Increasingly we are finding that businesses are asking us about bringing their sites to mobile devices, this is before we’ve even had a chance to pitch the idea! As business owners become more aware of the benefits of engaging mobile customers the one question we keep getting asked is: “Do I need a mobile site or an App?“. The answer we believe is both!

If you go solely for an iPhone App, you are going to be hit with two problems: 1) only 44% of the mobile market uses iOS (via comScore) 2) even with the number that high, how do customers know your app exists?

If you go for an Android app as well as an iPhone app then you gain an extra 28% of the market (up to a total of 72%), but what of the other 28%? Do you build an app for Blackberry (19%) and for Nokia, Samsung and LG who’s various platforms are all part of the remaining 9%? Clearly that would be a fantastically expensive exercise.

The best approach we feel is to aim your App at the platforms your target market is likely to have (iPhone and Android, 72%) and have a mobile version of your site as a catch all for the rest. As a added benefit you’ll catch all those users who don’t know your App exists and you can funnel them to your App.

Users will not presume you have an App, they will Google you before they search the App store. This is key to understand, your App is a fantastic tool for users who know it exists and want to download it, but many won’t know and some may not want to download it. If these users come to your website you need to be sure that your site is going to display and function well on their device.

This can be tricky even for the best platforms. If your site uses a lot of bandwidth (lots of images for example) then this will slow down the access speed of your site on a mobile device, which may well lose you customers. If your sites uses complex javascript, video or even Flash! then you are going to deliver a poor user experience to any mobile user regardless of platform, and a dire experience for those without a good smartphone.

Why risk alienating customers? Producing a stripped down mobile version of your site, showing off your sites main features and content with a user interface designed for mobile device will give your users a positive impression of your site and it makes a perfect place to advertise your App!

Jobsite

Jobsite.co.uk first went live in 1995  and launched their mobile service in 2010 and is now available in native app form not just for iPhone but Android and Windows Phone 7 platforms too. We’ll be taking a look at version 1.5 of their iPhone app.

Jobsite Home Screen

First up, it’s quick to start, much faster than the Monster App and the app is persistant after backgrounding (which the Monster app isn’t!). Such a simple thing, but very useful during intense job search sessions. (imagine your flicking back a forth between this App and Google maps, or a public transport planner App to ensure you can actually reach the job your drooling over).

The search options are simply and cleanly presented on the home screen, right to the point, no fluff. The rest of the apps features are easily accessible from the time honoured bottom navigation bar. Basic job searching can be done without access to a Jobsite account, the Shortlisting feature will however need an account.

If you have a Jobsite account you can enter your details within the setting tab or if you need to sign up you can use the “Create an Account” option, this function needs a little work, it’s not a native form, its loads the Jobsite website and for me it doesn’t quite fit (as you can see for the screen above, “Country of Residence”). It’s a bit clunky and there doesn’t seem to be anyway to edit/upload a CV from within the App, so you’ll likely need access to a desktop/laptop to complete your job search.

The Jobsite search has some useful features, including easily selectable sorting and filtering options and the very cute feature of allowing you to expand the results from a short format which just has the location and salary, to a long format which includes a snippet of the full job description (changed via the strange little button in the bottom right of the search results). If your looking to develop your own app you really shouldn’t under estimate the power of these little features. The one usability quirk I found was the + button next to the job listings adds the job to your short list, rather than shows you more details. I found myself clicking that area instinctively to get more information on a job. Usability testing is a key part of app development and i’m not sure how that issue would have slipped through intensive testing! Other basic features like saving your searches are also helpfully present, with your saved searches listed under the “Favourites” tab (I’m not sure thats the best name for that tab, too close to Shortlisting for my liking).

Once you’ve spotted your perfect job from the job search you can click through and get more details, which are a bit ugly it has to be said. The formatting isn’t great but all the information you’ll need is right there. Applying for a job is a bit of a fuss. Once you click the ‘Apply’ button the Jobsite website will appear, showing the same job listing you where just browsing at which point you’ll have to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “Apply” again, and then sign in! (of course once I did sign in I was told I didn’t have a CV listed and so couldn’t apply). If your going to build a native app, don’t send your users in a browser to your site once the process get’s a bit tricky. Usability wise having to click Apply , scroll down, click Apply again and then login (again) sucks. Don’t do that, do everything to avoid that!

If you are forced to leave your mobile device behind and go to a computer to finish the application process the shortlisting feature will help to bookmark the jobs you want to apply for and you’ll be able to call that list up once you are on the main Jobsite website.

Conclusion

Overall this is a very simple and to the point app with few flaws. It’s worth echoing the same disappointment I had with the Monster app that being that the app is sorely lacking in information. I think the user experience could be greatly enhanced by adding content (advice, videos etc.) from their site into the App, which they seem to have in the Windows Phone 7 version of the App which hopefully we will review at a later date.

A common theme I’m seeing with these Apps is a complete lack of commitment to keeping the job application process in App. Far too often the more complex tasks will be farmed out to loading a browser window pointed to the website of the App.

The Jobsite App is a good app to get if you’re currently looking for a job, you won’t be disappointed with it’s simplicity and easy of use. Join us next time for another look into the app market. In the meantime if you’d like our input on your iPhone Application or an idea for one please contact us and we’d be happy to help.

To get the customers to come to you, you must first go to them. The modern customer gets their news online, on their iPad, via Twitter or word of mouth on Facebook not via newspapers. If you’re still advertising in newspapers you’re fighting a losing battle, while your competitors are winning by engaging customers online via Social Networking.

Over the last year, as a company we’ve seen a dramatic rise in the number of clients asking us to integrate Social Networking features into their site. Whether it be a simple “Like us on Facebook” link or feeding news articles from their sites into Facebook and Twitter we’ve done it all and seen the traffic flow as a result!

Social Networking is a lot more than just  shouting about your products in a new place. It’s about engagement. The companies that excel at Social Networking understand that the key to success is to spend less time talking directly about your product and more time engaging the customer. Being Social allows you to interact with the client and tailor your sales approach to their needs. It also allows you to control the perception of your brand in the market place.

Dell tracks 25,000 conversations about its brand and products daily (in 11 different languages) and engages a thousand users a week via Twitter. Whilst this level of engagement might be out of the reach of most small businesses Dell’s dedication shows how worthwhile networking really is.

On that note we’d like to encourage you to follow us on Twitter! @kawebdesign and @kawebhosts (our hosting divison).

If your business is in need of a social media makeover please get in touch and discuss how we can help you engage your customers!

A joint venture, the App will be a business to business App that should help those in the industry evaluate stopping distances according to various factors, which include vehicle types and road conditions.

We wanted the new site to help show off our work better as well as make better use of screen space, and be easier to navigate.

In editing down the main nav to only a few items, with careful use of ‘panelised’ sub-category items in the pages themselves we hope we’ve achieved an easier read for the user (even though we’ve added more content!) whilst our portfolio and case study pages show off our work to maximum effect.

We have also elevated the status of our blog (it was a little buried before), as well integrating our old News system into it so as to become a single resource for our comments on all things web, and of course, all the latest from Kaweb.

The portfolio section makes it easier to find our work on a per discipline basis as well as featuring case studies for a chosen few projects (with which we have also been able to include some great comments from our clients).

Watch out for more content coming soon!

Business Link provide impartial and expert information, support and advice needed to help businesses develop and make them more successful. As well as giving general support, Business Link also supply funding grants to new business startups, and should those new companies require web development, then that’s where Kaweb come in.

Kaweb are proud to be part of this scheme and hope to help any new businesses with their web development through the Business Link initiative.

And that wraps up my top five. I’ve tried to avoid ubiquitous applications such as Firefox since that’s pretty much a given, and applications I feel some businesses will have no use for (such as the popular instant messaging client, Adium).

Any good applications that you would like to share? Please leave the Kaweb team a message in the comments to this article!

Happy programming!