Mobile Websites vs Mobile Apps

As mobile use continues to grow worldwide, the “app vs web” question will remain a very real consideration for a business seeking to establish a mobile presence.

Mobile websites are similar to traditional websites in that they are comprised of browser-based HTML pages that link together and are accessed via the Internet. An obvious difference between a mobile website and a standard website is that it is designed for handheld displays and touch-screens. The concept of responsive web design is becoming the new standard for building websites that are not only mobile-friendly, but also can scale to any sized device, including tablets and handheld smartphones.

As with any website, mobile websites/responsive sites can display text content, data, images, and videos. They can also access mobile-specific features such as click-to-call or location-based mapping.

Rather than being rendered in a browser, apps are downloaded and installed on your mobile device. Apps can be found and downloaded via device-specific portals such as Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store. Depending on the app, content and data may be pulled from the Internet, such as a website, or downloaded, so that it can be accessed without an Internet connection.

The advantages of a mobile website include:

Immediately available - A mobile website is instantly accessible to users via a browser across a range of devices. Apps on the other hand require the user to first download and install the app from an app marketplace before the content or application can be viewed.

Can be found more easily - Mobile websites are much easier for users to find because their pages can be displayed in search results and listed in industry-specific directories, making it easy for visitors to find a business. In contrast, the visibility of apps is largely restricted to manufacturer app stores.

Customer acquisition tool - The mobile website is considered to be a “customer acquisition” tool as it provides the user with a mobile experience. The majority of mobile users will find a business’s details via a search engine or links to the business’s website as opposed to directly typing in the web address into their mobile phone browser. Therefore all of this mobile traffic that a business generates can be harnessed with their mobile website.

Whereas the advantages of Mobile apps are:

Regular Usage/Personalization – If your target users are going to be using your app in a personalized fashion on a regular basis then a native app provides a great way to do that that is easily accessible in almost all scenarios. 

Push Notifications - An inherent capability of apps is the ability to send push notifications to users who have the app installed on their device, giving app publishers or business the ability to send messages to users directly. Also interesting to note is that many browsers now allow web-based push notifications, allowing website owners to similarly send notifications to visitors who opt-in on both desktop and compatible mobile devices.

Customer retention - the mobile app has long been considered a “customer retention” tool as it aims to reward and retain customers for the long term. The mobile app is very much targeted at a business’s existing customers, those customers that have already interacted with the business in the past and have built up an association with the business. Since the mobile app is focused on giving the customer an interactive experience, it aids the process of building a strong relationship between the business and the customer.

As mobile use continues to grow worldwide, the “app vs web” question will remain a very real consideration for a business seeking to establish a mobile presence. It's also important to remember that a mobile/responsive website and a native app are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Many businesses have both a mobile-friendly public website for their general web presence, as well as a downloadable native app to accommodate more specific requirements. In the end, it's all about choosing the right tool for the job.

A business can have more control and can engage with more customers thanks to mobile apps. Website design should also be an important part of any businesses digital marketing strategy, as it is one of the best marketing and sales tools.