Frequently Asked Questions

The debate over what makes a mobile-friendly website versus a web app is a common one in the industry, and generally subjective as the definitions are not clearly defined. However, most people consider the difference to be centered around functionality. Websites are static and informational, web apps are interactive and dynamic.

If you’re updating content regularly, providing a service, or allowing for interactive engagement on your platform, that can be considered a web application. In stricter terms, a web application is a software program accessible using any web browser.

If your content is mostly static, serving as an informational online storefront or representation of you or your business online for branding purposes, that is considered a website.

Sometimes it’s possible for things that seem like websites to also be considered a web application, if there are features or functionality that users are able to interact with. For instance, a restaurant’s site that allows you to simply view their menu, maybe an about page, and see their location and hours as static content is considered a website. However, a restaurant site allows you to make reservations, view customized information based on your location, order food or purchase gift cards directly on the site can be considered a web app.

As you can see the website vs web app terminology is somewhat subjective, with the primary distinguishing factor being: is your site informational or interactive? Fortunately, since Winnona Partners uses top of the line technology with responsive design using React, adding elements of functionality to a static site we build for you is easily doable. When this is the case you can confidently say that you or your business has a web app!