There are many ways of reaching a wider audience, on mobile phones in particular. One method is with a responsive design or even a separate mobile optimised design for smaller devices. Some may choose to instead create an app, and this could be wrong. There’s one good reason for this, and that’s because your website is more important, and it needs to offer a user friendly experience (UX) for a range of devices, such as tablets, eBook readers, mobiles and mp3 players.

Your website is your shop front, and if you have already optimised your website for mobiles and a range of other devices, and you want to broaden your reach, then apps can be useful. Apps can be created for various purposes; to make money for the price of the app itself, to attract more visitors to your website and increase sales, or to engage or entertain your target audience. Usually, a lot of money must be incorporated into building an app, especially if you want it to be a good one; the price can also depend on how complex the app is.

There is no reason why it can’t help a business’s but if your reason for creating one is to merely reach a mobile audience, then the best thing to do is create a mobile website or change your main websites design to a responsive one, allowing it to be fit for use on a wide range of devices.