Does your website contain important information, but you feel like it could do so much more?
Every company or organization needs the right interactive tools for its customers and employees. These tools can be simple, like the contact form on your website, or complex, like an online ordering system. Either way, they serve a similar purpose: to optimize the way you do business and promote user engagement.
At Webspec, we work each day to bring creative solutions to businesses by designing websites and developing digital tools that meet their needs. Two main ways we do this are by designing website functionalities and building custom applications.
What are they, and what is the difference? Here’s a closer look.
What Are Website Functionalities & Custom Applications?
Website Functionalities
A website functionality is a feature that’s housed on your website to perform specific tasks. Functionalities are public-facing on the website, and they are simple in their operation — only doing one or two things.
Some common website functionalities include:
- Search bars
- Embeddable maps
- Fillable forms
- Photo galleries
- Tables
- Filters for blog posts
Custom Web Applications
A custom web application is more complex. They perform multiple tasks and often integrate data from a variety of tools, such as:
- Human resources software
- A customer resource management (CRM) tool
- An e-commerce platform.
Web apps are also not housed on your website. They live at their own URL, giving them more independence and enhancing their security.
Some common uses for custom web applications include:
- Simplifying tasks usually completed using paper or email
- Streamlining internal business workflows
- Pulling in data from third-party tools and programs
- Sorting through complex data
- Providing a web-based intranet for your employees and customers
How to Decide Between a Website Functionality & a Custom Application
When you’re choosing the right tool for the job, there are a few important questions to ask. These include:
1. Who’s the Audience?
This is the first and most important step in the process. Who are your end users going to be? If you need an internal tool that will streamline your workflow, then a custom application is the right choice. If you’re going to need a feature on your website for the public to use, it may be a functionality — depending on the complexity.
This leads to point number two.
2. How Complex Is Your Task?
Functionalities excel with simple needs. They work well for filtering blog posts, performing searches, or displaying map coordinates. However, more in-depth tasks require a custom application. If you need something to accomplish a dozen different tasks, each requiring different user permissions, then you will need something more complex.
3. How Secure Does It Need to Be?
When customer data, sensitive employee details, and financial information come into play, you need to know your tool is safe. For example, gathering credit card data through a simple contact form is not secure. This is when a more in-depth solution comes into play.
If no third-party tools provide the right mix of functionality and security that you need, a custom application could be the right choice.
How Webspec Will Help You Navigate the Process
If you’re not sure what tool you need to get the job done, don’t worry! At Webspec, we’re here to be your partner in exploring all possible solutions and helping you find one that fits your business needs and your budget.
Our team is well-versed in WordPress and all of the available functionalities and third-party tools that the platform can bring to your website project. We are also experts in Laravel, the most common framework for building software applications.
If you’re interested in learning more about website applications, read our guide to building a custom web app that meets your needs. To see real-world examples of what web apps can do, browse some of our successful web application design work.
Our teams have the expertise to build out simple functionalities or complex applications, and we’ll be with you every step of the way. Ready to work with the industry experts? Contact Webspec today!
