Mobile use has exploded in recent years presenting an interesting dilemma for small and medium-sized business owners in NZ – should you invest in a new website, an app, or both?
After all, you want to engage your customers in a way that is most relevant to them. If they use their phones a lot, then is an app the best way to go? What advantages do websites offer that apps can’t?
When considering this question, you shouldn’t simply think of it as a website vs app equation. Instead, you should think about the mobile-friendly version of your website.
Web developers normally make your website mobile-friendly by using a responsive design. This means your website dynamically changes according to the device of the user.
So, let’s narrow the question down further – should you invest in a responsive website that is 100 percent mobile-friendly, or should you go for an app instead?
For most small businesses, the answer is almost always a mobile-friendly website. This is because businesses in most industries will struggle to get real and tangible benefits from having an app. In addition, a mobile-friendly website will deliver significantly higher returns on investment.
Why? Here are the main advantages of having a mobile-friendly website:
What about situations where it does make sense to have an app. Generally, your app should meet one or more of the following four requirements to make it a worthwhile investment:
As you can see, however, the above requirements are very specific. In most cases, a website is the best way to go, providing it is fully mobile-friendly.
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