Does Your Business Need A Mobile App?

            Technologically based companies have taken off significantly over the last few years. More and more businesses are adapting to the change by producing Internet sites as well as creating mobile applications in order to keep up with the shift towards technology. Although it may seem that businesses need to keep up with the curve and join the bandwagon of creating a personal application, this is not always necessary nor a guaranteed profit producer. There are few things to take into consideration before you decide to dedicate time and money towards this project.

            The first thing to consider is the goal of your business. Is your business trying to reach as many people as possible or are you looking to appeal to a specific niche? According to Pew Research only 35% of people own a smartphone. If your business’s goal is to appeal to everyone, there needs to be a way to reach to the other 65% of people. It is important to decide the audience you are trying to reach. If you feel that the customers your business is aiming toward own smartphones then an application may be something to consider.

            The second thing to consider is the necessity of having an application or mobile website. Do you have the budget to support it? If not, it is probably not a good idea to build one. If mobile advertising would work best for your business then it should be implemented. Not all businesses need to have an application or mobile site so do not feel like you have to have one as well.

            Third, do you have the time to manage an application or mobile site? These are not easily created nor can be managed sporadically. The main goal of applications or mobile sites is to bring people to the site as much as possible. Constantly keeping the layout and information up to date is essential. The more interesting the site is physically as well as informative, the more successful the business.

            The last thing to keep in mind are which types of phones your potential consumers are using. You may need to develop different applications for different phone platforms. When a company focuses on developing an application for every platform they may not be able to recognize where their customers are at or where their business fits in.