Build A Mobile Website

Being a Web development company located in Indianapolis, we naturally receive a number of requests, whether it be from current clients or new prospects, about developing a mobile app for them.  As we do with every engagement, we immediately ask, “why?”  Yes, mobile apps seem to be the hottest thing lately but just because there are some really cool apps out there, doesn’t mean that you have a solid business case for developing one.

Quite frankly, with as many mobile smartphone users as there are today and the number expected to increase significantly over the next couple of years, it makes sense that businesses want to have a mobile presence and I would argue that every website nowadays should have some kind of mobile presence.  For mobile apps, just as for standard websites, we at BitWise start out with the same variations of the questions, “What are your business goals (or business case) and who are your audiences?”    So, once we have established solid answers to those questions, then what may be the criteria used for building a mobile app?

More often than not, a mobile website with scaled down graphics, an overview/intro page, contact information that includes an active phone number (to initiate a call with the push of a button), an active address (to enable mapping/directions), and perhaps a simple contact form will accomplish what you need.  However, when might a mobile app make more business sense vs. a mobile website?  Here are some qualifiers that I would use to determine when a mobile app makes sense:

Need Functionality While Disconnected from the Internet – there are instances when people may still need to do various things when they don’t have access to the internet.  For example, games, such as Angry Birds, one wants to be able to play without necessarily being connected to the Internet.  And from a business perspective, an example may be that employees and customers may need an application that will allow them to reference product information when they are disconnected from the Internet.Location Based Functionality – sometimes the goal requires the ability to locate the user and interact with them based on that location.  The GPS locator built into the mobile device cannot (easily) interact via the Internet the way it can with a mobile application.  So, leveraging the GPS functionality of the mobile platform is another reason to build a mobile application.  For example, a restaurant or other retail location may want to provide a “find the nearest location” application bundled with other good information, such as menus.Rich User Experience – You can only do so much, practically, via a browser and a mobile Internet connection.  However, an app can take advantage of the presentation and other functionality (such as the personal nature of interacting with the app via touch) native to the mobile platform for a much richer, faster, and sophisticated user experience.

a.  Augmented Reality– As a subset of the rich user experience, when the application requires use of the users surroundings, a mobile app is the only way to
achieve a truly augmented reality.

If the above criteria are met, then the only other caveat is deciding what platform(s) to build on.  We are then back to the “who is your audience” question and a look at your current website analytics data may give some clues as to which direction to go.

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