Question: I have a business and a website, but I’d like to add a mobile app to keep up with the trend of more and more people getting their information from mobile devices. What do you suggest I do?

Answer: I know these days apps are all the rage, and it is tempting to stay current with technological trends, but sometimes businesses think they need an app when what they are looking for is a good responsive mobile website.

Businesses that can benefit the most from an app are the ones that do business online such as e-commerce, reservations and/or to maintain user account profiles. If you have a website that is strictly informational, you can get a comparable result by getting a well-designed, responsive website at a fraction of the cost. For this reason I always like to ask clients what their goals are to determine the best plan of action.

Q: I have an idea for a mobile app business. What do I need to do to launch it?

A: You have the idea, fantastic. However, there are some key things I notice people tend to overlook. Building the app is only part of the process and expense that you will incur. Marketing is a huge factor here, because if you build an app that no one knows about, then how do expect people to buy it? You could just upload it to the App Store and hope for the best, but you are trying to run a business, after all — don’t you want maximum exposure? You should expect to also have a website built, social media protocols in place, maybe even some search engine marketing/search engine optimization and plan to do some good old-fashioned networking. In addition to this, you will also need a logo designed, business cards and other marketing materials you need to get the word out.

For the app itself, obviously the more information you can provide, the better. Have a clear idea of what your concept is and what you want your app to do and who is your demo