· 9 min read
Does your business need an app, or just a good website?
A plain-language guide for small businesses and non-profits: what a website, a web app and a store app each cost and do, where WordPress fits, and how to tell which one you actually need.
“We need an app” is one of the first things I hear from small businesses and non-profits. Sometimes that’s true. More often, what they need is a good website, or a website with a few smart features. The difference matters, because an app costs more to build, more to publish and more to keep running.
Here is how I help people work out which one they actually need.
The three things people mean by “an app”
A good website
Pages anyone can open in a browser: who you are, what you offer, hours, location, a contact or booking form.
Right when People need to find you, trust you, and get in touch.
Costs A domain, plus hosting that can be free for a small site.
A web app
A website people sign in to, that remembers things: bookings, orders, records, schedules, staff tools.
Right when The same people come back to do something, or your staff need a system, not just pages.
Costs More to build, plus hosting for a database. Still opens in any browser, no app store.
A store app
An Android or iOS app installed from Google Play or the App Store.
Right when People use it often, and it needs the phone itself: fingerprint sign-in, notifications, the camera.
Costs Store fees, review processes, and updates for two platforms on top of everything else.
The middle one is the one most people don’t know exists. A web app gives you logins, bookings and records without going anywhere near an app store, and it works on every phone and computer the day it launches.
What about WordPress?
WordPress runs a huge share of the web, and it can be a good choice: for a blog or a content-heavy site, with someone experienced looking after it. But for a lot of small businesses it turns into something heavier than they needed, especially when it is set up without knowing what is happening underneath.
- It gets slow. A typical WordPress site is a theme, a page builder and a stack of plugins, each loading its own code and styles on every page, whether that page uses them or not. Every plugin you add for one small feature makes every visit a little slower, and phones on mobile data feel it most.
- It’s rigid. The theme decides how your pages are built. As long as you want what the theme wants, it’s easy. The moment you need something it wasn’t designed for, you end up fighting it, or adding another plugin.
- It needs looking after. WordPress, the theme and every plugin need regular updates for security, updates can break each other, and many of the useful plugins charge yearly licences.
- It doesn’t join up with your other systems. If you already have booking or records somewhere else, connecting WordPress to them usually means more plugins and more workarounds.
Site builders like Wix and Squarespace are easier to start with, but you pay every month and you can only do what the builder allows.
For a small site that only needs a handful of pages, a lean, hand-coded site is often faster, simpler and cheaper to keep running. That is exactly why the Moose Jaw Food Bank moved off WordPress: their old site struggled on phones, was hard to read, and carried far more than they needed.
Start with what your customers need to do
Forget the technology for a minute. Write down the three things people most often call or message you about. That list usually answers the question:
| If the answer is yes… | You probably need |
|---|---|
| Do people mostly need to find you and contact you? | A website is enough. |
| Do the same people come back to book, order or check something? | A web app, which can live on your website. |
| Do your staff run things on paper, spreadsheets or voicemail? | A web app for staff, even if customers only see a website. |
| Will people open it every week, and want it on their home screen? | A store app might be worth it. |
| Do you need fingerprint sign-in, notifications or the camera? | A store app. |
| Do some of the people you serve not have a smartphone? | Don’t forget a phone line. |
Two real examples
A cat rescue that needed a website, not an app
Brittany Niemi Rescues wanted adopters and fosters to find her cats more easily. People visit, browse cats, read their stories and apply. Most visitors come once or twice, when they’re ready to adopt. Nobody needs that on their home screen.
So she got a fast website with a private admin behind it for managing cats and applications. It works on every phone, it’s on Google, and it costs her nothing but the domain. An app would have added cost and done nothing extra for her adopters.
A food bank that needed all of it, eventually
The Moose Jaw Food Bank was different. Clients book visits every month, volunteers book shifts every week, and staff run the whole operation from it every day. That started as a web app, and only became store apps once people were using it often enough to want it on their phone, and once fingerprint and face sign-in were worth having.
And because some clients don’t have a smartphone at all, the most important “app” for them turned out to be a phone line they can call or text.
What a store app really costs
The build is only part of it. Before you commit, know about:
- Store fees. Google Play is a one-time $25 USD. Apple is $99 USD every year, though non-profits can apply to have it waived.
- Equipment. Building for iPhone requires a Mac.
- Getting approved. New Google Play accounts need a closed test with real testers for at least 14 days; for the food bank it took 28. Apple has reviewers test every app by hand, and can send it back.
- Updates, forever. Phones update their systems every year, and apps have to keep up.
- Getting people to install it. A website is one tap from a link. An app asks people to go to a store, download and sign in before they get anything.
The full story of getting the food bank’s apps into both stores is here.
Website first, app when it’s earned
My advice for almost every small business and non-profit:
- Start with a good website that is fast, easy to read on a phone, and easy to find on Google.
- Add web app features when you need them, like online booking, sign-ins or staff tools. They live on the same website.
- Go to the app stores only once people are using it often, or you need something only a phone app can do.
Built this way, nothing is wasted. The food bank’s Android and iOS apps are built from the same code as their web app, so moving into the stores didn’t mean starting again.
Not sure which you need?
That’s exactly the conversation I like to have before anyone writes any code. Get in touch and tell me what your customers call you about most. We’ll work out the simplest thing that solves it, and if that’s just a good website, I’ll tell you.
— Ami