In addition to reviewing Android Apps here and at DroidGamers.com, I help small businesses get online via web design, hosting, and web marketing. One of the big questions facing small business today is if they really need a mobile app.
I recently read the article by Greg Sterling over at Marketing Land called Mobile Apps vs. the Mobile Web: “It Doesn’t Matter to Consumers”. It is an interesting post about a PEW report that came out recently. In that report the question was posted, what will dominate in the end of the decade, apps or mobile websites. The majority of responses felt the mobile sites would dominate. Right now though, it is about equal.
You can view the full report if you want but I liked how Greg ended his post:
Although the report doesn’t address this, the apps vs. web discussion is another way of having the iOS vs. Android debate.
While the apps vs. mobile web argument does matter to marketers and developers, most users don’t think the same way. Indeed, a surprising number of people couldn’t tell you the difference between an app and a mobile website anyway.
As one respondent put it, “People never cared about the Web vs. apps and devices . . . They want free stuff, entertainment, and services when they want them, and on the device they have in front of them.”
So what do you think? Do you favor mobile sites over apps or vise versa? Personally, there are many sites or services that I would definitely like an app over a mobile site. I think an app can clear away some of the excess stuff and give me what I need.
This also raises the question, does a small business really need a mobile app? Right now I would say it depends on the business you are in. Service type industries should probably have one. A mobile site should definitely be done no matter what you do or provide, but then I would ask myself , What would an app do for me that a mobile site could not?
As a small business you want to reach as many people as possible- a website and mobile website would do that. Now an app would do that also, but right now might not be as easy as marketing a website. With the growth of smartphones, do not totally write off apps.
Let me know what you think.
