hosting client mobile sites on your domain

Daniel LaRusso · 06-27-2012, 12:42 PM

Instead of installing a mobile site on a client domain in a m. subdirectory, are there any inherent problems with installing it on your own hosting/domain?

For example, you would have Danielmobile.mobi/eatatjoes rather than m.eatatjoes.com and redirect to Danielmobile.com/eatatjoes

We don't use mobile sites for SEO, and this would make it easier to set up and maintain, especially if you are building the sites at no cost and charging a monthly fee.

lint631 · 06-27-2012, 08:19 PM

I think the main problem would be that having a m.yoursite.com domain name is more desirable then having yoursite.com/sitename for a mobile site. As more m.sites.com popup businesses are going to want that specific setup.

Is it possible to only host a subdomain on your host and then have them host their regular site so they can keep the name consistent on both?

alfid · 06-28-2012, 10:00 PM

I think consistency is important here, as lint631 has mentioned. I myself would love to be able to set up both mobile and desktop domains.

Alessandro Zamboni · 06-30-2012, 03:34 PM

I always suggest to use m.maindomain.com for mobile websites.
At least in this way they can show their name/logo and get customers to remember the main website.

In most of the cases, if the customer is using Wordpress, you could install a free plugin for automatic detection of mobile phones. That is called WpTap Mobile Detector and I think it's free to use.

See you soon,
Alessandro Zamboni

Danny Archer · 10-17-2012, 03:48 PM

Although you say...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel LaRusso

We don't use mobile sites for SEO

"We don't use mobile sites for SEO" ....are you actually telling the search engines not to index the mobile site in the robots.txt file?

Using it for SEO or not it will be indexed and if you are putting the same text on the mobile site and not tagging it correctly you could run in to indexing issues for your client and they might not be too happy with you for that.

It is very easy to create m.maisitedomain.com and still point it to a directory on your server, thus still making life simple for you.

All you need to do is configure the DNS for m.maisitedomain.com to point to your hosting by setting the DNS Name Server to yours and then configuring your hosting to manage that sub-domain's DNS and webspace so everything is where you want it.... the customer keeps their domain and you keep the files on your hosting.

It will depend on your hosting companies how simple this is however they should all support it one way or another. You will have to create m.maisitedomain.com with the maisitedomain.com host, point the DNS for this to your host and wait 24 hours for it to propagate round the Internet before you add the domain reference for m.maisitedomain.com to your host, add it any sooner and your host may fail it as a non-existent domain and refuse to add it.

I agree with the previous posts and would not advise hosting it as an extension of your own (completely unrelated) domain.

Let me know if you need any more pointers and I'll try and help

Hope that helps.

Danny.

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Nail Yener · 10-17-2012, 11:15 PM

Daniel,

Let's say you started hosting mobile sites of your clients on your own domain and you reached hundreds of clients in a couple of years. What if one day you decided to quit? You will not only have to transfer all those sites to their owners but also that mobile sites will lose all their indexing and search rankings and backlinks they had developed in years naturally. Knowing that, I wouldn't do this to any of my client.

Besides, if I was a business owner, I would want to have full control over my assets and keep my mobile site on my hosting. But everyone might have different preferences.

shoopt · 10-18-2012, 01:48 AM

Hey Daniel
I will suggest you to have specific mobile domains for your clients but still if you want it on you domain try applying 301 redirect scripts on client's mobile website. It will do the work for you.

06-27-2012, 12:42 PM	#1
Daniel LaRusso Sweep the leg War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Mr Miyagi's Dojo Posts: 482 Thanks: 409 Thanked 234 Times in 157 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	hosting client mobile sites on your domain Instead of installing a mobile site on a client domain in a m. subdirectory, are there any inherent problems with installing it on your own hosting/domain? For example, you would have Danielmobile.mobi/eatatjoes rather than m.eatatjoes.com and redirect to Danielmobile.com/eatatjoes We don't use mobile sites for SEO, and this would make it easier to set up and maintain, especially if you are building the sites at no cost and charging a monthly fee.
	It is unwise to trust all you read on the internet. - Benjamin Franklin

06-27-2012, 08:19 PM	#2
lint631 MobileWebRockstar War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: New York Posts: 252 Thanks: 40 Thanked 50 Times in 35 Posts Social Networking	Re: hosting client mobile sites on your domain I think the main problem would be that having a m.yoursite.com domain name is more desirable then having yoursite.com/sitename for a mobile site. As more m.sites.com popup businesses are going to want that specific setup. Is it possible to only host a subdomain on your host and then have them host their regular site so they can keep the name consistent on both?
	Last edited by lint631; 06-27-2012 at 08:20 PM. Reason: added content

06-28-2012, 10:00 PM	#3
alfid HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 293 Thanks: 10 Thanked 27 Times in 27 Posts	Re: hosting client mobile sites on your domain I think consistency is important here, as lint631 has mentioned. I myself would love to be able to set up both mobile and desktop domains.

06-30-2012, 03:34 PM	#4
Alessandro Zamboni The Italian Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Milano, Italy Posts: 1,234 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 368 Thanked 643 Times in 433 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: hosting client mobile sites on your domain I always suggest to use m.maindomain.com for mobile websites. At least in this way they can show their name/logo and get customers to remember the main website. In most of the cases, if the customer is using Wordpress, you could install a free plugin for automatic detection of mobile phones. That is called WpTap Mobile Detector and I think it's free to use. See you soon, Alessandro Zamboni
	My Blog: Blog In Da Box My Latest Product: SECRET SOCIAL IMAGES

10-17-2012, 11:15 PM	#6
Nail Yener You reap what you sow. War Room Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mobile Posts: 814 Thanks: 154 Thanked 326 Times in 197 Posts Social Networking	Re: hosting client mobile sites on your domain Daniel, Let's say you started hosting mobile sites of your clients on your own domain and you reached hundreds of clients in a couple of years. What if one day you decided to quit? You will not only have to transfer all those sites to their owners but also that mobile sites will lose all their indexing and search rankings and backlinks they had developed in years naturally. Knowing that, I wouldn't do this to any of my client. Besides, if I was a business owner, I would want to have full control over my assets and keep my mobile site on my hosting. But everyone might have different preferences.
	Mobile Squeeze Pro \| Minute Mobile Mockups "...closed a sale while I was testing this tool in the beta testing period..." Mobile Landing Pages \|Premium Mobile Website Templates "..amazing!.." "..super fast.." "..best of this style.."

10-18-2012, 01:48 AM	#7
shoopt HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: USA Posts: 175 Thanks: 7 Thanked 19 Times in 18 Posts	Re: hosting client mobile sites on your domain Hey Daniel I will suggest you to have specific mobile domains for your clients but still if you want it on you domain try applying 301 redirect scripts on client's mobile website. It will do the work for you.
	I am Daniel Jones, working in a Mobile Application Development Company as a Mobile App Developer. I enjoys exploring apps on iOS, blackberry, android and other mobile platforms.