Consumers interact with businesses online in several ways these days. Websites still form an important part of the user experience, but apps have become just as important, if not more so.
While people use apps primarily to execute daily tasks, apps are also useful as a way to store and access knowledge or references. If your company is in the ecommerce niche, turning your website into an app is a no-brainer.
If you’re wondering how to make a website into an app, there’s good news. This process can be relatively simple. What’s more important is that you understand the benefits you receive when turning your business’ website into an app.
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Better UX
Mobile usage is more prevalent than ever, with apps accounting for about 88% of the time people spend on their phones. In this sense, creating an app puts your business in line with usage trends. Apps are designed for smaller mobile screens and offer a far more optimized user experience than a website.
Often, scaling websites down to mobile-friendly versions breaks their functionality, and you might find yourself making design compromises when doing so. The result is less than ideal UI that costs you conversions.
Mobile apps don’t face such issues and offer fast loading times, smooth navigation, and more user engagement.
Native Mobile Feature Access
Access to native features is also compelling several businesses to convert their websites into apps. Smartphones come with several powerful features built in, and leveraging them makes sense for most companies.
For instance, you can create offers for customers who are close to one of your locations. You can do this by creating an app that uses the phone’s GPS location signal. These experiences are highly challenging to deliver via a website, or close to impossible.
By leveraging native features, you can increase user engagement. For instance, push notifications can help you alert customers to offers. You can also learn more about your audience’s preferences by analyzing app usage data and creating more interactive experiences. At the end of the day, apps involve users more and can be tailored around your customers’ choices.
Greater Brand Recognition
People spend a ton of time on their mobile devices, and having an installed presence on them is a great way of boosting brand recognition.
With push notifications and an app icon, your customers will be more likely to remember you when they have a need.
A creative icon also helps you stand out in ways that a website cannot deliver. The sum of all these features is that your brand gains more recognition through an app compared to a website.
More Retention
Customer retention is a significant problem for most companies these days. Consumers have more choice than ever, and competing for their interest often leads to excessive budgets and poor ROI.
An app is an organic and potentially inexpensive way of boosting customer retention. With push notifications, creative branding, and customized experiences, you can engage your users more, keeping them returning to you at all times. You can even offer them different preferences within the app. These features allow them to customize their experience in ways a website cannot.
For instance, you can send notifications when new products or features are available. With a website, you’ll have to send emails without knowing whether your customers are reading them.
Apps thus boost customer retention and help you grow revenue over time.
Offline Access
While most apps need internet connectivity to work, you can offer your customers some offline features. These features increase customer loyalty since a website cannot offer offline perks.
Giving customers offline features also shows that you empathize with their experience and wish to assist them at all times, not just when they’re online.
These features uplift brand perception and help you build loyalty amongst your customer base.
More Monetization Opportunities
While most businesses sell their products via their apps, they can leverage alternative streams of revenue.
For instance, a popular app might be a good place for ad monetization, giving you a passive income stream.
While ad monetization isn’t a default choice for many business apps, you can leverage affiliate marketing and other channels to boost revenue without sacrificing user experience.
Reach More People
Every app that’s launched on Google and Apple’s stores can give you a new channel to reach customers. If your app trends in those stores, attracting new customers is easy.
As downloads increase, you can entice these people to remain by offering them customized features and using other engagement tactics.
In short, by launching an app, you can increase your brand’s discoverability among an entirely new base of customers.
Apps Are a Great Choice
Converting your website to an app might sound like a daunting task, but thanks to modern tools, you can receive the benefits of launching an app with minimal friction and spend. Before launching your app, consider whether your customers might find using it valuable compared to a website. If you’re confident that they would, then launching an app is a no-brainer.
