Have you ever found yourself trying to decide if a mobile web site or app better fits your brand? In our final mobile Deep Dive Week post, Jody Pirrello (VP, Technology) compares the features of each to help you make an informed decision .

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Clients frequently come to us and say “We need a mobile app.” My first response is always “What are your goals for an app?” and I frequently get responses about it being sexy or cutting edge.  You need something more than that to make it in the mobile app world, and if you get it wrong there’s a high price to pay (literally).

Before going app-crazy give this list a read-through and reconsider your brand’s goals and budgets, as well as your users and their interests.

1.       Users prefer mobile web sites over apps.  Product reviews, blogs, sports, news, shopping, video and local are all tasks users prefer to do via a mobile web site.  Understandably, mobile apps were preferred for social, music and games.

2.       Mobile apps are expensive to create and maintain.  Unfortunately, we live in a world with at least 4 vastly different mainstream smartphones – iPhones, Android, Blackberry and Windows – and each requires its own app.  That translates to 4 development, QA and maintenance phases.  3-4 times the effort and cost? Where do I sign up?

3.       It’s much harder to market a mobile app. There are thousands of mobile apps and limited ways to get at them.  App stores are adding social cues as a factor to their searches – downloads, uses, ratings.  It’s increasingly difficult to get an app to stand out in an app store.

4.       Mobile web sites are accessible by search engines and other web sites.  Most brands already have a search engine presence and users can more easily link to your mobile web site in their own site, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Moreover, search is the second-most popular mobile activity.  Users are looking for you via mobile browsers.

5.       Mobile web sites can integrate with a content management system.  Need to add a page to your mobile web site?  No problem!  Need to publish a page that automatically comes down after the holiday weekend?  No problem!  Want to update the look and feel – easily? No problem!  And the list goes on.

6.       Mobile web sites enable immediate content changes. Mobile web sites allow web site managers to add/change/delete content whenever they need to.  While you can make content and functionality changes with an app, you’re at the mercy of users when they see that content.  They need to download your updated app in order to see your new offer on winter coats.  And hopefully they do so before the winter thaw.

7.       Tablet owners are showing a web site preference as well.  According to a study by Forrester last month, tablet owners expressed a 2 to 1 preference for mobile web sites over apps.

I don’t want to lead you astray.  There are some cases in which a mobile app wins over its web site counterpart.  Gaming, music and social are all great applications for a mobile app.  The user experience and commitment by the user both make an app a good choice in these cases.  And as you probably know, an app can deliver a better user interface than a mobile web site (although mobile web site technology is quickly catching up).

The bottom line?  If you’re looking to boost your mobile presence, a mobile web site is likely the better bet for accessibility, budget, and heck, even to address user preferences.  If you’re in one of the niche markets and you have the budget to develop, maintain and market your app plus a great idea to differentiate your app among the clutter then an app may be for you.