Knowing if a company has a mobile website

Not sure about the emulator but all you have to do is go to their main website from a mobile device and they "SHOULD" have a script that redirects it to the mobile website. The script has the ability to detect the browser that the visitor is using and serve up the website accordingly.

You can use www. google. com/m/. The sites listed with a green phone to the side will have mobile websites and the ones without don't.

Don't forget to smile real big when you see that only a fraction of a fraction of the sites have mobile websites (kaching $$$) . Sometimes I wish I didn't but damn I love google.

I am trying to guess if your question is because that way you'll be looking for prospect you can build a mobile website for.

If that's the case remember that not all websites redirect to a mobile sub-domain. A lot of websites have plugins that allow them to be viewed on mobile devices.

So I'd definitely go with Tim's advice, get a mobile device and try accessing a website from there.

Escribe, my guess would be that CoachGC's answer might explain why google can't tell if the site has a mobile version.

I may be wrong but it is my understanding that such plug-ins are just like phones that squeeze regular websites to fit, causing a visitor to zoom in to read when even possible.

One way to be even more sure would be to go to the site and see if it is a blog, since most wordpress themes are blogs. you can aslo go to the bottom of the page to see if it is a wordpress theme. Of course, this is not 100%.

Tim's tips would obviously be your best bet but you should be using this version of google in-conjunction. Worst case scenario you call someone, find out you're wrong, say thanks and move on to the next one. Total time wasted 2-10 minutes (depending on how easy it was to get the #).

They weren't going to buy a mobile site anyway and since sales is a #'s game you will experience rejection.

If you're not cold calling then it really is a #'s game (email or direct mail) and in that case minor mistakes like this are totally unavoidable & inconsequential.

in order for the mobile sites to get the green handset next to the listing, they have to be designed so they properly validate and meet XHTML MP standards - otherwise google will ignore them and rank the site along with all the other regular designed sites - regardless if the site looks great on a phone or not... additionally they will probably have submitted a properly formatted mobile site map

hope that helps

jay

additionally if you dont want to spend money on a real mobile phone emulator/simulator or actually buy a handset you could use the following:

Install the latest version of firefox from mozilla.org

Install the user agent switcher plugin found here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...gent-switcher/

Install the firesizer plugin found here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...don/firesizer/

Most sites that detect mobile devices look for two things - screen size or mobile device type, detecting one or the other will typically result in you being redirected to the mobile version of the site....

You can configure fireresizer to quickly resize your browser screen to replicate dimensions of a smart phone - this should cater to any javascript detection mobile devices based on screen size its very easy to click back and forth between screen sizers

You will need to use the user agent switch to fake the user agent of your firefox browser - ie make the website you are looking at think firefox is for example the iphone - the user agent switcher did use to have a full list of browsers and mobile devices you can import but i can seem to find that list anymore... you will need to constantly keep clearing your cache as you will find yourself constantly having to go to google mobile or facebook mobile! lol

There are numerous other open source simulators and emulators too - as well as paid ones also... unless you have a dual screen setup you may find it a bit of pain - i have a tri screen setup basically because i work with different environments both for standard desktop web development and mobile so i sometimes have multiple emulators going on at the same time.

The emulators i use in addition to the method used above are Keynote MIT (FREE version), and Mobile One Test (Iphone emulator for windows - personally i think this is the best windows one out there but its about $100)

i also constantly test my sites with ready.mobi and also http://validator.w3.org/mobile/

I have found most iphone emulators do not replicate all its features properly - the closest has to be Apples own SDK that comes with XCode but you have to be registered as an iOS developer $99/yr

Best testing tool i have bought to date ... an Apple iTouch you cant beat testing on a real device!

I also have an iPhone 3GS and an Android Captivate

Hope that helps

jay

As Jay stated not every mobile redirect script is the same. Some of them will detect the user agent or browser of the mobile device, others will simply detect the screen width of the device. For that reason emulators and simulators won't always work with detecting mobile versions of websites.

As well as that not every website that has a mobile version will have a green icon next to it in Google Mobile. As Jay also correctly stated for this to happen you need to have coded the site in the correct format and submitted a Google Mobile sitemap so they are aware of those mobile optimized pages.

The easiest way to tell if a business has a mobile site is simply by using a smartphone. If you don't have the money for a smartphone remember things like the ipod touch will work just the same. But don't be discouraged because as it currently stands, only a tiny percentage of all website (less than 10%) have a mobile optimized version so even if you went at this with your eyes closed, you are a lot more likely to find businesses that have no mobile website than those that do.

Joshua is right, virtually no one actually has a mobile friendly site. Maybe 1 in 10,000 or worse (or better, depending on your point of view). Some display OK, but that's more happenstance than anything planned.

I would not worry about those who do. Assume they don't because there are so many that could use one. If they do have a mobile website, then you can offer to help them send promotionals with SMS messages. Don't forget to wow them QR codes. There are plenty of possibilities. Expand your thinking and go for it. I was able to land 4 website clients in 2 weeks just by going into businesses and asking if they needed a website. Most of the business sites around me are terrible. Low hanging fruit!

@escribe - i recommend you read over this wf thread...

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...-websites.html

hope that helps!

jay

you will be surprised how many don't and just rely on re-direction

I'm trying to do the same thing MoneyMagnetMagnate is, seeing if the emulator, any emulator, reflects the redirect of sites that I know have already been optimized.

Call and ask.

It's much faster than doing this "research", which is code for "let me figure out how to spend more time avoiding actually talking to people."

Here. I'll give you what to say:

"Say, you don't have a mobile website, do you?"

This is called a negative reversal.

It allows the prospect to answer either Yes or No, and you don't lose face.

"Yeah, actually we do."

"Oh, OK; I thought you would. How's that working for you?"...(maybe they need an upgrade.)

or

"No, we don't."

"Hmm. That surprises me. Why not?"...