Should your business start with a website or an Android app? Answer five questions about your customers and get a straight answer, with the reasons.
“Do we need an app?” is one of the first questions new clients ask us. Sometimes the answer is yes. Often it’s “not yet”. It depends less on technology and more on how your customers find you and how often they come back.
Answer five quick questions and see where you land.
Why a website usually comes first
People can find it. A website shows up when someone searches Google. An app has to be found in the Play Store, and people rarely search there for a business they haven’t heard of.
No install. A link opens a website straight away, on any phone. An app asks people to download something first, and many won’t for a business they use once or twice a year.
Easier to change. A website change goes live as soon as it’s done. App updates go through the store and reach people only when they update.
One build covers everyone. A good website works on Android, iPhone, tablets and laptops.
When an app earns its place
An app makes sense when people come back often: ordering weekly, checking something daily, logging in for work. It sits on their home screen, one tap away. It can:
- send notifications that bring people back (used carefully, so they don’t get switched off),
- use the camera, location and other phone features more fully,
- keep working with a poor connection or none.
Staff tools are a good example: a delivery team, sales reps on the road, staff marking attendance. They use it every day, so the install is worth it.
The middle path
Many businesses do best with both, in order: launch the website, see what customers actually use, then build an app for the regulars around the features that proved themselves. You spend on the app once you know it will be used.
How we can help
We build websites and Android apps. If the quiz gave you an answer, email it to us from the result card and we’ll take it from there.