Mobile Website Vs. Mobile Application – What fits best for your business?

In times when almost everything is controlled via the smartphone, it is imperative to adapt your website to the size of a cell phone. If you did not do this, the website, which is still displayed normally on the laptop, would be confusing and hardly usable on the smartphone. This adapted form of a website on a smartphone is called a mobile or responsive website. In contrast to or in addition to this, there are of course the classic apps. But where exactly the differences, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of these variants, we will clarify below.

What do I need?

First of all, one should ask oneself what goal should be achieved. Would you like to expand your classic website and also optimize it for the smartphone or should an app enable additional functions? A look at the target group also helps to decide whether a mobile website is sufficient or an app provides a useful additional benefit. Developing an app that in the end offers nothing more than the information that is also on the website does not make much sense. The range of functions is decisive here, as are the devices on which the software is to be used.

Mobile websites with responsive web design

As already mentioned, these are similar to normal websites, just adapted for a smaller screen. This is necessary so that important fields or menu bars do not slip. A badly presented website on the mobile phone is left immediately by the user. To avoid such problems, you can use the possibilities of responsive web design.

The contents of the website remain the same and adapt to the respective size of the device. Images, texts and videos are always organized and rendered meaningfully or displayed. The whole thing can then be extended by call-to-actions, especially for smartphones. For example, a customer can click on the phone number stored on the website and call it directly with a smartphone. This type of programming is particularly useful if you don’t want to expand your website, but just want a smartphone or tablet-friendly version of your site.

Standard and Professional Mobile Application for added value

In contrast to the mobile website, an app is much more complex to program. Also, these are distributed via the respective app stores and must be downloaded to the end device by the user. After the download, the user can usually use the app without an internet connection and always has it as a small icon on the smartphone without going into the browser – the app is always present.

However, an app should only be developed if you want additional functions for your existing internet presence. An app must, therefore, be well thought out and offer real added value. The customer is only ready to download it if the customer benefits from it.
You should also be aware that an app must be advertised separately. Unlike the mobile website, this cannot be found or downloaded via the browser. The customer must therefore consciously search for your app in the respective store. But here too, of course, various so-called App Store Optimization measures can be taken. We would be happy to advise you separately on this topic.

Conclusion

To ultimately be able to make a decision, it is important to know your target group and to know what benefits the application should have. A mobile website is less complex than programming an app. Additional functions, which may promise the customer additional benefits, are only possible with the classic app variant.

Also, you should consider that the mobile website makes sense in all cases so that customers always have the best possible view of your website on their smartphones. An app, on the other hand, is an extension and also more expensive. In some cases, however, it is extremely used to offer customers the best possible performance thanks to additional functions.

If you have any questions about the different variants of app development or would like to know which method is most suitable for your project, Contact Us. We are happy to assist you. If you are looking for a web development, website maintenance service, website design service and other related web development services, please explore our Web Development Services!

If you are looking for a mobile application development including android, iOS, React Native and Flutter app development, please explore our mobile app development services! We also provide mobile application maintenance and support, mobile application security audit. for more information, please visit our mobile app maintenance services!