Month: September 2018

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The Many Reasons Every Business Needs a Mobile App

Mobile apps are becoming more and more of a necessity when it comes to maintain and growing your business.  No matter what you do or how your company interacts with clients a custom designed mobile app will allow you to be more efficient and effective.  Mobile apps are not solely for large, well known companies like Home Depot.  In fact, more now than ever small and mid-sized companies with unique needs are benefiting from custom apps to round out their company’s mobile strategy. 

If you are still on the fence on why your business needs a mobile platform and how they can benefit from a custom app this installment should provide a clearer picture to its importance in our ever-changing world of business and customer relations.

Benefits of Custom Mobile Apps

  • Visibility to Customers 24/7

Would you believe it if someone told you that the average American spends more than two hours a day using their mobile device.  Most users only use a handful of apps on their phones however, each time they open an app yours will be right there.  Even if it is unconscious, the image of your app will be there and thus always top of mind. 

  • Direct Marketing

Mobile apps function in several ways to assist customers.  From general pricing to account information and more.  The biggest benefit of providing customers with a mobile app is that any information you desire your customers to have at their fingertips from special promotions to sales, it is all there at the touch of a button. 

  • Added Value

Another benefit of having a custom mobile app for your company is the added services of value that you can offer to clients that interact with it.  For instance, the app can be designed in a manner that allows customers to collect rewards for interactions, a type of loyalty program.  What results for your companies is that more and more users will want to download your app to achieve rewards thus leading to a higher number of repeat customers.

  • Brand Awareness

Mobile apps can significantly increase the awareness of your brand.  The app is like a walking billboard for your company.  You can change it as often as desired creating a different appeal every day.  The theory of effective frequency states that people seeing or hearing about your company more than 20 times are more likely to recall your information when they need your products or services. 

  • Beneficial to Employees

Mobile apps are super useful to your employees as well.   They can be used to complete everyday tasks as well as be a source to relay information easily to one another within your company.  The great thing is that as the wants and needs change for your growing business so can the app.  Mobile apps can be customized to the growing needs of employers leading to a more efficient way to manage employee relationships.

Creative Programs and Systems specializes in custom mobile apps for both iPhone and Android users.  For more information on what the Android app developers and iPhone applications developers at CPS can do for your growing business check us out at https://www.cpsmi.com.

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Custom Mobile App Development vs Template Designs

A single mobile app concept can literally change the way we operate in the world today. App ideas like Facebook, Uber, and Pinterest are extremely popular today, not because they have been initiated by famous people but rather the innovative approach of these mobile applications that has surprised the technological world.

What is the difference between custom-built apps and template-based apps? In nutshell, an application programmer for mobile devices creates a custom application from scratch, to fit perfectly to your specific needs, by writing the code for each function. And they will create new codes to give your application the unique features that you and your team recognize are appropriate to meet the goals of your own application.

On the other hand, a template-based mobile application is when a designer uses existing models as the basic framework on which to import and “copy-and-paste” their designs. What are the practical disadvantages of template-based applications?

  1. Custom apps are tailored to your specific needs

Template-based applications are limited in terms of functionality, both now and in the future. Basically, what you get with a template is limited to the features that come with it.

However, with a custom built application you can edit, refine and modify according to your needs, where you only pay for “adding” or “remodeling” without having to eliminate everything.

  1. Custom app development is unique and authentic

Unlike Custom-built, application templates are not originally designed to attract many end-users. They, therefore, combine several characteristics recognized by designers to attract a general market instead of adapting to the unique nature and needs of their specific features.

  1. Templates are outdated

Template-based mobile apps are usually based on older code designs because they were developed a long time before you realized them: Therefore, might not conform with the latest running OS on the IOS or Android.

  1. Troubleshooting

Using Android as an example. There are thousands of different Android smart devices. with varying sizes of screens, operating platforms, and manufacturers. Proper coding of an application to run on so many devices is a very complex task, requiring a high level of experience that only the best code developers have. No mobile app template can guarantee the possibility of creating an application compatible with all available Android devices.  Therefore, the average mobile app template normally works properly between 3% and 8% of Android devices. On the contrary.

  1. Templates are not usually optimized for search engines

A major disadvantage of a mobile app designed with a template is that they cannot normally be “SEO” (search engine optimization, also known as “app discovery”). Without proper SEO, search engines do not place the app in the appropriate categories. So, when you look at different categories of applications, you will see that many applications appear that have nothing to do with your searched results, even when you do a search with the app name.

You must evaluate the costs and benefits of each type of application. If you do not understand what is needed it is easy to end up with an app that doesn’t meet your need.  A personalized, custom designed mobile app, with appropriate “SEO”, is one of the best commercial tools and/or marketing investment that any company can achieve. It is an investment that will yield desired results over and over. Whereas a template-based designed app will offer a much lower return on investment.

Creative Programs and Systems, CPS, is an all-inclusive  IT solutions company offering a variety of services including: managed IT services, IT consulting, residential computer services, custom programming, website design, iphone & android app development, and more.  More information can be found at https://cpsmi.com.