This guide is for owners of hotels, restaurants, shops, clinics, schools, travel agencies and service businesses in Nepal. Many of you are asking the same thing: do we need a website, is our Facebook page enough, or should we build an app? The honest answer depends on what you want customers to do. Most businesses need less than they’re told, but a few need more than they have.

Start with the goal, not the channel

Before you compare options, write down the one or two things you most want from being online:

  1. Trust: people check you out before they visit, call or pay.
  2. Being found: people who don’t know you yet find you on Google or Maps.
  3. Enquiries and bookings: people ask, reserve or book.
  4. Orders and payments: people buy, pay a deposit or pay fees.
  5. Repeat use: the same customers come back often, such as members, students or regular delivery customers.

Each channel is strong at some of these and weak at others.

What each option is actually good at

A Facebook page (and other social profiles)

Good for: staying visible to people who already follow you, sharing daily updates and photos, and quick conversations through Messenger.

Limits to know:

  • You don’t own it. Meta’s terms say it can remove or restrict content and suspend or disable accounts that it judges to break its rules. If your page is your whole online presence, one lost page or hacked admin account can cut you off.
  • Weak for search. Posts scroll away. Your prices, menu, room types or course details are hard to find a month later.
  • Not a proper booking or ordering system. Messages work for small volumes, but details get lost, and staff end up copying information by hand.

A Facebook page is a good channel. It makes a fragile foundation.

A website

Good for: trust, being found, and anything you want customers to read, compare or act on at any hour.

  • It’s yours. Your domain, your content, your rules.
  • Google can understand it. Google says it can pick up category information from your website, and its local ranking help lists links from other websites among the signals for how well known a business is. A clear website works together with your Google Business Profile.
  • It grows with you. It can start as a few pages, then add an enquiry form, a booking request, online payments or a customer login.
  • Other platforms may require it. For example, Apple’s developer program requires an organisation’s website to be public, working and on a domain associated with the organisation. It says links to social media pages won’t be accepted.

A mobile app

Good for: customers who use your service often and benefit from features a website does poorly, such as saved accounts, reorders, notifications, loyalty points, or offline access to their own data.

What it takes:

  • Store accounts and reviews. Publishing as a company needs an Apple Developer Program membership and a Google Play developer account. Both require a D-U-N-S number for organisations, apart from some government bodies. Google Play also requires new personal developer accounts (created after 13 November 2023) to run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days in a row before release.
  • A real reason to exist. Apple’s review guidelines say an app should offer more than a “repackaged website”. A wrapper around your existing site may be rejected.
  • Ongoing care. iOS and Android change regularly, and an app needs updates to keep working well and stay acceptable to the stores.

Decision guide by business type

Business Usually enough to start Add later if…
Small shop, café, local service Google Business Profile + Facebook/Instagram + a simple website You start taking online orders or delivery
Restaurant Website with menu, location and hours + Google Business Profile Pre-orders or table bookings become frequent
Hotel, guesthouse, homestay Website with rooms, photos, location and a booking request or direct booking + Google Business Profile You want deposits online or a guest portal
Trekking or travel agency Website with detailed itineraries and an enquiry form You need online deposits or a customer area for trip documents
Clinic Website with services, doctors’ timings and a way to request appointments Appointment volume justifies a proper scheduling system
School or training institute Website with programmes, admissions and notices You need fee payments online or a parent/student portal
Business with frequent repeat customers Website + a web application for accounts and orders Usage is high enough that a native app adds real value

When an app is overkill

Be careful with an app if:

  • Customers use you a few times a year (most hotels, agencies and clinics). Few will install an app for that.
  • The app would only show information that a website already shows.
  • You have no plan for promotion. A new app needs to be discovered, installed and kept installed.
  • You can’t commit to updates after launch.

A middle path worth knowing: a web application runs in the browser, works on any phone or computer, and needs no store approval. Built as a Progressive Web App, it can also be added to a phone’s home screen and handle poor connections. Many “we need an app” projects are better served this way, at least first.

When an app is worth it

  • Customers come back weekly or daily: food delivery, laundries, gyms, pharmacies with repeat prescriptions, schools with daily parent communication.
  • You need phone features the browser can’t reliably provide in your case, such as background location or deep camera use.
  • Your staff use it all day, for example a field team, delivery riders or housekeeping. An internal app can pay off quickly because the users are guaranteed.

A sensible order for most businesses

  • Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
  • Keep one social channel active, not five half-empty ones
  • Build a website that answers the questions customers keep asking you by phone
  • Add enquiry, booking or payment features once you know what customers ask for most
  • Consider a web application or mobile app only when repeat use is proven

Talk it through

If you’re unsure which step you’re on, a short conversation usually settles it. We build websites, web applications and mobile apps, and we’ll tell you honestly when the smaller option is the right one.

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