Business Apps. Which is better? Native or web-based?

Continuing on with some of the themes I discussed on Talking Technology earlier this month, I’d like to talk about another concern among small to medium business owners. What do you do to take care of all the people out there using mobile phones and other devices? Should you build an app for your business, and if you do choose to go down that road, how should you do it?

There is a difference between a business app and a mobile website. A mobile website is a scaled down version of your website, made to look good on a mobile phone. It includes everything normally found on your website, just in a smaller form. As a matter of fact, more web designers and developers are including mobile and tablet websites as a package with the websites they sell to their clients. People who walk through the door get everything in a one stop shop.

Apps are different. Apps live on your mobile phone (or iPod or whatever you like), and they work totally fine offline. Because they have more access to the resources on your phone, they can do a lot more interesting things. A good example of an app is a video game like Angry Birds. The graphics are sharp and crystal clear, and the animation runs flawlessly. You’d be hard-pressed to find the same experience with a mobile website.

As a developer, it’s a lot more fun to build native apps. The tools are a lot nicer, and you get more control over the experience. It’s funny. People complain about Apple’s iPhone being a “closed” environment, but your opinion will change rather quickly once you start using their developer tools. Superior doesn’t even come close to describing it.

What’s with web apps?
There’s a third category that’s somewhere in between. It doesn’t quite know what it is. I’m talking about web apps. Web apps are mobile websites that are built to look and feel like a native app. Most of them only work when you’re online, but some of them also work when you’re offline. The idea behind them is to create a single app that works on every imaginable smartphone or tablet-like device.

Is a web app really just a mobile website? I think you could make a pretty good argument that it is. I’m more inclined to think that if it’s just a website masked as an app, then who are we really kidding? Shouldn’t an app be something that does a unique thing? Shouldn’t it have some sort of usefulness that separates it from a standard website? You, of course, are free to draw your own conclusions.

Which one to choose?
I think all businesses need to have a mobile website. Whether they need to have an app is up for debate. A mobile website will make your website viewable to anyone anywhere with practically any device. That’s incredibly useful, especially as the world continues to adopt more and more of these devices. Pretty soon it will be an absolute necessity (if it isn’t already).

For an app to make sense from a business perspective, it needs to do things that a mobile website can’t do. If you’re building an app just to get your name onto the App Store, you aren’t building it for the right reasons. You need to have a feature in mind, something that taps into the power of the mobile device itself.

So maybe you’re a law firm and you want a simple app that your customers can use to send a voice recording or video of their legal plight to your offices for review. Maybe you’re a bank that wants to offer a quick and easy way for your customers to view their latest transactions. These are great reasons to build an app.

If you already have a great mobile website, and you want to turn it into an app without adding any extra value, why bother? Your website is fine. People will find you through that. And if somebody downloads your app, they’ll think it’s a farce because it doesn’t do anything interesting. Don’t create an app around your already existing website. Create an app that’s actually useful, and use it to advertise your business. That’s the best way to leverage the true potential of apps.

I’ve never been big on sales. Allow me to rephrase that. I am big on sales, but not the kind of sales that leave clients scratching their heads. My company, Hypnotic Zoo, works in web and mobile app development. We know how tech salespeople can be. They’ll mystify you with features you don’t need, all to sign as many clients as they can. We’re all about making lots of sales. We just want to make sure we’re selling you the right things. More importantly, we want to know you’re ready to work with us.

The topic came up during a conversation I had when I appeared on RMIT’s Talking Technology in mid-October. I was asked how we get our clients to commit to a mobile app for their business. The truth is this. There is no coercion involved. By the time our clients are ready for a mobile app, we’ve been working with them for quite some time. At that point, it’s a natural next step for both of us.

This is the way we’ve been operating for as long as we’ve been around, and we think it’s the right way to do business. We like to think of ourselves as website physicians. When you come to see us, we do a quick health check first. We have a look at your current website, see how you’re doing with SEO, and then we ask you a series of questions to see just how far into this you’ve gotten. Only after a thorough assessment do we start offering treatment options.

To be quite honest, you might not need us. We’re okay with that. We’d rather you be comfortable taking the next step than having any reservations. Some of our clients are excited to continue on with us, and others are happy where they are. We’d rather be the doctor. We’d rather tell you what your situation is and what you can do to improve it. If you want to work with us, great. If not, that’s fine too.

After we take enough baby steps, we’ll take off the training wheels and hit our stride. By then, you’ll be comfortable enough with the direction we’re going together. In our view, it’s a lot better than trying to sell every client who comes into our sights.