Mobile App Or Website? 10 Reasons Why Apps Are Better

#10 Apps can work faster than websites ... A well-designed mobile app can perform actions much quicker than a mobile website. Apps usually store ... REQUESTDEMONOW Dashboard EN DE ES ENDEES Blog Usecase Usecase ConversionRateOptimization CustomerEngagement CustomerExperience UsabilityTesting LandingPageOptimization GrowTrafficandSubscribers VisitorBehaviourAnalysis CartAbandonment WebsiteRedesign WebsiteOptimization WebsiteAnalysis ExperimentationPlatform Monthlyletters Monthlyletters LettersFromtheFounder LettersFromtheEditor ProductUpdates Languages EN DE ES ENDEES VWOFullstack MobileAppTesting EnhanceYourIn-AppUserExperienceByRapidlyTestingNewIdeas Learnwhichexperiencesworkbestwithyourcustomersandunlockhigheruserengagement,retention,andconversions. RequestDemo KnowMore Complieswith: Wetweetusefulstuffdaily Follow@VWO Relatedcontent: MobileAppTesting Guide MobileAppOrWebsite?10ReasonsWhyAppsAreBetter NitinDeshdeep LastUpdated:September29,2021 9MinRead Sothemobileeraishere—today,thenumberofmobileusersisgreaterthanthenumberofdesktopusers! Consequently,businesseshaverealizedtheneedtoattractcustomersbyeffectivelyusingmobilechannels.Butthat’snotenough.Theyalsoneedtooptimizetheirmobileappsandwebsitestoimproveuserexperienceandoutdotheirconversionratestomakethemostofthischannel.  Whilesomebusinessesemploybothmobilewebsitesandapps,othercompaniesmightchooseoneofthetwo.Thechoicebetweenmobileappsandwebsitesdependsontheircost,usability,requiredfeatures,andtheaudiencetheyserve. Thatsaid,studiesshowthatusersprefermobileappsmorethanmobilewebsites.Thismakesforasolidreasontocreatemobileappstoreachouttopotential(andexisting)customers. Inaddition,variousotherreasonsmakemobileappsbetterthanmobilewebsites.Followingisourlistofthetop10: #1Mobileappsofferbetterpersonalization Personalizationaimstooffertailoredcommunicationtousersbasedontheirinterests,location,usagebehavior,andmore. Withmobileapps,it’seasytotreatuserswithapersonalizedexperience.UsingamobileappA/Btestingtool,youcanalsotestoutdifferentexperiencesforyourcustomers. Mobileappscanletuserssetuptheirpreferencesatthestart,basedonwhichuserscangetservedwithcustomizedcontent.Appscanalsotrackcustomerengagementthenutilizeittooffercustomrecommendationsandupdatestotheusers.Furthermore,theycanalsoidentifythelocationoftheusersinreal-timetoprovidegeography-specificcontent. Imagesource:Gadgets360 However,improvinguserexperienceisnottheonlypurposethatpersonalizationserves.Itcanalsohelpimprovetheconversionrateofapps. Whenusersgetpamperedwithpersonalizedcontent,theyhaveahigherchanceofconvertingasitoffersahumantouch—opposedtogenericcontentthatseemsratherroboticorautomated.  #2Easeofsendingnotifications Forthelastcoupleofdecades,emailhasbeenthemostwidely-usedbusinesscommunicationtool.Businesseshaveextensivelyusedemail(somealmostabusedit)toreachouttotheirusers.Asaresult,emailhaslosttheeffectivenessitoncehad;itsopenratesandclickrateshaveconstantlydropped. Well,there’snoreasontoworry. Entermobileappnotifications.Thesenotificationsareoftwotypes:pushandin-app.Bothareexcitingalternativesforcommunicatingwithappusersinafarlessintrusivemanner. Theabilitytosendinstant,non-intrusivenotificationstousersissodesirablethatitisoneofthekeyreasonswhymanybusinesseswanttohaveamobileappinthefirstplace. In-appnotificationsarethenotificationsthatuserscanonlyreceivewhentheyhaveopenedanapp.Ontheotherhand,pushnotificationsarethosenotificationsthatuserscanreceiveregardlessofanyactivitytheyaredoingontheirmobiledevice.  Therehavebeeninstanceswherethepushmediumofnotificationshasdeliveredclick-throughratesof40%.Ifyouchooseamobilewebsiteorhaveonewhilebuildinganapp,youcansendyourpushnotificationswithVWOEngage.  Signupforafreetrialandseehoweasyitistosendnotificationstobothyourdesktopandmobileusers. #3Makinguseofmobiledevicefeatures Mobileappshavetheadvantageofutilizingfeaturesofamobiledevicelikeacamera,contactlist,GPS,phonecalls,accelerometer,compass,etc. Imagesource:Techcrunch Suchdevicefeatures,whenusedwithinanapp,canmaketheuserexperienceinteractiveandfun. Moreover,thesefeaturescanalsoreducetheeffortsuserswouldhavetomakeotherwise.Forinstance,userscompletingaformonabankingappmightneedtosubmittheirphotographstocompletetheprocess.Theappcanenableuserstousetheirmobilecameratocaptureandsubmitphotographs. Theinterrelatedfeaturessignificantlyshortenthetimetakentoperformaparticulartaskinanappandboostconversions. Note:Mobilewebsitescanalsousesomemobilefeatureslikethecamera,GPS,etc.Still,therearetechnologicalconstraintsandprivacyconcernsinutilizingmultimediafeaturesofadevice(whichmobileappscanuse). #4Abilitytoworkoffline Itisprobablythemostfundamentaldifferencebetweenamobilewebsiteandanapp. Likeawebsite,appstoomightrequireinternetconnectivitytoperformmosttasks,buthere’sthedifference:anappcanstillofferbasiccontentandfunctionalitytousersinofflinemode. Let’staketheexampleofabankingappagain. Theappcanprovidefeaturesliketaxcalculation,installmentcalculation,anddeterminationofloanlimits.Thesefeaturescanworkevenwithoutthehelpofaninternetconnection. Note:Eventhoughmobilewebsitescanusecachingtoloadwebpageswithoutaninternetconnection,theycanonlyofferlimitedfunctions. #5Freedomindesigning Withallthetechnologicaladvancementsinwebdesigning,mobilewebsitesstillhavetorelyonbrowserstoperformeventhemostelementaryfunctions.Mobilewebsitesdependonbrowserfeatureslike‘backbutton,’‘refreshbutton,’and‘addressbar’towork. Mobileapps,however,don’thaveanyoftheserestrictions. Amobileappgetsdesignedwithseveralelaboratefunctionsbasedonadvancedgestureslike‘tap,’‘swipe,’‘drag,’‘pinch,’‘hold,’andmore. Imagesource:Macworld Appscanusethesegesturestoofferinnovativefunctionalitythatcanhelpusersperformataskbetter.Forexample,anappcanletusersmovetothenextorpreviousstepusingtheswipegesture. #6Newbrandingexperience Sinceamobileappisdistinctfromacompany’swebsite,ithasthelibertyofofferinganewbrandexperiencetousers.Itmeansthatthecompanycanexperimentwithnewbrandingstylesfortheapp,whichcanbedifferentfromtheregularbrandstyleofthecompany’swebsite(orthecompanyaltogether). Goingastepfurther,companiescanbuildmobileappsspecificallytotransitionintoanewbrandstyleforthemselves. Additionally,amobileappcanalsoallowuserstocustomizeitsappearance,asperusers’liking.Thiscanfurtherhelponthepersonalizationfrontoftheapp. Note:Theconceptofmicrositesworksonsimilarlines.Micrositesofferdistinctbrandexperiencestousers,ascomparedtotheirparentsites.Theyareoftenusedtopromoteasub-brand,anevent,oranewly-launchedservice. #7UsersspendmoretimeonApps Mobileusersspend88%oftheirtimeonmobileappsandjust12%ofthetimeonmobilewebsites. Imagesource:eMarketer Note:Apointtoconsiderhereisthatusersspendamajorityoftheirtimeongamingappsandsocialmediaapps. #8Newstreamofconversions Ifyouintendtoincreaseconversions,thenmobileappscanprovideaneasywaytopushusersdowntheconversionfunnel. Mobileappscanbeusedtoacquirebothtop-of-the-funnel(ToFu)andbottom-of-the-funnel(BoFu)users. Forinstance,utilityappscanbringinToFuusersthatcanbelaternurturedintoBoFuleads.Ontheotherhand,appslikeeCommercealreadyhaveBoFuusers,whohaveahigherpossibilityofconverting. Add-on:Sincemobileappsaremuchmoretargetedinnature(throughtheircontentandutility),youcanusethemtotapspecificusersinthefunnel.Mobilewebsites,incontrast,reachouttoadiversesetofaudiences. #9Brandpresence Usersspendasubstantialamountoftheirtimeonmobiledevices.It’ssafetosaythatmanyusersencountertheappsthey’veinstalledontheirdevicesalmosteveryday.Thisregularencounteractsasabrandingopportunityfortheapps. Evenwhenusersarenotactivelyusingamobileapp,theygetremindedofthebrandassociatedwiththeapp.Theiconoftheappactslikeamini-advertisementforthebrand. Thepresenceofanapponanydevicehelpssubconsciouslyinfluencetheuser’sperceptionofthatbrand. Imagesource:Techtimes ThisuserbehaviortakesinspirationfromtheSignalDetectionTheory,whichsuggeststhatusersprocesseventhoseadsearlierignoredatsomelevelintheirminds. #10Appscanworkfasterthanwebsites Awell-designedmobileappcanperformactionsmuchquickerthanamobilewebsite. Appsusuallystoretheirdatalocallyonmobiledevices,unlikewebsitesthatgenerallyusewebservers.Forthisreason,dataretrievalhappensswiftlyinmobileapps. Appscanfurthersaveusers’timebystoringtheirpreferencesandtakingproactiveactionsonusers’behalf. Thereisalsoatechnicaljustificationastowhymobileappscanworkfaster—Mobilewebsitesusejavascriptcodetoperformmostoftheirfunctions,andtheframeworkthatmobileappsusecanrunalmostfivetimesfasterthanajavascriptcode!Whileallthishappensinthebackground,usersgettocompleteactionsquickeronthefront-endofmobileapps,againcontributingtoadelightfuluserexperience. Mobileappv/smobilesite—whatshouldyouchoose? Developingbothamobilewebsiteandmobileappforyourbusinesscanprovetobeacostlyaffair,andyoumayhavetochooseoneofthetwochannelsbasedonyourbudgetandbusinessgoals.Whilebothchannelshavetheirownprosandcons,mobileappscanhelpyougethigherconversionsandretention.Mobileappsoffergreaterpersonalizationandoperationalefficiency,alongwithmultipleotherexclusivefeatures. However,onceyou’vedesignedaslickmobileapp,howdoyouensureitalsodeliversonallitspromisesanddrivestheintendedgrowthforyourbusinessinsteadofbecomingjustanotherchannelthatyouhavetomanageandmaintain?Well,theanswerissimple—youtestitrigorously.  MobileappA/Btestingallowsyoutosteadilyenhanceyourin-appuserexperiencebyexperimentingwithfeatures,appflows,andotherUI-basedchangestoimproveyourengagement,conversion,andretentionrate.Therefore,whilehavinganupandrunningmobileappisdefinitelythefirststeptowardsengagingwithawholenewaudiencesegment,continuouslyoptimizingitwillhelpyoudrivetangibleimprovementsinyourkeybusinessmetrics.VWOMobileAppTestingisarobustmobileexperimentationplatformthatempowersyoutobuildengagingexperiencesthatdelightusersandlaunchworld-classfeaturesbymitigatinganyrisk.Ifyou’reunsure,requestafreedemobyoneofVWO’sexperimentationexpertstounderstandhowyoucanleverageVWOMobileAppTestingtoimproveyourapp’skeymetrics. FAQsonAppsv/sWebsites Whichistheadvantageofusingamobileapp?Mobileappscanworkoffline.Althoughappstoomightrequireinternetconnectivitytoperformtasks,theycanstillofferbasiccontentandfunctionalitytousersinofflinemode.Whyareappsfasterthanwebsites?Appsusuallystoretheirdatalocallyonmobiledevices,unlikewebsitesthatgenerallyusewebservers.Forthisreason,dataretrievalhappensswiftlyinmobileapps. (Disclaimer:Thispostdoesnotintendtoestablishmobileappsasabetteralternativetomobilewebsites.Itonlylistsoutareaswhereappscanofferbettervaluetobusinessesthanmobilewebsites.) ContinueReading NitinDeshdeep Nitinisatraveler,acinephile,andawebaholic.(Hejustcan'tgetenoughofcatvideos!) Professionally,NitinisamarketeratVWO,wholovestowriteaboutConversionOptimization. MorefromVWOonMobileAppTesting ChoosingtheRightMobileAppA/BTestingTooltoOptimizeYourIn-AppUserExperiences Intoday’smobile-firstworld,itfeelslikeeveryotherblogpostontheinternettalks… ReadMore ShubhiAhluwalia 15MinRead ScaleyourA/BtestingandexperimentationwithVWO. StartFreeTrial StartFreeTrial RequestDemo RequestDemo WorkEmail:* TryVWOForFree InvalidEmail VWOcansendrelevantemailsuntilIunsubscribe. Bysigningup,youagreetoourTerms&PrivacyPolicy Getthisguideinyouremailtoreaditinyourowntime! Thanks!We'vemailedyoutheguide,pleasecheckyourinbox. TheCompleteGuideToA/BTestingbyVWO WhatisA/Btesting? WhyshouldyouconsiderA/Btesting? WhatcanyouA/Btest? HowtorunanA/Btest? A/Btestingmistakesandchallenges Hi,IamShanazfromtheVWOResearchDesk. Joinourcommunityof10,000+Marketing,Product&UXFolkstoday&nevermissthelatestfromtheworldofexperienceoptimization. Avalueforthisfieldisrequired. Keepmeupdatedwithlatestcontent SubscribeNow Thankyou! 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