Mobile Site vs. Mobile App

Local Twin Cities Stats

• 40% local residents own smartphones
• Search volume on mobile increases 300% per year
• 9 out of 10 smartphone searches result in a purchase or patronage

Which is best for you?

For any local business (and most national businesses to be honest), the answer, is You should have a Mobile Site! (view our option)


Why Site over App?  First, understand the difference between "Mobile App" and "Mobile Site" 


Of course, this really varies with the way you use a site and what you hope to get out of it.  Yes, I know iPhones are popular, millions of people have them... But should YOU have an app?

Before Investing in any Mobile Platform, understand it.
Mobile App
Is a specific piece of software created and custom-coded to work on various phone platforms (Android vs. iPhone, etc)

Mobile Site
Viewable when a user tries to go to your site on their phone. It will reroute them to a special site formatted to fit on a phone screen and work on all phones with internet.

Here are some interesting things we've been reading:

• 9 out of 10 smartphone searches result in an action, such as purchasing or visiting a business. (Clickz) 
• Mobile Internet use is set to overtake desktop use in the next four years. (Search Engine Land)
• Webmasters no longer need have to have a separate mobile site – they simply need to have mobile friendly pages that can be housed under the same URL. (Google)
• Mobile search is different from device to device and will present different search engine results.
• The most used mobile apps in the U.S. are games; news; maps; social networking and music. Facebook, Google Maps and The Weather Channel rule. (mobiThinking)
• M-commerce (mobile shopping) is predicted to reach $119 billion in 2015. (mobiThinking)
• HTML 5 can be incorporated into mobile SEO practices to enhance a mobile site’s usability and performance, resulting in higher page rankings in search engines. (Mashable)
• The level of search personalization in mobile browsers will be higher because mobile phones are personal. (Search Engine Land)