I Have a Mobile Website, So Why Do I Need a Native App?
With internet access now available on mobile devices, mobile-friendly content is important for connecting with users and for your search engine optimisation.
Recently, responsive design has been created as the method for growing mobile users . But since the user experience evolves, simply having a responsively-designed website is not enough.
Overwhelmingly users prefer the experience of a native mobile app. In fact, as of early 2016, over 54 percent of mobile transactions was carried out on native apps, versus just 46 percent in mobile web browsers. While a responsively-designed website is very important to ensure website visitors have a good experience when browsing on small devices. E-commerce websites started to complement their responsive content with a native app that provides users with the seamless experience they expect.
Building a better mobile strategy — it’s about the user experience
Responsive web design is the first part of the mobile strategy. Responsively designed sites present the whole website, with the same general purpose content and organization you could access from a desktop device.
Native apps, on the other hand, take the mobile experience to the next level. they do more than just showing content and functionality; they also present navigation, content, and functionality in a way specifically optimized for mobile devices. Native apps can also engage users with push notifications. These mobile-optimized experiences can provide a distinctly more engaging, efficient, and effective user experience than mobile websites.
A great mobile user experience is essentially about shortening the distance to the goal
While mobile websites force users to tap, search, copy, and navigate too many times ,native app keep users focused, allowing them to complete their goal quickly and efficiently.
App performance is a significant improvement over a responsive web site, saving end-users time and frustration.
How to combine your responsive site with your mobile app
Mobile users want to find things quickly – but websites can’t optimize data to quickly display information the way that apps can.
An organized mobile experience includes multiple resources, specific responsive web pages from your current web site. The app that assembles and combines feeds and web pages with new workflows and features for a truly unified and rich mobile experience.
Other app-only features can further enhance the user experience: push notifications can remind prospects of important deadlines; pathfinding can help visitors find locations; and iBeacons can trigger messages during the shopping in physical store.
To ensure users are met with mobile-friendly content on any device, responsive web design is a key piece of any mobile strategy, but it really is only the first part. The native app experience organizes content, navigation, and functionality to help the end user quickly achieve their specific goal.
The right approach to a mobile strategy is not, “We already have a responsive site, so we’re done.” It’s, “How can our responsive site and native app complement one another and round out a true mobile strategy?” Keep your in mind, and know that the app experience is what they’re truly looking for.
