How to Successfully Convert Your Website into an App

Are you looking to convert your website into an app? Suppose you already have a website but want to create a more user-friendly experience, boost engagement rates, and grow your business. In that case, you can convert your website into an app that offers your customers a better interface for mobile devices.

As a website owner and marketer, you create an experience that users will enjoy. However, your site needs to be mobile-friendly. One solution is to create a mobile app for your website while maintaining your desktop version and offering a more mobile-friendly variant.

 Different ways of converting your website into an app exist, but whether coding it yourself, hiring freelancers, or using an App builder, each has its advantages and disadvantages.

 In this article, you’ll find out how you can convert your website into an app and the main differences, advantages, and disadvantages of web apps and mobile apps to help you decide which type of app is best suited to your business goals.

 What is a Web Application?

 A web application is a software application accessible as a “website” via a web browser but generally refers to a website with a high level of interactivity rather than a simple site with static content. Built using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Python, etc., web applications can access any device with an Internet connection without installation.

 A web application’s code resides on a remote server, which a web browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari accesses and transmits to the user when they enter the application’s URL. So, web applications can run on any device with a browser and an Internet connection.

 It’s, therefore, more accessible for new users to access and use a web application.  Web applications benefit from this, as a single code base can serve a more significant number of users on a greater number of platforms.

 Even though web applications are more widely accessible on different platforms, their user experience tends to be compromised because they try to meet the needs of several different types of users. That includes progressive web applications, which offer greater functionality and a mobile-like experience while continuing to work in the browser.

 Web applications are faster, easier, and cheaper to create. The underlying technology is less complicated, and more developers and development tools are available for creating web applications. Typically, a web application disappears from the device when the browser tab is closed and depends on the user to re-enter the URL. Google Docs and Canva are two examples of web applications – browser-based interactive sites.

 Advantages of web applications

 – Easy to develop and deploy.

 – Operate on any platform with a web browser and active Internet connection (desktop, laptop, mobile devices).

 – Easier and less expensive to update and maintain.

 – Web application development expertise is easier to find than mobile developers.

 Disadvantages of Web Applications

 – They need to provide an optimal experience for mobile users.

 – Web applications tend to run slowly on mobile devices.

 – They may offer a different level of security than mobile applications.

 – Engagement and loyalty are generally less than with mobile applications. 

 What is a Mobile Application?

A mobile application is a software application that runs on the operating system of a mobile device, such as Android or iOS. The code for the mobile application is downloaded directly onto the user’s device rather than hosted remotely and accessed via a browser. 

Using a mobile app, users can follow a link to the app or find it on Google, then download it to their device before they can open and use it. It also makes mobile apps sticky, as they remain on the user’s device until uninstalled.

 However, mobile applications can only work on the platform for which they were coded. On the other hand, mobile applications can provide a deeper, more engaging, and satisfying experience on mobile devices because they have been designed specifically for the platform they run.

 There are many different types of mobile applications: native, hybrid, and cross-platform.  

 What Are the Advantages of Mobile Applications Over Websites?

 – They improve your mobile user experience

 A mobile application offers a user-friendly, attractive, and immersive experience.

 –Access customer information directly

 Businesses can improve their marketing efforts by collecting information from user sessions and application access points. 

 –Ease of access

 Apps offer a direct route from a single tap triggered by the home screen icon or a push notification.

– Search engine optimization

 It’s logical that by having a mobile app, your website will rank higher in search engines as more and more people use mobile devices to browse the internet.

 –Exploit the functions of the mobile device

 A further advantage of converting your website into a mobile app is that mobile apps have greater access to the various functionalities of the smartphone, such as the camera and GPS.

 –Push notifications

 Mobile applications let you send notifications to everyone who has installed the application, regardless of their operating system. With push notifications, engagement is much higher than e-mail, and their reach is not as limited as on social channels. Once push notifications are active, your alerts appear on the user’s lock screen or home screen, so your messages can occur as soon as they check their phone.

 In addition, you can implement rich push notifications featuring media such as images, GIFs, or even cards and increase response rates by up to 50%.

– Increase user engagement and loyalty

 Apps are the ideal opportunity to serve your most loyal users and make existing users even more loyal by encouraging them to download apps and create a deeper connection. 

 –Presence in the App Store

  Users use Google Play and the App Store like they use Google on the web to find solutions to their problems.

 –Multi-touch functionality

 You can use different gestures, such as swiping, pinching, etc., to interact with an application. It gives users a more personalized, engaging, and familiar experience than a desktop browser.

 – They can provide offline functionality

 Whereas a website always requires an Internet connection, mobile apps can operate offline and are always available. And you can integrate several offline functions into your application. 

 How to Turn a Website into An Application: 4 Options

 Here are four options to choose from if you’re looking for ways to turn a website into an application:

 Progressive Web Applications (PWA)

Progressive Web Applications, or PWAs as their name suggests, are websites that users can add to their home screen as if they were applications and access offline. Users save your PWA to their home screen, so there’s no need to open a browser or enter URLs to access it.

 Progressive web applications are web applications that function like native mobile applications rather than web applications. In contrast to mobile websites, you’ll receive real-time and offline notifications for messages and Twitter feeds.

 You’ll notice that you’re using a web application, but it feels like you’re on a cell phone. Some popular apps that have increased user numbers after converting a website to PWA include Ali Express, Twitter LITE, Facebook LITE, Flipkart, and many more.

 Native Applications

Natives are high-performance mobile applications that offer users an exceptional experience.  Native apps are coded using programming languages native to specific operating systems, such as Swift or Objective-C for iOS and Java or Kotlin for Android.

 Native mobile app development is complex.  They require a lot of time to code and are more expensive. For companies who don’t want to compromise on user interface, user experience, speed, and security, native app development is generally the way to go. 

 If you wish to transform your website into a native application, it may cost you more. Building a native mobile app costs 5 or 6 figures and requires two separate development teams to be launched on the two most popular mobile operating systems (iPhone and Android).

 The advantage of native apps is that they generally offer the highest performance levels when you need an application that does a lot of intensive work – like Uber or Airbnb.  They also allow easier access to the device’s native features, such as accelerometer, GPS, and facial recognition. However, web technologies are starting to catch up in this respect with the rise of progressive web apps.

 However, native applications only make sense if you need specific, exclusively native functionalities and have the resources to implement them.

 Cross-platform applications

Cross-platform apps are applications designed to run on both Android and iOS devices. Cross-platform app development involves developing applications that run on multiple operating systems, mainly using a single code base. Unlike native apps coded in specific programming languages native to a single operating system, cross-platform frameworks or tools enable developers to write their code once and deploy it across multiple platforms.

 Cross-platform applications are coded using more generalist frameworks or web programming languages and use special tools or frameworks that enable this code to run on the most common mobile operating systems. However, this means that cross-platform applications may perform slightly less healthily than native ones, and functionality may be somewhat limited, as some native functions are only possible with native code.

 Although these are some concerns, the reality is that only the most complex applications are likely to encounter problems. In contrast, simple to moderately complex applications can achieve more or less everything they need to do using cross-platform development.

 The advantages of cross-platform applications

 While cross-platform app developers are still costly, opting for a cross-platform app cuts the work by around half, saving you half the time and money. And if you create hybrid applications from an existing web code base, you can save even more (up to 90% of time and money).

 You don’t have to choose between Android and iOS. Companies with limited resources may need to choose one platform or another when launching their application if it’s natively designed.

 That limits your reach considerably, as the split between Android and iOS is relatively even in most developed markets. It means sacrificing around half your potential audience if you don’t create apps for both major mobile platforms. Creating cross-platform apps means you can reach over 99% of the market virtually at the same time and cost as creating a native app. 

Cross-platform consistency

 Maintaining cross-platform consistency is an underestimated challenge when developing multiple applications for multiple platforms  Handling multiple development teams and aligning them on the same wavelength can be challenging.

 Lower maintenance costs and easier maintenance

 Cross-platform consistency and a single code base significantly reduce the cost and long-term effort of keeping your application up-to-date and bug-free.

 Reuse existing code

 Code reuse offers several advantages.  Firstly, it reduces the investment required for an application, and secondly, it avoids wasting time and energy rebuilding features that already work on other platforms.

 Hybrid Applications

 Hybrid application development is a term generally used to describe applications that can run on both the web and mobile devices, often using the same code. It’s a new approach to application development that has also become very popular with enterprises to create mobile applications.

While hybrid applications share characteristics with web and native mobile applications, they look more like mobile apps and can be downloaded from marketplaces. Hybrid mobile apps typically use HTML5, CSS, and Javascript and execute the code inside the container. 

 If that is as far as the technical issues go, hybrid apps can be coded efficiently and run on multiple platforms with the same code.  In other words, developers don’t have to code separately for iOS, Android, or Windows platforms. However, hybrid mobile apps generally need more fluidity and maintenance than traditional apps. 

 How to Convert Your Website into an App?

 Once you’ve decided that a mobile application is helpful for your business and will only represent a little extra work that might be profitable if most users prefer your website, you can proceed as follows.  

 Make A List of the Features You Need in Your Application

 Before starting the development process, you must decide which features to include in your mobile app. It will help you stay within budget, figure out pricing, and understand what you need to build. Drawing up a list of approved features will create an achievable vision for your app and ensure that each function is helpful to your target audience. When converting a website into a mobile app, you must consider user interface, gesture-based navigation, consistency, Hamburger Menu, Navigation, and notification. 

 Hire an Application Developer

 You can hire an application developer to design and create an application that fits your customers’ needs.  An app development team handles all facets of app creation and development, including UI/UX design, graphics creation, coding, user acquisition, marketing strategy, and more.

 Hiring a freelance developer is an attractive option for smaller projects or when you need specialized skills. According to Upwork, the average hourly rate for a freelance app developer is around $13 to $39 per hour. In this case, you need to ensure that you can control every step of the process and that you’ve chosen the right people for the job.

 This way, you can make changes as the project develops and keep it on track. So you won’t have to wait weeks, or even months, for your developer to finish developing your application, only to see a different product delivered from your initial project. When hiring a freelancer, you need to consider the money you’re paying directly into their bank account and the help and participation you’ll need to provide. It will also cost your company.

 Advantages

 – Hiring a freelancer can prove much less costly than using an agency or building an in-house team.

 – Outsourcing enables you to find someone skilled in application development, which can lead to better results.

 Disadvantages

 – Selecting developers requires project testing and extensive research, which is time-consuming. 

 – You must ensure the developer has the necessary skills, portfolio, and credentials to complete the task.

 -You can only really know this if you are highly skilled in development.

 – The freelancer must work with you and be familiar with your business and its objectives.

 – You must draw up a firm contract to set out the freelancer’s objectives and time limits to avoid incurring unexpected and unplanned costs.

 Hiring an Application Development Agency   

Companies wishing to relieve themselves of all responsibility by entrusting application development to a specialized agency should consider this option. Larger companies often take it because even with significant expenditure, it can be cheaper than hiring and more reliable than the freelance route.

 However, the high cost of working with an application development agency can make you wonder about the return on investment of this type of outsourcing.  If you’re looking to transform your website into an application with similar functionality and content to your existing site, and you don’t need any additional functionality to what your site already offers, custom development through an agency is unnecessary.

 Advantages

 – Hiring an agency with vast development experience guarantees professional results.

 – Application development agencies include UI best practices, adhere to project management best practices, and can conduct in-depth research into your audience and the competition.

 Disadvantages

 – Their prices are high. But it can pay off if the budget is acceptable.

 – With a robust development and testing process, launch times are longer.

 – Contracts require you to respect strict conditions and limits. 

 Using a no-code App Builder

App builders are for anyone who wants to create their app, has no coding experience, has a lot of time, and wants to keep costs low.  Some platforms in this domain, such as Appy Pie and Appilix, or App My Site, focus on converting sites into mobile applications.

 These tools can function well for modest purposes and create introductory, usable apps, but they lack all the advanced features of the web and limit you to pre-built templates and themes.They generally operate by requiring you to create a “drag and drop” application, then use RSS or an API to extract content from your site and display it in the application. They only partially transform your site into an application but do so minimally.

 Advantages 

 – You do it yourself without needing to learn to code or hire a developer.

 – Affordable for small businesses

 – You can build and launch an app quickly in under a month if you do everything correctly.

 Disadvantages

 – Be prepared to spend hours experimenting with templates and point-and-click interfaces.

 – Assume that certain site functionalities cannot be replicated in the applications.

 – You’ll need to use the theme, not your own.

 – You’ll have to adapt your application vision to their predefined templates, which can be challenging.

 – Free packages have restrictions on traffic, storage, analytics, customization, etc.

 – Even with the least expensive app creation plans, you’re limited in design and layout.

 – If you’re using third-party plugins or integrations on your site, you almost certainly won’t have access to them in the app.

 – You run the risk of producing applications with a ” piecemeal ” look and feel.

 – It may prove not easy to upgrade your application to another platform.

 – It may be difficult to list your application in application stores, and the platform may not support you.

 – Support is usually limited.

 – There’s also the hidden “cost” of branding and advertising for the app’s creator. 

Conclusion 

A website’s conversion into web applications or mobile apps can be a powerful and valuable way to serve your target audience, increase the number of users, build customer loyalty, and break into a new market to promote and grow your business. Making the right choice depends on what you want to achieve and who you are serving.

 If you think you can only afford to spend a little to create an app for your business, you can opt for a PWA or a hybrid app. If you see that people are using your app and don’t want to compromise on user experience and functionality, you might consider converting your website to a native app.