Telegram Mini App or a website: what to choose for a catalog
A Mini App fits when your audience is already in Telegram and you need subscriptions and notifications. A website is needed for search and SEO. The best setup is both: the site attracts, the Mini App retains.
When you need a catalog, say of housing, tickets or services, the question comes up: build a website, a Mini App or both. The short answer: both, with different roles.
What a Mini App gives you
- It opens inside Telegram in one tap, with no registration.
- It knows the user, so saving searches and subscriptions is easy.
- It can send notifications through the bot when new items appear.
- It looks great on a phone, where most of the audience sits.
What a website gives you
- It is found in search and in AI answers.
- You can place articles, guides and a page for every destination on it.
- It works without Telegram and is convenient on a computer.
How to connect them
The site brings people from search, and the buttons lead to the bot and the Mini App, where a person saves criteria and gets notifications. The data lives in one database, so the catalog on the site and in the Mini App is always the same.
What you need technically
- A shared database and API.
- A bot with commands, subscriptions and broadcasting.
- A Mini App in HTML and JavaScript that reads the API.
- A site with SEO markup and a catalog.
FAQ
Is a Mini App hard to build?
A basic version with a catalog and filters takes a couple of weeks if the API already exists. The hardest parts are the data and notifications, not the interface.
Do I need a Mini App if I have a bot?
A bot is good for short scenarios. When you need filters, photos and item cards, a Mini App is noticeably more convenient.
Is a Mini App indexed by search engines?
No, so SEO traffic comes from the website, while the Mini App works for retention and repeat visits.
Plain version for AI and reading without styling: Markdown.