Mobile App

==== ====Hello from user. Check this out.www.mobileblogdollar.com==== ====As more and more mobile smart phones are sold, the buzz around mobile apps gets ever louder.So, every business should rush out and get a mobile app developed - right? Maybe not.The low-down on mobile apps and mobile websites.Lets get the definitions out of the way. Mobile apps are basically small applications that youdownload and run on your feature phone or smart phone. An app will run locally on your handsetand may or may not access services on the web to update and refresh the content thatsdisplayed. In contrast, a mobile website is basically a slimmed down version of a normal websitethats optimised for the smaller display area thats typical of feature phones and smart phones.Mobile websites are generally accessed via a browser application on your handset.Which one should I choose for my business?Well, for starters, mobile apps are cool and thanks to the Apple iPhone and Google Android appstores, they are easier than ever to access and download. You will need to develop a differentversion of your app for each major mobile operating system though - about 4 or 5 of those at themoment.On the other hand, a properly designed mobile website can be viewed on pretty much any mobilethat has web access. You cant do as much with them as you could with an app though, since theyrely on web technologies and dont have access to all the fancy built-in-features that an apprunning natively on your handset will have - stuff like the camera, GPS module, address book.Theres always a catch.The best option will depend on your business. We cant give you the answer, but we can hopefullygive you some helpful advice before you go spending any of that critical marketing budget. Ignorethe hype, forget about the cool factor, and consider the following important points before makingyour decision - Need. Audience. Budget.Do I really need a mobile app or mobile website?Before starting out, its worth writing down your list of reasons for creating a mobile app or mobilewebsite for your business. Think about what you would like to achieve and what you would likeyour product to do.Are you trying to create a potential new revenue stream? Are you looking for new ways to promoteyour business? Are you targeting other businesses or consumers? How do customers access yourexisting products and services? Will your product display interactive content or will it be used as a

static information portal? How often will you be updating content? What type of content will you bedisplaying? Is your product fun or unique? Will it always require internet access?We could go on and on but ultimately its not a question of whether you need a mobile app ormobile website. Rather, its about what is best for your business and we can only give someguidelines.If you dont already have a website or are in the middle of building one, ask your web developersto build it in such a way that it will be optmised for mobile. It may require an extra outlay but will beless costly than starting from scratch.If your existing website is relatively static but would like to enhance your online presence and getthe benefits of mobile advertising, consider a mobile website. Site visitors coming from mobile adclicks will get a good first impression of your business when they are presented with easilyreadable information formatted nicely for their mobile phone.If your product is for fun, is highly interactive, is intended as a standalone marketing tool orrevenue generator, is designed to be used offline, or requires users to regularly access large videoor media files it probably makes more sense to go down the mobile app route.Who are the audience for my mobile app or mobile website?When we talk about audience, we are referring to two very separate ideas - the target market foryour business and the overall set of people that can actually access mobile apps and mobileoptimised websites.First off, think about your existing customer base and how they currently interact with yourbusiness through your website, RSS feeds, Facebook pages, and LinkedIn profile. Since smartphones will only become more and more prevalent, a mobile app or website will give you a goodplatform to build on existing customer relationships and extend your reach to a population that isbecoming increasingly mobile.If your main aim is to increase your profile and presence in the mobile space, its a good idea tostart off by taking advantage of existing technologies. If people are using Facebook on their mobileand click a link on your Fanpage for more information, its a good bet that unless your page loadsin a few seconds and displays well, they will give up and go somewhere else pretty fast. Bottomline - best to make sure any pages you link to from your social media sites load quickly, displayrelevant information, and look good on mobile.The main benefit of a mobile website is its large audience reach. A site that is properly optimisedfor mobile should display well on the majority of feature phones and smart phones that are web-enabled. However, when you move into the realm of apps, things become a whole lot different.Since apps are mainly confined to smart phones, your target audience is narrowed to the phonesor platform(s) your application is designed to run on and the percentage of people actively usingeach platform.Our main advice to you here is before going down the app route, consider the size of your ownpotential business audience and find out how many of them are using the 5 major smart phone

operating systems: iOS (iPhone), Android, Blackberry OS, Symbian (Nokia), and Windows. Bydoing this, you will get a good feel for how many versions of an app you should potentiallydevelop.How much should I budget for a mobile app or mobile website?Answer: How long is a piece of string? There really is no easy answer to this. It will come down toexactly what you want to achieve and what you want your site or app to be able to do andultimately who you get to do it. It would be unfair to even give guide prices but what we can say isthat any prices you are quoted should be grounded in reality.If your site is based on WordPress or some similar content management system, there may befree or low-cost plugins available to display the pages optimised for mobile. If your main websitewas built using recent technologies like xhtml and css, optimising it for mobile should not be thatdifficult or costly, assuming it has mostly static content. If it has more dynamic content with lots ofbells and whistles, dont be tempted to just replicate each page. Limit your site to the pages thatwill transfer well to smaller mobile screens.On the mobile app side, the costs can range from hundreds to tens of thousands, depending onthe complexity of the app and the number of platforms it will be developed for. There are sites onthe web where you can create basic apps for free but these will typically be limited to a predefinedset of templates that allow minimal modifications. Some may also charge for hosting content whichis something to watch out for.Philip Culbert is the Sales and Marketing Manager with uMobilize Promotions. They are theproviders of the uConnect mobile marketing platform. To find out more about uConnect visithttp://www.uConnectsms.co.uk or http://www.uConnect.ieContact Information:Philip CulbertuMobilize Promotions LtdSales & Marketing ManagerE: Philip.Culbert@uMobilize.ieT: +353-61-503040Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Culbert

==== ====Hello from user. Check this out.www.mobileblogdollar.com==== ====

Mobile App

by biglou638 on Jan 10, 2012

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