The 'Mobile website versus mobile app' debate might as well be Coke versus Pepsi.

Smart online marketers have long been divided between the two, as many find themselves taking sides (though more prefer 'Team Mobile').

If online real estate stats follow those of eCommerce purchases, roughly 65 percent of customers would prefer to purchase from mobile websites, while the remaining 35 percent purchase from apps. So which would you choose?

If you're leaning toward the direction with the highest percentage of customers, you're on the right track. But you might be forgetting that you could be losing 35 percent of customers by gaining access to 65 percent of them.

The ideal solution is to have both options since you have customers who strongly prefer one platform over the other, and vice versa. By utilizing both, you can leverage each to its individual strengths, giving your real estate business maximum exposure and opportunities to drive business from all mobile customers on all mobile devices.

If you're limited as to which platform you should start with due to resources, there's no wrong answer. Both offer customers the opportunity to find your business from mobile devices—the fastest growing segment in real estate marketing.

Let's take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each. You can view a more thorough breakdown by downloading our Free Mobile Whitepaper.

Mobile Website

Advantages:

• Can be found through search engines, as most mobile consumers prefer to shop
• Short and long-tail keywords can rank, sending organic traffic to you
• Second-largest traffic source of all platforms
• Significantly higher source of traffic than apps
• New mobile technologies allow mobile websites to look, feel and operate similar to apps

Disadvantages:

• Customers on search engines may find your competitors instead
• Visitors from search engines could hit "back" and hop to a competing website
• Your brand awareness lasts only as long as a customer is on your mobile site
• It takes a customer additional steps to access your mobile site

Mobile App

Advantages:

• Highest minutes-per-visit average
• Most dedicated customers
• Integrated with your smartphone's functionality
• Stays on the phone home screen, always in front of costumers
• Seamless user experience

Disadvantages:

• Cannot be found in search engines
• Keywords do not rank when users search specific regions
• If app doesn't perform up to the user's standards, it might be deleted and never again thought of
• Apps require multi-platform development (iOS, Android, Windows, etc)

Both mobile options, if built the right way, should offer effective calls to action. A customer should be able to easily submit a lead from either a mobile website or mobile app. Both should send that lead through a real estate agent or brokerage's lead management system, and follow the same lead rules put in place on the desktop system.

After the customer submits the inquiry, he should receive an auto-response email. He should also be able to save listings to his portfolio, which he can be accessed from other devices—tablet, desktop, etc.

These lead acquisition functions are essential, and they should be incorporated into any mobile app or real estate website you go with.

Our recent lead study shows that mobile users tend to be "warmer" than desktop users. Customers are four times more likely to submit a lead in any particular visit through a mobile or mobile app. And if they are searching on their mobile device, they are more likely to be a serious shopper.

Whether mobile real estate website or mobile app, both put you in the mobile game. We recommend brokerages have both. If forced to prioritize between developing a mobile website or app, real estate businesses should consider the mobile website first, then add a mobile app at a later point in time.

Regardless of your preference, there's no denying the integral part mobile now plays in real estate.

If your real estate business does not currently have a mobile real estate website or app and would like to discuss affordable pricing and options with Delta Media Group, please email [email protected].

To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.