Main Reasons to Turn a Website into an App

Many people want to build apps from their website, but they don't fully commit to the project. They simply don't know what native mobile apps can achieve for their business. It's an excellent question. Isn't a mobile-friendly website sufficient? What does transforming a website into an app do that your current website does not?

The truth is that having a mobile-friendly website in 2021 is a given. You should, of course, have one. Apps, on the other hand, serve a distinct purpose. While a website or web app is best for desktop users, organic traffic, and helping new or first-time users, mobile apps are best for increasing and serving your existing consumers.

Improve Your Mobile Consumer Experience

As we've seen, apps have become a current user expectation. What is the reason for this? Apps are so popular because they offer a significantly better user experience than a website. You may improve your entire mobile UX by converting a website into an app. Consider the average user experience when accessing a mobile website. To begin, the user must be reminded of the brand or have a compelling reason to seek it out. They must then enter the URL, wait for everything to load, and then be on the site. When they eventually get in, they have to cope with clumsy navigation and dozens of other tabs distracting them.

 

Build More Loyalty and Engagement

Apps tend to drive more loyalty and engagement, which is another reason to transform a website into an app. This is due to the better UX noted above, as well as the fact that apps naturally self-select for your most committed customers. Going to Google Play or the App Store is an act of loyalty in and of itself. Users who do so demonstrate that they are, or are on their way to being, your most ardent supporters. The 20% of users are responsible for 80% of your company's engagement and income.  By creating mobile apps, you give these core customers a "home" — an icon on their home screen, a more intimate confined experience, and a one-tap direct route to your information. You'll have more chances to develop your relationship by keeping top of mind and interacting easily via push notifications.

Which type of App Should You Turn Your Website Into? Native vs. Hybrid

Native

 

Native apps are the original, conventional apps created from the ground up for the iOS and Android platforms. Native developers that are skilled and specialized are in high demand. Objective-C or Swift are used by iOS developers, while Android developers use Java and Kotlin. There's also the option of employing React Native or another cross-platform solution to reduce the time and cost of development. Native apps have the advantage of providing the best levels of performance if you need an app that will conduct a lot of hard work, such as Uber or Airbnb. They also offer you the most access to the device's native functions, such as the accelerometer, GPS, and facial recognition. However, web technologies are catching up with the emergence of progressive web apps.

 

The high cost and delay to market of native apps are disadvantages. Even simple native apps take months to develop, cost $80,000 or more for iOS and Android and are highly technical. They also provide you two new channels to manage and maintain in the future, which adds a lot of time and money to your workload. Native apps are only worthwhile if you require specialized, native-only features and have a large budget. When it comes to turning a website into mobile apps, a native app rarely makes sense if you want apps that are similar to your site.

 

Hybrid

Hybrid apps, as the name implies, are a cross between a website and a native app. Hybrid applications are simply a native container (the native app element) that shows web content (CSS, JavaScript, HTML) when utilized and allows you to convert your website into apps using completely web-based technologies. On the other hand, hybrid applications are not "simply" shells with webpages inside of them; they may act and feel just like native apps, and they can employ native components and capabilities to provide a wonderful app user experience.

 

Performance is a well-known drawback of hybrid apps, particularly if you're trying to build something extremely demanding from the ground up, like the next Spotify or Coinbase. However, hybrid and web technology have advanced significantly in the last five years. This is no longer a problem if you want to turn your website into apps with similar functionality and make a solid hybrid app.

Endnote

If you already have a website, the decision is straightforward. We're biased, but we believe in the Mobile App industry is the most cost-efficient and successful option to convert a website to an app on the market, and we've given you a few reasons why.