carlos123

In my self-training to be able to build mobile sites I am coming upon some interesting articles and resources that I would like to share with you all for what they are worth.

Here is an interesting one...

An article saying that having a mobile website, for most businesses, is really not necessary.

Here's a quote...

You can find the full article at Mobile Web Design: Is It Worth It?

The author makes some valid points I think. What do you think?

Carlos

rlhurst

I think the fact that around 50% of local searches are made from a mobile device, a mobile optimized site, for businesses, just makes good business sense.

Rick W

I think it is essential for all websites to have a mobile optimized site with over 1.2 billion mobile Web users worldwide and many of these being mobile only web users, it only makes sense to have a mobile optimized website.
I dont know about you but when im on the web on my smartphone i immediately bounce right out of non optimized pages as it takes an eternity to load and is just not user efficient with scrolling down then scrolling right etc. Just my 2 cents anyway

ronr

To some degree I understand what the author is saying, that at this time every website doesn't need a mobile version.

But he never mentions the the biggest group that really benifit from mobile website versions, local small businesses. When I'm looking for place to eat, or a place to stay, or a local service from my smart phone, if a business has a mobile version of their site I'm much more likely to take my business to them instead of a site I can hardly navigate.

Ron

Quentin

This is typical of the early 90s when they said you did not need a websites.

The poor writer is getting hammered.

Quentin

carlos123

Interesting. I am still learning about mobile everything so it seemed to make a lot of sense on a first reading...to me at least. But aside from wanting to share what I am finding for the benefit of anyone else here I wanted to hear what some of you might say about it too.

Thanks for sharing.

I guess I better...well...get me a mobile phone to get a better handle on the hotness of it all LOL.

I don't even have a cell phone (well...a working one at least...I have one but only use it for it's alarm function LOL) if you can believe that.

They've always seemed too expensive to me and I have never really needed one as my clients all email me, chat with me over IM, or I call them through Skype.

But thinking about mobiles has led my eyes to be more opened to how so many students at the university I hang out at are constantly on their cell phones. All the time.

It's ridiculous really.

Girls will walk into bike paths while looking down and texting. Students will walk all over, all looking down and texting, without bumping into each other. It's like they have all learned to walk without bumping into things or people. I've toyed with the idea of just standing still in front of one of them to see what would happen LOL.

I've even seen students crossing streets while looking down and texting!

Carlos

lint631

I couldn't agree more. I'm on my laptop at least 8 hours a day and also on my phone a few hours a day. When I first got my iPhone I thought my website looked so cool on it. But then I converted it into a mobile site and really saw the difference. Loads quick and super easy to use. I'm still finding that small business would rather have an app then a website. Telling them the price difference usually helps make their decision.

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4webmaster

Quentin, don't laught because still now in 2012 not all businesses have a website nor interested having one. All they need is an email.

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carlos123

Well...given that I am the kind of guy that just cannot, simply cannot do two things at once...unlikely.

What is more likely is that you will see me stopped in the middle of the sidewalk or at a cross walk (without walking across while the signal says walk) on his iPhone. Then, when I have done doing whatever it is that I am doing on my fancy doo dad phone, I will deftly put it down at my side, walk across the street and then stop and start on it again (all the while staring down at it) until I am through once more and can walk again.

Like I said...I just can't do two things at once...well...not well at least LOL

Carlos

Quentin

I know lots of businesses still do not have websites as we get clients contacting us.

For these we will build responsive websites that will reduce to a pad and smartphone automatically.

Quentin

ihc44

I personally find some mobile 'optimised' sites actually work worse on the mobile than the original desktop formatted sites do...

wilder1047

Like the majority of what people are saying.

I only scanned through the piece, but even from the bit you copied in your OP.. it's clear this piece couldn't be more off.

The analytics I have on my clients site show that mobile is very much a large part of the local arena and it's ONLY going to get larger.

People in this internet world are extremely impatient and with so many options readily available to them, if something doesn't click right away, then they're be more then happy to move on.

For example, I just went on a little tear on my Google Chrome and started downloading any sort of extension that interested me. If by the time it had finished download the way to set it up was in anyway unclear I uninstalled it and moved on.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Google is going to start weighing alot of importance as to whether a site is mobile or not, since they're on the quest of delivering the best user experience possible, why would they bother giving their user a non-mobile friendly website.

And really, they're so cheap for us IMers to have made, it's a no-brainer to have one even if the site's mobile traffic is just 10% of it's totals.

Anywho, just my two cents...


Thanks,

James

WillR

As with almost any subject on the Internet, you will find a LOT of misinformation out there regarding mobile websites. This is a classic example. All you need to do is look around at some of the mobile templates and mobile website generators being offered on the Internet to know there are very few people who truly understand the reason behind having a mobile website.

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Nanaswhimsy

What I am seeing is a lot more leaning to HTML5/CSS3 and responsive websites that verify what type of device you are using and loads the appropriate CSS for that device. It gets rid of the m.website.com subdomains and gives businesses only one site to worry about. The part I am still confused on is implementing "tap to go" / "click here" buttons. Is it done with JavaScript?

What do you think of jQ.Mobi

Suzanne

WillR

Once again this would be an example of people not understanding what mobile websites are all about. The difference between a standard website and a mobile website should NOT just be the design. It also has to do with the prioritization of specific information relevant to mobile users (things like opening hours, directions, contact numbers, etc) and also the actual information that is displayed. The mobile website should be a slimmed down version with much more condensed content so you never want to just replicate the whole content from the standard website on to the mobile website.

Thus why you will find all the big companies using subdomains.

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aldemer

I agreed to those who says the local market. because if you are the hotel website owner or other related businesses you need a mobile website, to get more local client.

Izesta

Using cell phones in the street can be dangerous. Of course we all know that.

Just this week, it was in the news that a man walked into the side of a moving freight train while listening to music on his phone.


Another woman in Philadelphia was attacked right at her front door as she was oblivious to her surroundings due to her phone.


Many men have been pick-pocketed and many women have had their purses stolen while on the phone. The phone is a street criminal's best friend in many ways.

The phone is very useful, but I am the unusual person who never became consumed by it. When I'm in the street and it rings, I don't even look at it - unless I'm expecting an important call.

I'm still amazed at how many people have this addictive need for instantaneous communication all the time

Izesta

Agree. There is zero reason why a business should not have a mobile site.

4webmaster

No kidding, I just miss a step at home while browsing a mobile site, I hurt my right foot, this happen 5 min ago, now I have to rub with some pain relief cream.

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Aurora Bourke

The one thing that truly amazed me about this article is that it was supposedly written by an 18 year old. He would have to be one of the few in this age group not expecting a smooth mobile experience from most sites! I do not agree with this view.
Experience has taught that well optimized mobile sites are almost essential for several types of local business...particularly those with a younger demographic!

jonoman1

I actually can't stand websites that are "made for mobile" since when I use my phone I am wanting to see a site that I usually view on my computer. So I want to see the site exactly as I am used to seeing it.

And hasn't everyone noticed? Smart phones are being made with bigger screens and better resolution so we can see websites as we are used to seeing them on our computers. So since phones are being made for the internet, what is the big point of changing the internet for phones? I know mobile sites are all the craze, but you have to think about where technology is going.

WillR

Personally I don't build mobile websites because YOU prefer to see the full version. I build them for clients because they have loads of customers accessing their websites on the move. People who are on slow 3G connections and pay for every bit of data they download. People who are walking or driving along and only have one hand free to navigate the website. People who want to be able to call you without having to jot down or memorize your phone number. People who want to quickly and easily find your opening hours, address or menu. People who won't wait a minute for your website to load, they will go elsewhere -- usually to your competitors site.

We don't build mobile websites to suit people like you but we do put a very prominent link down the bottom of them allowing users like you to go back to the main website if you so wish.

As for your argument on screen sizes, how many websites are you able to navigate around, read, and click the links on without having to zoom in and out, and scroll left and right? I'll bet very few... and screen sizes are NOT going to get any bigger than they are now. People don't want to be lugging around mini tablets in their pocket.

I would actually argue that it IS the people creating mobile websites who DO know and understand where technology is going. That is unless you disagree with companies like Google, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia... I could go on?

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carlos123

Huh? How do you know that it was supposedly written by an 18 year old. If I had known that I probably would not have posted it. Not that 18 year old's can't write great stuff but generally speaking...well...they don't.

Carlos

jonoman1

I guess it's not your fault that my point was missed. Everyone is on the go. Even people who view websites at home on their laptops are on the go today. I am not talking about clients, since it's really the users that matter. And we all know that most "clients" who own websites really don't know much about how to make their website profitable. That's why they are hiring people like us.

Why not design your websites so they are just as easy to view and navigate on a phone as it is on a laptop? That way if users are used to accessing a website at home they can access all the information just as easily when they get on their phone. It's not my fault that everyone's "vision" for the future has not caught up with common sense yet, but time will tell.

I understand that mobile sites are the new shiny object in the room. And yes, I have made many of my own sites mobile, and they have done very well. But let's look at the long term view here, when every device we are using is mobile. An no, we aren't just talking phones after all. We are talking about tablets which can show full websites just fine without any problems, and if tablets are not showing flash they are not selling very well because that's what people want. Listen to them. They want to see the entire internet in all it's glory and not some cheap imitation of it, even though it can be more convenient when checking a bank account on a mobile phone. Seems to me there needs to be a bridge between the 2 types of sites, and I'm sure that change is on its way. And I'm sure everyone will go jumping on that trend as soon as it comes along.

carlos123

That brought to mind something that has been rolling around inside my head...is there such a thing as a magnification screen that one puts over their iPhone for example that magnifies what is on the screen to the point that one is looking at a screen size at least the size of a small laptop?

You know those magnification thin things that one can put over a book to see the print more clearly.

I was thinking that having such a thing that one could put 6 inches from the surface of the iPhone and on a stand would allow one to have the best of both worlds. A bigger screen that would magnify what one normally sees on an iPhone to the point where there would no longer be a need to create mobile only sites at all.

Is there such a thing? Just curious.

Carlos

WillR

Something like that would be totally useless because you would still be trying to click links the size of ants with your big fingers... impossible to use properly on a smartphone.

... and size is only ONE of the many reasons we have mobile websites. Speed, prioritization of information, ease of use such as layout and size of links suited for touch screen phones, mobile friendly features such as Click to Call, directions, and on and on it goes.

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jonoman1

Well the screen size is not the only reason people make mobile sites. It's more for convenience of finding information quickly on a mobile device. This is why the most visited sites with mobile devices are social sites like Facebook and Youtube. They aren't geared too much toward buyers, unless you include people driving around trying to find a business or checking our competitor's prices.

carlos123

Hmm...good point Will. I'd forgotten that one uses fingers to navigate. That would indeed be impractical because although the screen might be magnified to a decent degree so would the fingers which would appear massive LOL.

Not very practical I guess.

Of course you could always attach a regular sized keyboard and all but all that together would tie one to a desk and defeat the whole purpose of having a mobile gadget altogether.

Oh well...so much for that idea.

Carlos

WillR

Exactly. It's a shame putting the magnified screen over your Paypal account balance doesn't have the same effect!

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carlos123

Too funny. And here I had wondered (though just for a minute) whether I should have let out my brilliant idea about putting a magnifying thingy over a mobile gadget on the forum at all in view of someone coming along and potentially making the next million dollar accessory for mobile phones from it...without me LOL.

Carlos

NewParadigm

with the trend of larger phone screens there might be a softer demand for mobile optimized sites. with my samsung epic touch its not bad navigating regular sites. however, a mobile site is still easier when its streamlined and has bigger buttons. You don't have to zoom as much then.

jacklarry

I think that many guys are too busy and have no time to go online on desktop so they prefer a mobile device which they can carry anywhere with them. SO it is necessary to have a mobile site.

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jonoman1

Well if all you want to do is make the buttons on your website bigger and optimize your website for mobile use then a simple plugin can do that for you, or hiring an oursourcer for about $50 can make that happen. You don't really have to spend hundreds of dollars on a mobile site to make it easy for a mobile user to find those big buttons and read that larger text.

carlos123

True I think in the same sense that one does not have to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars hiring a good web developer to design a regular site. There are thousands of Philipinos (no offense to Philipinos intended) waiting at outsourcing sites eager to do the same for peanuts.

But do people outsource such things as a matter of course. Nope.

Web developers are still hired and used.

Likewise people will still pay hundreds for a mobile optimized site.

Especially people who don't want to be bothered or don't know how to do things on a mobile site differently so as to be able to save those hundreds which is most business owners if you ask me.

Carlos

HypeText

A couple points of interest here...

1) If you look at the author information, the article was written by an 18 yr old....

2) He is a Desktop Website Designer

While I am sure there are many intelligent 18 yr olds out there....this guy is lacking SERIOUS REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE!

His article does not reference any real life statistics, the results of ANY outside studies, or even a point of reference other than his own opinion.

Personally, as a 45 yr old businessman I have a really hard time regarding the author as an expert in the field.

This is a perfectly good example of people being able to post anything they like on the internet, whether it is accurate or not.

Lmr1

I think some people are not really wrapping their head around the mobile website thing. Will...you are spot on with EVERY word you say. I could not agree more!
Mobile is where it is at! PERIOD! It is not going anywhere and is only getting bigger by the day. If you have a regular website you should have a mobile friendly one. Will....thanks again, as you hit the nail on the head!!!
Thanks....!

chrisjenva

I agree with Lmr1. Mobile is here and it's not going anywhere. Only going to get bigger. If you put forth the effort to get a regular website, it's not that much more effort and cost to get a mobile version. Business owners just need to shop around and make sure they aren't being over charged.

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Rick W

Yes totally agree here, Before building a mobile website for one of my early sites I checked Google analytics to see how much traffic was coming from mobile devices and was quite shocked, was a little over 20%. So was definitely worth the creation of it

malia

I agree. Also, note that for a lot of business websites, adaptive/responsive design will be the better option, eliminating the need for two separate designs for mobile and desktop. I know everyone is gung ho on mobile right now, because it's easy and hot, but long term adaptive/responsive design is more stable.

As a business owner, what's the better proposition:

we can make your site work properly on mobile phones

or

we can make your site work properly on nearly all devices

Calskinator

I just wrote a few articles on this on a blog I write content for about mobile marketing, and what I realized (being a developer of over a decade) is that there is a difference between "having a mobile site" and "optimizing your site for mobile users."

If you're Dominos Pizza, for example, you want a different layout for mobile users because mobile users have such little screen space and probably just want to order pizza when they go to the site. So it makes sense to have the mobile layout they do for their mobile visitors.

If you have a website that focuses on something mobile users aren't going to do while on a mobile device, like maybe you own a blog - and it's just reading content your users do - then simply optimizing your site for mobile users is good enough. Like getting a wordpress theme that switches to a mobile layout upon detection of a user using a mobile device.

There is no need to get a separate domain name for .mobi - I doubt anyone would, for example, remember to go to "www.dominos.mobi" when they are on their mobile device... and then go to the .com on a desktop computer. You never see the web address on a mobile device, so why confuse people?

There are a few issues with standard websites on mobile devices even though they display properly... some functions don't work on some operating systems and browsers... you can never satisfy every need, so really it's just an individual choice.

I don't see a right or wrong answer... but I do see that this is based on the priority of the website itself!

wilder1047

Yeah, I do think that you're making somewhat of an assumption based on what YOU personally would like to see. I'm not big into the mobile website market so I'm indifferent to it overall.

But, really, when you think of what the true nature of a mobile phone is, it's being on the go, literally, you're not looking to mess around 'checking' out a website, you're looking for quickly digestible information. Phone number, location, what do they do.. that's it.

I know of a couple people that would prefer to jump on their phone then a computer for messin' around on the net, and they are an absolute MINORITY, I don't see how that will really change, you're comparing surfing the web on a laptop or desktop with a 15"+ screen to a 6" mobile screen (the mobility is going to restrict these from getting too much larger).

Also, with the increasing trend of apps, EVEN in browsers, I'm in love with Google Chrome because of them (I know firefox touts them aswell), mobile phones are not really trending towards a web browsing experience as much as they're focused on giving the user exactly what they want, NOW! So, not only are these features optimized for mobiles, they're actually MADE specifically for mobiles, that is the direction we are going in.

As for Flash, it's dead, it's dead on the web, and it's dead on mobile phones, the days of being 'wowed' by a website are over, it's time for quick direct response websites, those are what get results, and that's what we're in the business for.

While technology does continue to evolve at an insane speed and does make things better. It is also there to cater to current trends, and the current trend is convenience, catering to a market of people that have the average attention span of 9 seconds (Source: BBC).

Bottom line is mobile sites are relevant, and they are the wave of the future, we aren't going to suddenly revert back to the old version of the internet just because our mobile phone is technologically capable of doing so, it's not what the average consumer wants.

rlhurst

Couldn't have said it better myself.......... so I quoted it!

AustralasianLadyBoy

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Nochek

I believe the problem a lot of people are running into is believing that they have to have two separate sites, one for mobile browsers and one for desktop versions. The problem with that thinking is one of long-term scope, poor design theory, and misdirection in search algorithms.

When designing your site, it is important to think about Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and IE (plus the older versions of IE, but I honestly don't even bother designing for pre-IE8 users, they aren't my customers anyway). Using HTML5, you can now fit a simple template to match all of those just by changing the CSS requirements.Here's the catch: You can do the same thing for your mobile browsing. There is no need to change the structure, the layout, the design, the content, the widgets, or anything else as long as you properly orient your CSS, HTML, and make sure they are properly formatted with up-to-date best practices.

None of what I just said applies to the big framework CMS's though, you guys are stuck with the devalued load-time rankings and expensive overhead of running bloated systems.

I also might be wrong, biased, or uncaring, so make sure you take all of those factors into consideration when you heed my advice.

mojo1

Not essential really? Google must be sipping on something with all of the mobile centered companies and services they've swallowed up of late. Oh and that little international service called Zagat reviews they purchased last fall was the signal that should have tipped off even the most skeptical cynic about the long term relevance of mobile.

Google wants to serve all of its customers who are on the go with their mobile devices what they want when they want it. Businesses no matter what industry can ignore this at their own peril.