Today is a reality that most users access the Internet through mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. So if companies previously developed their website assuming it would be accessed via a computer, today the reality is changing. In fact, many websites today are mostly accessed by mobile devices. This makes it imperative for companies to optimize the way they expose their services online. There are two main options that we will cover in this article: Mobile Applications and Responsive Websites.
A smartphone app allows you to install the app on your device and it remains native in your system. So, whenever you want to view some kind of information about your business, you don't have to open the browser and enter your address. An advantage of this approach is that, at least psychologically, it stays closer to its customers. Being installed on smartphones is as if your brand were permanently present in your customers' pocket. On the other hand, the application development may include useful features for customers who make use of the technologies present in a smartphone. For example, the app may allow you to open an user account, where you can attach a photo of yourself taken directly through the smartphone camera. However, these applications have the disadvantage that they may need separate development depending on the intended mobile operating system.
A responsive website is a website developed using technologies that allow it to adapt properly to various screen sizes. Older websites did not have this feature so their content could appear unformatted or too small on smaller screens. By developing a responsive website you are assured that it will adapt correctly to screens of various sizes. This will make your website look as good as possible, given the screen size of the device you are using to access the website.
Usually this solution has an advantage over mobile applications which has to do with the costs and production time involved. Developing a responsive website tends to cost less than developing a mobile application from scratch. Project execution time is also usually shorter when developing a website.
Access to websites via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is an unavoidable reality today. Thus, companies should seek to optimize his mobile website so that they can be properly displayed on these devices. An alternative to responsive websites is to develop your own mobile application. The advantage of this is that you can take advantage of other native features of the client device. On the other hand, this option often has added costs when compared to developing a responsive website.