When you think of mobile apps, you might imagine a world of kids' games and social media. But customer service has shifted dramatically in the past few years, and nowadays your business needs an app to keep up with competitors. Here are some of the ways app development can take your business growth to the next level and the reasons why you need to get involved.

1. Mobile usage is on the up

With 95% of Australians now owning smartphones, it's more important than ever for your business to be mobile-friendly. Customers love the ease of browsing and purchasing on the go. Tech is rapidly advancing, with AI devices like Alexa taking over our homes, so soon a business without a mobile app will be seen as behind the times and stubbornly old-fashioned.

2. Improving customer experience

Now more than ever, customers are looking for ease and simplicity above all. Next-day delivery and contactless payments have increased our expectation of immediate, effortless shopping, and mobile apps are the perfect way for you to incorporate this into your business. With a more minimalist interface than a website, well-designed mobile apps make it easier for you to direct your customer towards the next step in the payment process.

3. Increase growth and loyalty

With a plethora of features like loyalty points systems, push notifications for discounts and sales, delivery information and more, a mobile app makes it easy for you to communicate with your customers. These reminders show your customers that they are valued and make sure your business always stays in the back of their mind.

4. Quality development

By working with an experienced app developer, you can be sure that your app will be unique, easy to use, quick to load, vibrant, and responsive. These are the qualities which will encourage customers to rate your app highly, which in turn will make new leads more likely to discover you via their phone's app store.

If you need app development Canberra business owners can rely on, look no further than Canberra Web. Our expert designers will work with you to create a stand-out app that will see your company's leads and profits soar.

Mobile technology is becoming bigger and better than ever with every passing year, making it an area many businesses simply can't afford to miss out on. Developing an app for your brand allows for 24/7 connectivity with your audience, but before you jump right in, make sure you avoid these common pitfalls:

Too many platforms spoil the app

In the beginning, it's easy to get a bit too excited. Trying to make your app available on all operating systems is bound to lead to chaos and more bugs than if you'd stuck to a single platform for the initial release. Do a bit of market research and discover which platform most of your audience uses. Likely contenders are Android and IOS but could be followed closely by Windows or Google as well. Start small and expand as demand rises later and you already have a handle on the running of your app.

Not spring cleaning for bugs

Pretty much all apps are going to have bugs of some form, especially when they're first launched. The most important thing you can do is respond to them with professionalism and efficiency. If your users are experiencing the same bugs and crashes time and time again, they're going to stop using your app and its rating is going to plummet. Listen to feedback and get those pesky errors ironed out as soon as possible.

Not spreading the word

Although you might not want to shout your app development venture from the rooftops, it's important to let your audience know what's cooking. You might feel uncertain about the success of your app, but not telling people is a sure-fire way of ensuring its failure. Marketing your app will make people excited over a period of time, so by the time your launch date rolls around, customers will be more than ready to hit the download button.

Want to avoid making these common mistakes? Get in touch with Canberra Web for professional, reliable app development Canberra wide. Give us a call to discuss your needs or ask any questions you might have.

The onward march to a fully mobilised digital age continues, as 2018 finally sees mobile phones edge out in front of desktop systems, now responsible for 52.4% of website traffic according to statista.com. Whilst this upward trend has long been predicted, the rapid rise of mobile-geared e-commerce has left some businesses racing to catch up to their fully mobile optimised competitors.

Mobile responsive website or mobile app?

Today's market is saturated with apps, with over 5 million currently within the Google Play and App Store combined according to statista.com. Many small businesses are feeling the pressure to develop mobile apps in order to compete, however, in a lot of cases this may not be necessary. Statistics from Localytics (https://www.localytics.com/lp/cheat-sheet-overall-app-benchmarks-h2-2016/) suggest that 80% of apps are no longer being launched 3 months after installation, and small business may not be getting the return on investment they are hoping for.

On the other hand, developing a personalised app can offer some businesses the perfect solution for streamlining services and keeping customers happy. According to a survey by Clutch (https://clutch.co/app-developers/resources/small-business-apps-survey-2018) the most valuable features of mobile apps for small businesses are mobile payment, social media integration, enhanced customer communication and customer loyalty programs. Canberra Web can also help to create unique app designs with innovative functionality to ensure businesses stand out in this flooded app market.

The impact that website functionality can have on a company’s bottom line cannot be underestimated. Google recently reported that 61% of users who had an unsatisfactory experience on their first time trying to access a mobile website did not return to that website again. However, before investing time and energy in mobile app development it is worth reviewing your current desktop website and its performance on a mobile web platform.

In many cases, responsive web design can offer the mobile-friendly online experience that users are looking for, without the need to download new apps. Responsive web design optimises a desktop site by adapting it to suit the smaller screens and software capabilities of smartphones and tablets. Reduced text size and streamlined content help users to navigate sites more easily and without compromising on speed by trying to load a full desktop site on a portable device.

The Canberra Web experts can work with you to determine the best way to represent your business online. If you would like to get in touch to further chat about the services we offer, please feel free to contact the team.

As a business owner in this digital age, you know that a high-quality website that runs quickly and displays well on the most commonly used browsers is an absolute must. You probably also already know that you’re not going to get this if you use a free online website builder. When it comes to quality website design, you definitely get what you pay for. But a website isn’t the only thing your business needs.

Your website needs exceptional graphics and high-quality, accurate content that is optimised for search engines (referred to as Search Engine Optimisation or SEO). If you want a good reach (and who doesn’t?), you’ll also need social media marketing. For those of you trading online, a reliable and robust e-commerce system is a must and for those of you with a physical presence, you’ll benefit from print marketing in addition to your online presence. You might even be in the market for some app development.

I can hear you thinking that sourcing a specialist for each of these discrete services is a daunting task. You’re probably already feeling overwhelmed by the thought of having to find the time to hunt down providers that will not only do a good job but will also work seamlessly with each other to ensure a consistent brand for your business. Well, stop right there! You don’t need to spend days or weeks researching the best providers. Here at Canberra Web, we provide every one of those services and more.

Our specialists not only excel at providing quality products in each of the above service areas, they also work together seamlessly as a team to ensure a hassle-free experience. No matter where you’re located we can service this wide range of needs remotely but for those of you in the Canberra area, you can talk to our staff in person for that extra, personal touch.

So if you need services that cover one or more of web design, web hosting, app development, graphic design, digital marketing, and print, and most especially if you’re looking for a provider in Canberra, then look no further than Canberra Web. Call us today or come in for a visit - you’ll be so happy you did.

Many people struggle to differentiate between a web application (web app) and a website 

A website refers to a location that hosts a page or several pages that are often on a particular topic, e.g. a business or organisations products and services. A website is accessed via a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) online from any computer connected to the internet. Websites are typically made up of static pages with low interactivity.

A web app can exist on the internet or on local intranets. When available on the internet, a web app is often hosted as a separate page on a website. In comparison to a website, it is more difficult to build a web app as it is more resource intensive being made up of lots of dynamic pages with high interactivity. 

In order to build web apps it is essential to understand at least two or more of the following languages if you want to implement server-side scripts that process data:

• Java
• Javascript
• Dynamic HTML
• Silverlight
• PHP
• AJAX

Our programming experts at Canberra Web build more than websites, we create superior web applications that transform your online business or organisations interactivity which in turn greatly improves the user experience. What we do at Canberra Web is endeavour to make sure that your websites image works hard for you with customised applications tailored by our team!