What’s increasingly becoming a trend in the market today is that more and more businesses are moving to mobile. As the trend increases, there is one debate that is frequently being asked: focusing on mobile internet or building a native mobile app? Which is the best - or is it both?Let’s try to see and come up with a choice by looking at some arguments in favor for the efforts on the mobile internet.
Most organizations often settle on mobile internet as their core mobile strategy because it can be controlled, managed, or edited similarly as the desktop internet. It eliminates the awkwardness of having the two channels up-to-date. We don't have to create a copy of our entire online product when mobile optimization does the job for us. Mobile internet is easy and cheap.
Another argument is that mobile internet is a vital channel when it comes to discovery. Users share links on social media or others may simply want to browse a location and assume they’ll get all that they need. Most people don’t expect a blank page or an invitation to download an app.
Despite the good it brings, something being ‘easy’ is not quite a good reason to take any course of action. The real problem with the mobile internet is that it's awful and consumers hate it. Many huge enterprises still don’t seem capable of building truly responsive mobile experiences - which puts off the entire population from spending large amounts of time on the mobile internet. That’s why most people spend 6 times as much time on mobile apps as on the mobile internet.
An honest truth is that native mobile experience is better - being faster, slicker as well as support richer interactions than mobile internet. It’s also beneficial in getting your brand known through the permanent figure on the home screen of everyone’s smartphone.
There’s also nothing complicated about it with most people having hundreds of apps on their phone and limited amounts of time, they aren’t in the business of spending time with organizations that offer user experiences are ‘good enough’. If you’re not already on the mobile app, then sooner or later your customers will find someone else offering the same service on the mobile app.
Compromising user experience for short-term reasons is the most dangerous mistake any mobile organization can make. Basing on that, it’s crucial to have a mobile app strategy and focus real resources on mobile app development. This doesn’t mean that mobile internet is outdated, but it means - the answer to our original question is either “mobile app alone” or “both app and internet”.
The answer is simple - If you rely on discovery through social channels and you feel downloading the app is too much for many casual visitors, you need both. If you are a fundamentally mobile-first business (Uber, Venmo etc), then just the app is probably good enough. Most media companies, financial institutions, travel companies and retailers use both. While new companies entering into multiple vertical categories using their total mobile focus as a USP deems the app as enough. Yet we must recognize that there’s always a threat in using both versus having the app alone. It’s a common case to get users into the app - which is why a visitor via the mobile internet is almost always asked to download the app.
Not only is an app user better in terms of ongoing engagement (for media companies), but is also experiencing a superior experience that protects them from the competition.
So, in most cases - yes it’s good to have both but the emphasis should always be on the mobile app.
As a final note, we should not limit ourselves with what we can change now because the possibilities are endless and are continuously changing at a rapid pace. As Streamline grows, we grow with your business and help you develop more ways to engage your customers and have a truly provide a valuable user experience. Don't forget to check out our site or leave us some comments below if you think that this article is useful for you or your business.
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