Mobile Apps Suck...Usually.

I have a confession to make.  I am a local-social marketer, and I hate mobile apps.

Hate.

Like, despise.

I think that 90+ percent of them are a complete and utter waste of time.

And the above XKCD illustrates the core frustration.

And Yet...

And yet, if your website sucks, people won't stick around.

See, customers are fickle.  They want ease of use.

If they come to your page and they can't read it, they flee in terror (or, occasionally, expand-pinch their fingers and zoom in).

So marketers call you and tell you that "mobile apps" are "the latest thing for your business," and "if you wan't to make money, you need a mobile app;" all of which is usually followed summarily with the good, old fashioned: "And I can build you one; it'll only cost..."

Bull.

Here's the real facts about mobile apps from a marketer's perspective:

• 80% do not generate enough revenue to support a standalone business
• 59% do not generate enough revenue to break even on development costs
• 68% earned $5,000 or less with their most successful app
• Top earners spend 14% of their time on marketing
• $30,000 – or thereabouts – is the average amount spent by top earners on marketing

Why so dismal?  Because mobile apps don't work.

Why Mobile Apps Don't Work

Mobile apps don't work because people don't want to open a specific program on their phone (or even down load it) unless it gives them what they want (which is usually something to do while they're in the bathroom): throw birds at pigs, run through a temple, draw pictures for friends to guess, and check the news.

They don't want to go into an app to check the local specials at a restaurant--not 99% of them, anyway.

I don't.  Do you?

Mobile App vs. Mobile Optimization

See, if they want to look you up, they already have an app for that: Their mobile web browser.

Why download 40 specific apps for the 40 specific businesses in the area when they can just go online and look you up?

But they don't want to squint at their screen, either.  If your page is hard to read, most won't give you 30 seconds of their day.  Your website needs to be optimized to appear on a screen smaller than the palm of your hand, and do it readily when needed.

Statistically, mobile-optimized websites keep eyes on them for 2+minutes on average, well over 4 times as long as non-web-optimized sites.

The Good News

The good news is that getting a mobile website is easy.

How easy?

So easy, we'll do it for free.

Yup.  Free.

So come on, what do you have to lose?