Does a small business need a website or an app?

Why a website usually comes first

• People find you on Google and through links. An app has to be found in a store and installed first.
• One site works on every phone and computer.
• Changes go live when you publish them. App updates go through store review first; Apple says it reviews 90% of submissions in under 48 hours.
• There are no store accounts to keep: Apple charges US$99 a year and Google Play a one-time US$25.

When an app earns its place

• Customers use it every week or every day: bookings, orders, loyalty, tracking.
• You need the phone itself: the camera, location, notifications, or working with a weak connection.
• Your staff use it out in the field.

Safer Streets, our own app, is an example. People mark a dark or deserted stretch on the spot, with a photo and a pin, so a phone app is the natural fit. See Safer Streets.

The middle path: a web app

A progressive web app (PWA) is a website built to behave like an app. Installing one moves it out of the browser and into a standalone window, and one codebase reaches every device. It suits customer portals, booking tools and internal tools that do not need the app stores.

If you build both

Run the website and the app on one backend, so customers, orders and content live in one place and nobody types them in twice. Building the website on a proper API from the start makes a later app much easier.