As a business owner, you might have heard of websites or web applications that you think are the same but in the real sense, they are not. When you want to establish a strong online presence for your business, you need to consider either creating a website or web application. As you might want to know they both have some similarities and sound alike.
These online tools can help your business stand out amongst your competitors but how to know which one to go for has become a major challenge.
A website or web application are both viewed via a web browser, they both use the internet, so to an ordinary person viewing both through a web browser might be thinking they are both the same but for a business looking to stage a strong presence online it is deeper than that.
In recent years, there is a major problem for businesses that want to gain a good reputation online to choose between a website or web application.
To ease you with this problem, we will explain the concepts so as to clear the air around the subject matters. As a business owner, you will also need to state out your business goals which will help you to make the right choice between a website or web application for your business.

Websites
As you are reading this article, you are on a website. A website is a group of web pages that are navigable and they can present content such as images, text, video, and audio. Websites are built using HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE ( HTML ), CASCADING STYLE SHEET ( CSS ), and other programming languages such as JavaScript, Python, etc. and they share a single domain name.
Websites can be developed and maintained by an individual, business, or organization. When you choose a web development service to build a website, presenting information about your business on different pages of the web which your visitors will see, filling of a contact form, is what you get.
Typical examples of websites include blogs, government sites, news sites, and educational sites, etc.
Read more articles;
What makes a professional website design
Things to consider before getting a website
Check the link in our profile

Web Application
Web application according to Wikipedia is application software that runs on a web server, unlike computer-based software that runs on the operating system of any device. A user can have access to a web application via a web browser with an active internet connection.
Web apps solve a particular business problem, it makes business process operation run smoothly. Web application is the same as the other software you install to a system but the difference is that it runs from a browser. It could be connected through a local area network or the internet. There are several kinds of web applications. It could be for accounting, Human resource management, marketing, client support etc. The advantage of web apps over applications installed on computers is that it can be accessed from any device with a browser capability. You just need to dedicate a computer as a server that will house the database and application. The rest computer connects to this server through the internet or local area network.
Web applications are more difficult to build and require an experienced team of software developers because of their wide range of functionality and are extremely customizable.
If you want your users to perform extra activities you will need to add some function to enable them to do so with ease. By so doing a website can become a web app if the main purpose of sharing information is turned to interaction.
The web application can run offline. Within an organization or a company, the web application can be created and manage to solve some internal issues but must be connected to a central server.
A fully functional web application is built in two stages, the frontend which is the visible part of the web app, and the backend which is where the storage of activities takes place. The frontend uses HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE ( HTML ), CASCADING STYLE SHEET ( CSS ) while the backend makes use of programming stacks such as LAMP (Linux operating system, Apache, Mysql, and PHP) or MEAN stack (Mongo DB, Express JS, Angular, Node JS) and so on.
Read more related articles;
when to hire a freelancer vs a professional agency
CMS or Custom Website, Which to go for
Check the link in our profile

All web apps are websites, but all websites are not web apps.
We are Netwalkers NG, an Ikorodu - Lagos based website, app development, and digital marketing company, we can help you with a fully functional website or web app depending on your business goals.

When To Choose A Website
To choose a website over a web app, you need to consider the following;
It provides your customers with lots of information about your business
An effective way of showing your products or services
It increases your credibility and creates social proof for your brand in the market
With the use of articles and blogs, you can educate your customers about your business
It increases your brand awareness, by showing your brand story to your audience or potential customers
Market your brand to a wider audience
Increase in customer support

When A Web App Makes More Sense
The following are to be considered when going for a web app;
Allows gathering of more customers
It gives room for a strong and powerful communication channel for customers and your business
Plays a major role in the branding process of your business
It solves a specific business challenge and or problem
It generates more return on investment ( ROI ) through effective customer service

Which Does Your Business Need?
From the comparison so far, it is absolutely clear that web apps are a better choice than websites. But depending on your business goals, if you just want to share information about your brand then getting a website is suitable for that.
As the digital world is growing rapidly, more businesses are looking to have a platform where personalization and engagement with customers are more effective than ever before and these are exactly what web applications will give you at their best.

Whatever your business goals are, we at Netwalkers NG an Ikorodu - Lagos based website, app development, and digital marketing company is here to provide you with what is perfect for your business.
Contact us today for more information.