r6203

Hi there,

I see a lot of threads here where some people talk to business owners and showing them the bad appearance of their existing website on mobile devices.
So the clients already have got their websites.
Now the problem is how to deal with the fact that you obviously don't have access to the login credentials etc. for the already existing site.

I don't think it would make sense in customers view to pay a second monthly fee for another hosting provider, url etc.
But you can't say "ask your current webmaster to provide me with your hosting and login details". If so I think the webmaster will put his foot into the game...

Another thing that came to my mind was how to redirect people from the "desktop" site onto the mobile site. I don't mean the technique behind this. Simply the actual redirecting from the non-mobile optimized version to the mobile site.
In this case the actual webmaster need to be cooperating which will be the cause for the same problems stated above.

Assuming I will setup a entirely new website on another hoster I need to take care of this whole SEO things, right?
That's another point against doing it from scratch.

How do you proceed in such cases?

hensy

You can buy a new domain with .mobi and have them host with you? Just charge yearly fee like $100-200 that will cover your domain cost and hosting maintenance cost.

nikswf

that might be issue as if you are a webmaster and your clients buy mobi site from somebody else you might ask him or her to fix it for them and they really like to work with same webmaster rather than other. The thing is you need to show client that you are making him or her a better looking website with mobile compatibility.

Valdor Kiebach

You can.

The customer just explains to their current webmaster that seeing as the customer is paying for the domain and the hosting they now require full login details to the hosting account and FTP access to ensure that they retain control over all content.

The customer does not have to explain the reason for this or even mention they have sought the services of another 3rd party to supply and maintain the mobile side of their business.

Unless the webmaster has some contractual clause denying this in which case the customer has been stung.

proteinman2222

if you have a great sms provider, you just add a redirect url to their existing site. easy

AtlanticMarketing

I've run into the same problem with what I do. I live in a resort town and there is a company here locally that builds and host most of the websites around here and they do offer a mobile version however they are not really functional or helpful (no click to call, GPS, ect..) and they don't look half as good as our custom made ones that are fully functional. I completely bypass even dealing with them for the redirect because our focus is keeping the customers connected to the business by allowing them to always have the mobile site on their phones. In other words, the people actually using the mobile site were not searching for it in the first place. I'm sure this might not be practical for every business considering we have some clients that we will have to add a redirect because their customers ARE actively searching for them, but most of our clients it is not necessary. We have not had any trouble contacting the webmasters and having them use the HTML code that we send them for each site. Hope this helps.

AtlanticMarketing

Basically most of our clients are local bars and all they want is a way to keep their customers engaged once they walk out the door. Most of the bar owners around here think posting on facebook profiles or a half ass facebook page is enough, but it's not. That is where we come in and build them a site that their customers can take with them. However like a said, real estate brokers, car dealerships, ect... all need to have a redirect and we don't have any trouble when it comes to contacting the hosting company.

WillR

Simple.

Don't mention the need for their control panel details until the deal has been signed. There is no need to bring this up beforehand. Once they have paid their deposit and you have created the site for them offer to install it for them. If so they will need to provide their login details. If they don't want to provide them they can get their webmaster to install the site for them. Their webmaster will love that.

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Weblover50

That is the right approach. You need not even bother about what their webmaster will think. The site is owned by the client, not the webmaster. You give them the option to either DIY (you provide the code to add) or you will do it if the access to the server is given. As WillR mentioned, the key is not to let the webmaster know before you sign the contract and receive the initial payment.

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Rip57

Admins for existing sites can be a pain, as they tend to feel ownership of all of a customer's web-related business now and forever. I can't tell you how many times I've had a customer's current web admin say "oh we do mobile sites too" (they obviously don't or they would have already) and try to crater the deal at the last minute. So I agree that you keep them out of the loop until the deal is signed.

I actually do host (actually, pass along hosting costs) for customer sites (looking for a better/cheaper way to do this but that's another story) and customers don't mind paying me for that - speed, responsiveness, updates. After a customer signs up I give them an email to send on to their existing admin with instructions on how to redirect mobile traffic to my site:

Dear [customer],

Please pass these instructions on to your network / web site administrator...

Mobile subdomain creation and redirect

1. Create a subdomain for m.[customerdomain].com

2. Point the A record setting for the subdomain to [xx.xx.xx.xxx] (server for your new mobile-optimized site)

3. Copy and paste the following redirect code into the <head> section of the main www.[customerdomain].com webpage. Most likely this will be in your index.html file for your home page. If "index" does not exist look in a folder labeled "home". If using wordpress look in header.php for the <head> tag.

<meta name="mobile" content="http://m.customerdomain.com" />
<script src="[path to js redirect code]"></script>

4. Please send an email to [me] when complete. The new subdomain will take a few hours to propagate across servers.

Thanks and please have them call me at [phone] if they have any questions.

Many web admins don't like this because, as I said, they feel pretty entitled and they see account control slipping away. But at this point it's too late for them to do anything about it - the customer understands the value of his new mobile site, he's already paid me (including a year's hosting in advance), and the customer is in no mood for some web admin getting in the way of his business.

Others have an abundance mentality, tend to be more self-aware, and realize that mobile-optimized sites are outside of their area of expertise. These are the guys I send desktop web business to and try to cultivate relationships with.

Hope this helps. This is my first post here.