BJM Digital Blog

4 Things to consider to develop a Custom Web Application for your Brand

Written by Ben McIntyre | 23-Sep-2020 05:27:41

With people spending more and more time indoors, your consumers’ habits are changing. Investing in web app development is now a must for businesses.

But you don’t want your customers to have a sub-par experience at any touchpoint with your brand. Your web app just as any website needs to have a great user experience for them to able to appreciate what you have to offer and get value from it. All the more reason for you to invest in a custom web application.

But before we get into the ‘how’ part of it, what does a ‘custom web application’ actually mean?

What is Custom Web Application?

A Custom web application is a tailored solution for a particular function of your business. An example of this would be a unique sales tool for your sales team. You need to build a custom digital platform that supports your sales process and team that’s directly inline with your product or service.

What do you need to know about Custom Web Apps?

We know you might have some questions about web apps already. So let’s look into some of the most frequent ones that come up. These are some key aspects that you should know before investing time and money into it.

1. Web Apps Differ from Mobile Apps

These two are connected in a way but are not the same thing. While mobile apps are built for that particular device only, Web apps are more flexible - they adapt to the device in use.

A key differentiator is that most mobile apps can be used with or without an internet connection as some of them have offline functionalities built in, but a web app, generally speaking, needs the user to be online, as it is in its basic form a website. With that said, you can certainly build offline modes and capability in Web apps where required. This might be for cases such as field technicians in remote areas where data needs to be accessed and saved at all times.

2. Web App Development Is Not a One-Size-Fits All

A common misconception is that you can run build your own web app out of the box without a web developer but the truth is, web app development is more than just opening a website builder and hosting account and choosing a template. There will be complex issues you’ll meet along the way like data security, UX, front-end and back-end modifications, unique business rules and so on.

Yes, tools and templates exist, but if you want your customer to have a truly unique experience and be an extension of your brand, custom web apps are the way to go. For this, you need experts by your side.

3. Basic requirements for Web App Development

These are essentially the basic building blocks for any website. Custom web apps have some more technicalities involved of course, but in case you don’t know the very first steps, here’s a quick list:

  • Domain Name — business.com is one example of a domain name that will give your Web App its own unique name and address. You can purchase your own domain name on crazydomains, onlydomains etc.
  • Domain Name System (DNS) —apart from getting your own domain name, you need to store this in a DNS. The DNS converts a domain name into individual Internet Protocol (IP) addresses across devices to be able to access a webpage. The DNS server is usually coming from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
  • Content —these are text or graphic content or collectively known as multimedia that is consumed by your customers. Custom web application development allows these to be scaled for maximum visibility to your potential market online.
  • Cloud Storage — this is a space to store all your files securely. Any website has a large number of files of various formats that need to be stored and accessed.

4. Web Apps ease the process

The common misconception is a Mobile App and a Web App are the same thing, and while there are many fundamental differences, let’s focus on some of the pro’s.

By choosing custom web application development nothing needs to be downloaded or installed, don’t require red-tape of app store approvals and typical delays to launch, they’re easy to maintain, can update themselves, and allows you to keep data up-to-date at all times with transactional relationships between the user and the database architecture.

Furthermore we are seeing trends where Web Apps act more like Mobile apps as they leverage advancements in browser technology. In essence, a Web App can be a far more cost effective way to approach business process digitisation.

Why You Need a Web App Developer

We know that as business owners, you want to focus on your clients and customers, which has a direct impact on revenue, which means most of us are time-poor for things outside of this area.
The best way to deal with this is to seek the help of experts in this industry handle the technical aspects of a project of this scale.

Are you thinking about investing in a custom web application? Get in touch with us or call us on +6139421 4747 for a free assessment.