While having responsive design for a website is a great way to reach a huge audience, it isn’t the end-all solution for a site. Apps are still a very important part of a publisher’s toolkit for reaching out to as large an audience as possible. Having a single web design optimized for all of the possible devices and browsers isn’t easy, and apps developed for specific operating systems that run on multiple devices are still one of the best options.

According to AdWeek, a number of different news outlets including The New York Times and BuzzFeed utilize both responsive web design and apps in the distribution of their services. Having the option to use a dedicated app to view a publisher’s content is incredibly effective at reaching consumers who know the publisher and seek out their news on a daily basis, while having responsive design is more effective at reaching people who utilize links and sharing.

There is no perfect answer to whether responsive design or a dedicated app is better. Depending on the service, an app may be clearly better for getting word out. On the other hand, sometimes having an app may not reach as many people as a dedicated website would. The easiest way to reach the greatest audiences is to find a balance between a reliable app and a website that caters to as many potential users as possible.

Source: Adweek