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"Kevin Nakao is the Chief Operating Officer for WhitePages, a Top 40 Web and Mobile Publisher. You can find him on Twitter, and on the Whitepages Blog where he writes about mobile, local, and social media.\nEver since Apple launched the iPhone app store, the company has been pushing its apps to get all of the attention.  But when was the last time you read a review about a new mobile website? Thousands of apps and billions of downloads consistently steal the headlines, while the mobile web is largely ignored by everyone but the consumer.   Yet, despite what the marketing would lead you to believe, consumers use the mobile web just as much as apps. \nAt my company, we raced down the same road, putting pedal to the metal on our apps while leaving our mobile website on cruise control.  Our iPhone app has been a Top 10 iPhone reference application for almost two years with almost six million downloads, and even with all of the great chart positions and visibility \u2013 just as many iPhone consumers use our mobile website as the application.  We are not alone;  Comscore reported in April that 72 million mobile users accessed a website compared to 69 million users who used an application.  Both are showing more than 25% year-to-year growth.\n\r\nMobile Web Gets Better\r\n\nWhen the app store first launched, only apps could use and access the device\u2019s location.  Last July, Apple launched OS 3.0 which provided Safari with GPS/location functionality.  Apple\u2019s HTML5 agenda continues to advance the mobile web browsing experience with video, audio, and a limited amount of caching or offline storage of data. The lines between apps and mobile web are blurring and converging.  \nHere\u2019s a quick comparison of capabilities offered by applications and the mobile web:\n\n\n\n\n\r\nBut Apps Make Money\r\n\nApps make more money because iTunes makes it easier for consumers to pay.  Similar to Amazon\u2019s one-click check-out, iTunes is a virtual wallet used by 125 million consumers. But a mobile website can\u2019t integrate with iTunes billing \u2014 you need an app for that: We tested a premium offer via our iPhone app which achieved a 50% higher conversion rate than the same offer on the mobile web.  \nHowever, for advertising revenue, the rates we receive on the mobile web are similar to in-app advertising.  In terms of performance, a study on the mobile web versus app for a major travel advertiser showed the mobile web out-performing advertising on the application.  Apple does place restrictions on in-app advertising and has the right to block out ad networks they deem competitive.  There are no such restrictions on the mobile web.\nSo which should you choose for your business: A mobile web site, or a mobile application?\n\r\nWhy the Mobile Web Makes Sense\r\n\n\n\n\n\nEven if an app is still the right choice for you, consider building a mobile website first since it will allow you to build and refine a great consumer experience, optimizing touch screen navigation. Mobile search provider Taptu has highlighted the importance of this through its listings of \u201Ctouch-friendly\u201D mobile sites. \nAnother benefit of the mobile web is that you can write once to be read everywhere.  With the mobile web, you can reach more devices with a single development effort. Unfortunately, mobile app platforms are fragmented, meaning you have to build specific apps for iPhone, Android, RIM, and Palm Pre. A mobile website can be built to standards that works on all these devices. There are also some fairly easy implementations that allow you to manage device profiles and optimize for different screen sizes. \n\n\n\n\nOne of the most satisfying benefits of the mobile web is the freedom to rapidly innovate and refine without approval or requiring the user to update and download. When Google could not get its voice application approved, for example, it responded by building a web version that required no approval process and used HTML5 for audio playback and SMS/Email for alerting.\n\r\nWhen To Create An App\r\n\nOnce you've optimized the experience, you can use your mobile website to graduate users to a more robust native app.\nOne of the most important differences between a popular app and the thousands you\u2019ve never heard of is the merchandising from the iTunes App chart.  Hitting the Top 4 on the Free App chart drove over 250,000 downloads for the WhitePages Mobile App.  Download volume and positive ratings are important factors needed to get onto the chart. We achieved first week download velocity by promoting the app on our mobile website, which we had steadily built an audience for.   Learning and optimizing our mobile website helped us create a better app that led to better reviews and ratings.  It helps to think of the mobile web as a beta, and the app as gold.\nOn-device placement is also important, and a bookmarked site gets the same favicon placement on your iPhone as a downloaded app. Social media will continue to be an important distribution engine, and sharing the URL for a mobile website provides one-click gratification.\nWhether you are just starting to put your mobile strategy together or have been at it for some time, don\u2019t just chase the shiny lure of an app before catching the mobile users that are already surfing your site. Let me know about your experience and best practices for building a mobile website in the comment section below.\n\nFor more mobile coverage, follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook\n\n\nMore mobile resources from Mashable:\n- Top 8 iPhone Apps for Self-Help- 27 Ways to Find Amazing New Android Apps- 10 Free Android Apps to Boost Your Productivity- 8 Best Android Apps for Photo Editing- 7 Ways Journalists Can Use Foursquare\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto,  jonya "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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