In a competitive arena, GV Wire could no longer afford to put their mobile user experience on the back burner.
When they rebuilt their website with mobile users in mind, the timing turned out perfect to launch a mobile app as well. This app and their new focus on mobile UX has helped GV Wire be recognized as one of the standouts in their industry.
Read on to learn more about GV Wire’s journey to building an app, and why they chose MobiLoud to help them do it.
About GV Wire
GV Wire is a news outlet based in the Central Valley area of California, publishing news and content on issues relevant to the region’s residents.
With a number of mid-sized cities and news outlets in the region, there’s a lot of competition for reader’s attention, leading GV Wire to look for a way not just to keep up, but to stand out.
The Challenge
Most people today prefer to use their phones to get fresh news and content. In the Central California publisher arena, those who stood out were the outlets who were able to provide a great experience for mobile readers.
This is something that GV Wire had on their horizon for some time, as Product Manager Jake Tracy told us:
“I started with GV Wire in 2020 and they’d wanted a mobile-first experience for their user base for over a decade. We did a complete redesign and rebuild in 2021 of the website to focus on a mobile-first experience.”
The Solution
Along with a mobile-friendly website, many competitors took it one step further and launched their own app as well.
“We noticed that a lot of news media outlets were starting to have a mobile app companion for their website, even though their website remained their flagship.”
Jake and GV Wire set out to do the same. Their idea was to take the new, improved mobile website they’d built and package it as an app as many of their competitors had done.
Choosing MobiLoud
Most customers we talk to felt out what it would take to build a custom native app first. Jake was the same. However, budget aside, he felt a custom app project didn’t really fit what they wanted.
“I reached out to a couple of contacts I had for custom mobile app development, but I was trying to find something almost like a template or framework that could house GV Wire so we could minimize the technical debt for the project. You guys actually had a really solid solution.”
Our solution was the MobiLoud platform, which let them wrap their website in mobile app code, delivering the same experience as an app, with little to no changes to their backend or to their publishing workflow.
MobiLoud’s track record helped convince Jake this was the way to go.
“It seemed like you guys were very professional and had experience. You guys were able to provide case studies to build our confidence in the decision process.”
Results
GV Wire’s readers are happy with the app, with users and downloads showing sustained growth.
“Our mobile app has grown about 62% year over year in users and downloads, and we hope to continue that growth as we continue to grow our brand.”
But more notably, their new app, along with their overall focus on mobile users, has made GV Wire into an award-winner in the California news publisher market.
“This year we were awarded the Best Mid-Sized Digital News Site by the CNPA (California News Publishing Association). I think that partnering with MobiLoud to launch our mobile app last year as a companion to the website has been a great help in achieving that.”
MobiLoud is the Best Way for Publishers to Build Their Own App
Helping publishers turn their site into mobile apps with minimal expense, effort and complexity is our bread and butter.
Jake is another happy customer, having seen the impact an app can have and the extremely low investment required to ship it.
“I would definitely recommend MobiLoud for any kind of mobile app development in the digital news space.”
Whether you’re on WordPress, any other CMS, or you have a custom-built HTML website, MobiLoud is a perfect fit.
Read more here about the benefits of MobiLoud for publishers. We help you boost retention, increase engagement, and separate yourself from other publishers in your industry.
Get a preview of what your site will look like as an app right now using our Preview Tool. If you’re ready to move forward and learn more, book a free demo with one of our product managers.
Let MobiLoud help you take your news outlet to the next level.
GV Wire is a news publisher based in the Central Valley area of California, USA.
