Mobile Apps vs. Mobile Responsive Websites

1.
Mobilize & Grow Your Business:
Mobile Websites vs. Mobile Apps
Rita D. Robinette

2. Overview
• Mobile APPeal
• Growth of mobile devices
• Future of mobile
• Mobile strategy

3. Mobile APPeal
• Smartphones and other mobile devices are
used by millions everyday to:
– Search for / purchase services and products
– Read the Newspaper
– Check bank accounts / pay bills
– Make hotel reservations
– Listen to music / watch video (1.5 million apps
available in the Apple app store and Google Play)
– Conduct social interactions (Facebook,
Foursquare, etc.)

4. NowThen

5. Mobile APPeal
• 1/3 of world population has Internet access
• 2x as many people have mobile Internet
access compared to fixed connections
• 70% of people in developed countries have
Internet access
• 7 billion people on earth
• 6 billion cell phone subscribers
Source: International Telecommunications Union, Measuring the Information Society (10-11-2012)

6. Growth of Mobile
• 88% of American adults have a cell phone
• 46% of all adults own a Smartphone
• 44% of Smartphone owners access the
internet on their device
• 57% have a laptop
• 19% of adults own a tablet
• 19% have an eBook reader
Source: PEW Research Center
Did You Know?

7. The Future of Mobile
• 2013:
– Number of mobile-connected devices will exceed
the world’s population
• 2017:
– Mobile video will represent 66% of all mobile data
traffic.
– Tablets will account for more than 12% of global
mobile data traffic.
Source: Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017

10. Why Do I Need a Mobile Web Site or
Mobile Web App?
• The Speed of Business is Getting Faster
– Customers expect instant responses
– Customers expect better service
– Customers & prospects expect to find my products or
services 24/7
– Prospects expect easy access to information
• Products / services
• Business hours
• Phone numbers / one click to call
• Map/directions

11. Majority of Small Businesses Using
Mobile Connected Devices
Small Business Customers are
using mobile devices to conduct
business, too!
68% of small business use their
mobile devices in tandem with
their stationery / desktop
computers to check messages,
email and texts.

14. One Half of all Local
Searches are performed
on Mobile Devices
Customers who visit a
mobile unfriendly site
will likely go to a
competitors site.
With more & more people accessing websites through
mobile web browsers, it’s time to
Mobilize & Grow Your Business

15. Mobile Strategy

16. Mobilize & Grow Your Business
• Engage customers
– One click to call
– Maps and directions
– Share news
– Video (YouTube)
– Image gallery
– Enable visitors to share information on your
business via Facebook, Twitter, Google+

17. Mobilize & Grow Your Business
• Offer better customer service & experience
– Provide business hours
– Call back (customers can request a call back)
– Leave a message
– Reviews / testimonials
– Custom forms

18. Mobilize & Grow Your Business
• Increase traffic (exposure for your business)
– Highlight products / services
– Offer coupons
– QR Codes
• Increase sales
– One click to call
– Custom order form
– Shopping Cart (Paypal or Google Checkout)
– Take reservations

19. Viewing a Desktop Web Site
with a Mobile Device
• Navigation is difficult, if not impossible
• Scrolling necessary to access information
• Data downloaded too large for mobile devices
• Contact information static

20. Desktop PC vs. Smartphone
• Screen size 19” – 24”
• Horizontal or sidebar
navigation
• Mouse clicks
• Small check boxes /
links
• Images are large and
static
• Contact info is static
• Screen Size 2.75” – 5”
• Collapsible widgets /
sliders
• Finger taps
• Large check boxes /
links
• Images adapt to
browser size
• Contact info interactive
Desktop PC Smartphone

21. You need a mobile-friendly website
or app if you’re going to survive in
this mobile world…

22. Primary Goal:
• Get Noticed – You need to be found where
customers are looking … on the mobile web
• Get Listed – Being optimized for mobile will
improve your listing in top search engines

23. Focus of Mobile Website or App
• Task oriented
• Simplified navigation
• Calls to action
• Clickable phone number
• Clickable address
• Fast loading

24. Options to Mobilize Your Business
• Build a mobile version of your website
– Mobile Responsive Website
– Hosted Mobile Website
• Build a Custom Mobile or Web App
• Think mobile in all your advertising campaigns
or marketing efforts

25. Mobile-Ready Audit
• Simplify the web design to be mobile-friendly
• Make sure mobile users can find what they
want quickly & easily
• Include big icons or buttons for navigation
• Simplify content - shrink the text and use
visual graphics or videos to convey your
message

26. Mobile Responsive Website

28. Mobile Responsive Website
Pros:
• Highly optimized for all mobile devices
• One site to develop & maintain
• One URL
Cons:
• Still a bit “cutting edge” with vendors being
difficult to find
Cost: $800 & up, plus on-going maintenance of
site & URL

29. Hosted Mobile Web App

32. Hosted Mobile Site
Pros:
• Reach a more global audience
• Highly optimized for mobile devices
• Less expensive to build and maintain
• Online tools to build and manage site
• Link to or feed content from main website
Cons:
• Two websites / URLs to maintain
Cost: $300 & up, plus ongoing maintenance of two
sites / URLs

33. Custom Mobile Phone or Web App

34. Native Apps vs. Mobile Apps
NATIVE APPS MOBILE APPS
Viewable by everyone
with a mobile browser,
regardless of their choice
of hardware or operating
system.

35. Custom Mobile Phone or Web App
• Needs to be focused on the end-user’s
experience and expectations
• Like desktop computer software
• Store resources locally
• Utilize the computing power and memory of
the mobile device
• Perform operations instantaneously
• Can be tied into the functionality of the device
(iPhone, Android)

36. Custom Mobile Site / App
Pros:
• Content highly customized for your customers
• Designed for a single screen size or a smaller range of sizes
which gives greater design control over the user interface
• Need to be promoted / advertised
Cons:
• Viewable only with appropriate device(s)
• Requires an HTML5, Android or iPhone/iPad web developer
• Ongoing maintenance by web designer
• Updates may require submission approvals and require
users to download updates
Cost: $500 - $5K, plus monthly hosting fees of $30-$50 and
ongoing maintenance of two site designs

39. Source: Dave Klein (Adobe)

40. Mobile Apps for Business Operations
• Quickoffice Pro – All-in-One Microsoft®
Office online / offline tools
• Dropbox – cloud-based file storage that saves to
your computers, phones and Dropbox website
• Expensify – Ability to snap photos of receipts and
categorize or sync them with your tax and
accounting software
• Evernote – Record and remember everything
that happens (text, photos and audio notes)

41. Be Mobile
or Be History

42. http://Foresite-NC.com/mobile.pdf