple has its own App Store and Android’s has its own Google Playstore, which is flooded with apps.
Benefits
Although a mobile app works a lot like a mobile website, a mobile app gives businesses the advantage of having their own corner on a user’s device.
- Mobile apps offer more close targeting as compared to mobile website because users need to download the app for using it. And, that helps businesses in knowing who their target audiences are and what their behavior and preferences are.
- Mobile apps provide easy to deploy functionality and use mobile payments through a single platform.
- It’s also much easier to access a mobile app than a mobile website because an app needs just one tap to open it, and to open a Web browser through mobile website user needs to type a URL.
Features of a mobile website and mobile app
However, mobile websites and mobile apps are not similar, but they both offer an array of similar features that help businesses grow rapidly by making it easier for your customers to find and reach you. Let’s take a look on their features:
- Offers one-click/one-tap calling: You can be reached by your customers by just one-click or one tap through the mobile website or app.
- Helps in reaching and locating you: By using devices GPS functionality users can easily locate your business and instantly get directions.
- Makes your business popular by social sharing: Through integrated social media in your apps and websites, your users can easily share your content with their friends and followers.
- Lets you leverage the Mobile commerce functionality: Mobile apps and website have enabled users to easily use e-commerce online stores through their mobile, smartphones and tablets. Some of the functionalities of m-commerce are Buy Now buttons and mobile carts.
- Helps marketing your businesses -Mobile marketing: As we discussed, mobile web and app provide a channel to easily reach target audiences and capture them through mobile marketing that includes easy launch location-based text-message marketing and email marketing campaigns etc.
How to develop a business-centric Mobile Website and Mobile App?
Developing a business-centric and attention-grabbing website and app is very important to provide a competitive edge to your businesses. One way is to build one yourself with a free mobile website and app builders, which offers you a drag-and-drop platform that doesn’t require programming or designing skills. Another and recommended way is to hire a professional mobile web developer who can build your mobile web and app from scratch or can turn an existing website into a mobile-friendly one. Parangat Technologies is a top-notch web and mobile solutions provider, which has served clients across the world. Our highly skilled developers and industry experts are known to deliver captivating designs and kink-free codes that have helped startups and leading brands/big businesses reach their target audiences and provide a competitive edge to their businesses. Have a look at our portfolio for more!