Step-by-Step Guide: Convert Your Website into a Mobile App with MobiLoud

Converting your website into a mobile app is a practical solution to expand your reach and build a direct line to your customers, without the high costs and time investment of custom app development. 

Traditionally, businesses have used developers to build an app for their website, which comes with a massive price tag—putting it out of reach for most SMEs and non-technical businesses.

MobiLoud, however, makes it easy. You can go from website to app in less than a month, for a minimal cost, putting mobile apps within reach of just about any business with a little consistent revenue.

This guide will walk you through why this approach is beneficial, and share the step-by-step process it takes to launch your own branded mobile app.

3 Reasons Why You Should Convert Your Website to an App (Instead of Building a Custom App)

MobiLoud gives you a cost-effective and efficient alternative to building a custom app from scratch.

For small businesses, this approach opens mobile apps as a possibility, which previously would have been well out of reach.

But even for larger companies with more resources at hand, converting your website into an app is often a superior choice, with less hassle and a higher ROI.

Here are three key reasons why MobiLoud’s way is the best way to launch your mobile app.

Cost and Speed

Custom apps can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take months, or even years to develop.

In contrast, MobiLoud starts at just a few hundred per month, with a manageable, one-time setup fee.

And you can launch in 30 days (or potentially less).

This means it’s within the budget of almost any business to launch their own app, and the lower commitment means it’s easier to try an app and see the effect it has on your business, without putting you in a major financial hole if it doesn’t provide the boost you hoped.

Learn more about how much it costs to convert your website into an app here.

Most Websites Already Provide an App-Like Experience

If your website is already mobile-optimized, you’re already not that far away from an app.

Modern websites provide increasingly better mobile experiences, and the standard for what you can do in terms of design and interactivity on mobile websites is getting closer to what you can do with mobile apps.

There’s honestly no need anymore to reinvent the wheel, and invest in a complete redesign, when all you need are a few minor UI additions and tweaks to make your website feel like a fully custom native app.

A Single Codebase to Maintain

When you build a new mobile app from scratch, you end up with one more (potentially two, if you build separate iOS and Android apps) codebase to manage.

That means 2-3x the technical maintenance, a constant juggling act keeping everything consistent, and much more work than you anticipate going in.

MobiLoud’s way is 100x simpler. Your mobile app is fully synchronized with your website, meaning any changes on your website instantly reflect in your apps.

The maintenance load is minimal, massively decreasing the operational complexity (and risk) involved with launching a mobile app.

How to Go From Website to App (in 5 Steps) with MobiLoud

There are five steps involved in turning your website into an app with MobiLoud (starting from the idea to build an app, through to going live in the app stores).

Let’s break it down now.

1. Optimize Your Site for Mobile

First, ensure your website is mobile-friendly, with responsive design and fast load times. 

Your website will be largely a reflection of your website, so it’s important that your website already provides much of the experience you wish to convey in your mobile app.

Most modern websites already meet a high bar when it comes to mobile optimization, but if you’re missing anything, fix this now.

2. Get In Touch With Our Team

When you’re ready to start, book a Free App Strategy Call, where we'll walk you through how we turn websites into mobile apps.

We’ll discuss your project, answer any questions, and show you a working prototype of what your site will look like as an app.

This is the time to share any special requirements you have, so our team can take these on board as we move on to building your app.

3. Sit Back and Wait

We handle the conversion process for you, building the native UI and writing native code to bring your website to life as a mobile app.

All in all it takes about 4 weeks: 2 weeks for onboarding and configuration, 1 week for testing, and 1 week for app store submission (with 7–10 days for approval).

4. Test & Share Feedback

Once we let you know there’s a version ready for testing, try it out on your own devices and send us any feedback.

If there are any issues, any change requests, or anything missing, we’ll action this before compiling the final version ready for launch.

5. Launch & Promote Your Mobile App

Once approved, our team will publish your apps and launch them to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

On your side, you can start rolling out the app and promoting it to your audience. How you handle the launch is up to you, but our expert team can help guide you through this process as well, to ensure your app is a success.

Want an idea of what's possible when you turn your website into a mobile app with MobiLoud? Check out these case studies from among the 2,000+ brands we've successfully helped to build high-converting mobile apps.

Post-Launch

After launching, your app will automatically update with website changes, requiring minimal maintenance.

Any technical maintenance to the mobile app will be handled by our team (so there’s no need for any app development from your team).

If you want to add new features to your app, you can simply add them to your website, and our team will assist in making sure they work great in your app.

You can also start using push notifications in your app to engage users, and mixing these in with your existing communication channels (e.g. email) to build more direct relationships with your users.

Summing Up

Summing up, MobiLoud offers a cost-effective, fast, and low-effort way to convert your website into a mobile app, leveraging your existing setup and maintaining a single codebase. 

This approach is ideal for businesses looking to enhance mobile presence without significant investment.

It’s ideal if you’re a small business with a limited budget, as well as for larger brands who want to see the impact an app can have on their business, without waiting 6-12 months to see the initial results.

Want to learn more?

Get a free consultation now, to see a free preview of your app, and get all your questions answered.