Mobile Site vs. Mobile App

Now I don't want to insult the intelligence of any of you technophiles out there, but there are some folks who are a bit confused about this whole mobile site vs. mobile app business.

Basically your smart phone, (i.e. iPhone, Android, Blackberry) is a little computer. That computer can surf the web using a browser or it can run programs which are...apps! Instead of buying your programs at a brick and mortar store, you buy them at the "app" store and they are downloaded and installed on your phone.

So a "mobile site" is a website that you visit in a browser on your phone, and a "mobile app" is a small program that you purchase from the app store (or download for free from that store) and install onto your phone.

Both a mobile site and your mobile app can pull information off the Internet if you are connected. However, most if not all of the functionality of a mobile app is available, even if you are not connected to the Internet.

For example, if you were visiting an amusement park and that park had a mobile website, you could visit that mobile site and get a lot of information about the park. However, if you did not have an Internet connection while in the park or the connection was poor, the experience could be bad. You may get some information, slow information or none at all. However, if that amusement park has a mobile app that you can download from the app store, you will be able to use the application to find out about ride information, full GPS mapping and even where your friends are in the park, all without an Internet connection!

Mobile sites are important too. If website owners look at their traffic reports they will see regular visitors to their site of 10-20%* or more are accessing their website from a mobile phone. If you have a website and it is important to you that this large segment of your audience be able to see and navigate your site easily on their phone, you need a mobile website. If 10-20% of your users were using a new browser, wouldn't you want your website optimized to look good in that browser?

When a visitor comes to your website, the server can detect what type of device they are using whether it is a desktop computer or an iPhone and display a different interface that is easiest to use. So if you have a mobile site, and someone comes to your web address on their phone, it will automatically show them the mobile site. Mobile sites can also access gps information and serve up conditional content based on the visitors geographic location. Your desktop website can't do that! However, a mobile site needs to have information formatted to be easy to get around and easy to read on a phone. If you have ever tried to visit a site that is not optimized for a phone, you will know how difficult it can be to get around.

Mobile Apps can be for more than just consumers and customers; they can also help with business practices. Now everyone in your company who has a smart phone has a "mobile computer" that can run programs that allow them to do work in the field and on the fly. Custom "apps" can be built for your company's needs and side loaded onto your phones only bypassing the stores. These apps can help reps in the field get and input important information.

Using the amusement park example from above, supervisors or other workers in the park could transmit ride wait times, crowd information or incident reports right from their phone via a custom secure mobile application.

So an app is a program, like a game or an email client that can run on your smartphone. A mobile site is a mobile viewing optimized version of a website that displays on a mobile phone in the mobile browser.

Mobile phones are not going anywhere and smartphone usage is increasing every year. Companies who recognize the value of mobile technology both for marketing and for operations will be ahead of the competition.