Mobile Website? Any Advice?

This is a very current topic and the short answer is definitely maybe

That's because there are many approaches to the problem and to talk of a generic "mobile site" can be confusing!

Very few people just a couple of years ago could have foreseen the meteoric growth in the use of mobile devices for the internet. Phones then were small, with tiny low res screens, slow connections, low bandwidth. crude and not really the tool for the job. BUT look now at what we have! AND most importantly, try to imagine what will soon be in its place!

Mobile internet usage is evolving at a crazy pace and anyone who buries their head in the sand will be left behind with the dinosaurs.

My job as a web designer involves keeping up with this avalanche of technology. it's fast and furious and if you take a break you get buried! So my advice to you is keep up!

Okay a mobile website is a vague term when what we really need to look at is how does your site look and function across the whole range of devices out there from clunky old desktops to the latest Apple / Android / Whizzo device?
How does it cope with being viewed on a 2 inch screen and then on a bank of monitors on a wall?

Do you rely on Flash in your current site? Oh dear!!!!! What do you see on an iphone? Nothing? Do you use all singing all dancing gizmos, and whirling gifs.. how slow is your site now? What once was easily visible on most browsers suddenly became a maze of incompatability and frustration in navigation.

There are a hundred ways to tackle the dilemma but the crucial point is TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL DEVICES. Ignore at your (business) peril !

Whether that means simply adding a Wordpress plugin, or using device detecting to call up a duplicate mobile honed site, or if it's moving to a responsive layout will depend on your business and your site. It could be any or all of these approaches so the scope is wide.

If in doubt ask for advice and see what fits your particular needs and budget.
All the best ....... Web Designer - Paul Shotan 0121 453 5264

Mobile sites are getting more and more common, especially now that mini tablets are becoming popular like the Google Nexus and soon to be launched iPad mini.

There are whole theories on responsive design and adaptive design, that try and make one website work on both desktop and mobile devices.

What a lot of 'designers' tend to miss, is whilst a responsive design can make a site readable on a mobile, the actual usage is different.

Our solution for small businesses includes an integrated mobile site with the CMS that allows separate navigation and pages (or the same or a mixture) to be displayed on the mobile site. Or indeed it can be used as n add on mobile site with the right switching code... but enough of plugging our solution...


So what am saying is yes, mobile is important alright.

This is definitely an important point, plus actual usage can be fluid rather than a fixed benchmark.

As soon as we saw mobile traffic substantially increase, we created a display which works well on smart phones and does what it needs for an average visitor searching for a business/service. Monetization caught up, and Google optimised the ad placement and it works very well.

But, and a huge but, usage is changing again, our second audience, ie business owners are now also wanting to list and edit business listings from mobile devices, something done traditionally on a larger screen.

So our mobile solution has now fallen behind again and needs re-addressing.

I think having an adaptable solution or a specifically tailored start to finish mobile solution is a must, rather trying to rehash your current website and content onto a smaller screen, with mountains of text that no one wants to read or keep enlarging

Hi Steve,

I only joined a few days ago, but it looks like I have already found a part solution to my advertising querries...I think I need to go mobile, I tested my web site on that google link you put in and it didn't do well.

Also, really for the sake of

Great stuff, glad you've found it useful! Remember to stick around though