How do you decide whether or not to develop a mobile app for your business?

Mobile site or mobile app? Thats the real question. Do you require one or the other, or both? Understanding your businesses’ needs goes a long way toward helping you decide if you should invest the time and money necessary to develop and put into play a mobile app for your business. Does a mobile app make sense for your company? What are the costs, both in developing one and in maintaining one? Have you got someone capable of updating it? You need the answers to these and several other questions in order to really come up with a wise decision. Let’s take a peek at a few of the pros and cons.

The Pros and Cons of developing a mobile app for your business

Pros:

• More than 50 percent of adult Americans are using smartphone technology
• Keeps your brand prominent in the marketplace
• Increases customer retention and loyalty, as the app is always in front  of them
• App users typically spend much more time on apps than on mobile sites
• Usually load faster than mobile sites
• Mobile apps are available offline, though users will need to login to perform any actions, such as purchases

Cons:

• A mobile app needs to be developed for each platform, iPhone, Android, Windows, or any other platform
• Mobile apps require ongoing care, both as regard fresh content along with technology updates
• Mobile apps are not as easy to optimize as a mobile website
• Mobile ads could very well serve the purpose
• Apps can be quite expensive! If you go the Do It Yourself route, be ready for a lot of headaches, as they frequently break, and need to be updated.

We all know there are as many uses for an app than you’ll be able to imagine, however some are superior to others. Here is an example of how apps were created in the health care market. Making sure your app is useful and not a mere novelty goes a long way toward helping you make your choice. While it’s a given that you require a mobile version of your website, the question of whether or not you should shell out what might be big bucks for an app is one you ought to look at thoroughly. Take your time to weigh the pros and cons for your business before you leap into developing a mobile app!