Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

What is the Difference Between a Mobile Site and a Site with Responsive Design?

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

We already have a few threads about that subject.

The mobile site is a website created specifically to mobile devices.

A responsive design is a "recent" way to adapt site designs to perform well on most web devices and screen sizes (normal computers, laptop, tablets and smartphones).

There are advantages in both option. Per example, if you are going to create a new blog it should have a responsive design. By other side, if you already have a website for your business that isn't mobile ready, creating a mobile site could be a better option.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Thanks for the info. When creating a mobile site, should it be in a new folder, sub-domain, new domain etc.? Or some how on the existing domain?

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

If you already have a website you could use a subdomain (m.domain.com) or a new folder (domain.com/m)

Both options are ok.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Is there any need for a redirection or something like that? Sorry, I am really a noob when it comes to mobile marketing.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Yes, you need a redirection script that detects viewer screen or device and send it to correct site version (mobile or desktop).

There are a few options available. Some are free some are paid. Just search for "mobile redirect script" in google or in this forum and you should find one that suit your needs. :)

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Thank you very much for the info. I think I just found a Wordpress plugin for the mobile redirect :)

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

@OP I would also recommend you look at adaptive - Adaptive takes the best of responsive and standalone.

Google recommends that a responsive design is good for SEO because it serves the same content for mobile on the same URL. On the other hand Google's GOMO Mobile initiative recommends a mobile optimized site for the best mobile end user experience.

What adaptive does is take the best of both - it serves the content on the same URLs but optimizes content specifically for mobile. Meaning the source code it delivers is much less bloated than a responsive layout, the images are reformatted specifically for mobile are sized correctly and more lightweight for better page load speeds. Overall the code adapts itself to be the most compatible for the mobile device viewing it. All of this combined makes for a much better end mobile user experience.

Think how WP Touch re-formats the layout of your WordPress site when a mobile visitor views the site, that;s being adaptive but this is the very tip of the iceberg.

Take a look at the top 100 corporate websites and you will find very few use responsive for their mobile visitors but instead use an adaptive mobile optimized design. For me the reason they do that is for user experience. You don't go that extra mile just for laughs! :)

Responsive is currently very popular amongst web designers as its certainly the easiest way to get into mobile - however a responsive design is far from being mobile optimized typically having issues with validation and page load speeds in comparison to a mobile optimized site which is usually capable of being loaded on to all phones not just smartphones. Feature phones still make up for a good percentage of mobile devices accessing the web.

At least do your research and understand all the pros and cons of each, and use the design approach that you think is best for you and your client.

We use a responsive design for desktop browsers and tablets whilst the adaptive design is triggered just for mobile traffic. For us this is the overall best combination to have.

Hope that helps,

Jay

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Mobile SEO is gaining much attention as traditional search. Currently, there is too much hype surrounding Responsive Design and Website owners are not being given a balanced view

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Great Post Jay! Is it fair to say that responsive doesn't feature the critical feature like the click-to-call? Is this a feature of only dedicated mobile sites /adaptive design or can all three feature a click-to-call? If anyone knows any adaptive web developers they can recommend let me know.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Nice post share by you thanks for that.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

I did this very thing last fall, and I found that of the Fortune 100 companies, 52 of them had mobile-friendly websites. Of those 52 websites, only *SIX* of them used a responsive design. The other 88% had mobile-optimized sites.

Like you, I prefer to set my clients up with adaptive designs. I have very little doubt that this is the best approach.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

How does one know if the website is adaptive, I mean are there tools out there that can test for that

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Jay Moreno: Contact me please, not enough to PM you.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Open the website on your laptop, then do it on your smartphone. :) No other tools required.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

That's true :)
And it is by far the best way to know how your website looks like.
I would tell also try on your iPad...

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Works well if you have a laptop and a smartphone ... oh, and an iPad.

Not so well if you dont :(

A search for "smartphone emulator" will produce helpful tools to view what a site might look like on a variety of screens.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

The OP asked how do you tell if it is adaptive. Your technique will show that the website does offer a mobile "view" but this certainly does not show whether the site is using an "adaptive" design. It could be HTML, php, responsive or adaptive. As you only receive the code for your browser, it would be quite tough to tell. However, some analysis of the source that is returned could reveal the answer.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Good point, DougPage.

I use emulators to see how my responsive sites will appear on different screens.

However, as you point out, that does not help me to understand if the site is adaptive.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

I said this in another post too and all I can say is that you should focus on an user friendly design to help your clients get more customers.Forget responsive design for smartphone users.

Stand Alone Mobile Website: Focused on Call to Action (tap to call, specials, free quotes sign-up for newsletter), most important information concentrated within several paragraphs, layout can be fully controlled.
This will get clients on the phone faster than ever and that's what every business want.

Responsive Design: too much information available to read, no straight call to action , not focused on important information, broken layout, they don't look as good as an custom design, and they're not focused on an user friendly experience.

What do you want from the mobile website users?
To read the content of the website and get bored probably of too much information? content not aligned up correctly? not sure how to proceed? etc
OR have them call the business to ask more information, talk to a real person who can respond LIVE to their needs?

Stand alone mobile website is the way to go if you want your client use it and actually get some customers through it.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Mobile websites are meant for mobiles specifically. Responsive websites appear the same on any device.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

CJSeven:I have asked this question a dozen time but no one has given me an answer:
If my customer has a website, HOW do I re-direct their website to mobile? Do I need access to their website developers side? I don't know HTML or CSS...can I still do this?
Thanks, S

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

YES... you must have some way to redirect the use to the mobile site. There are many ways to do it and it depends on the type of website your customer has. And you must have access to their website or have whoever looks after it do the work for you.

If you are really planning on doing this for customers, I might suggest getting a mobile website building course. They are extremely inexpensive and the good ones will answer almost any question you can think of. I would suggest looking at the one by WillR as he steps you through the whole business and it's under $20. One of the best investments you can make to start learning.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Hey Doug, Thanks for responding. From a sales point of you , HOW do you get the website business when the customer already has a designer. WHY wouldn't they just call them?

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

I strongly recommend Magento. Advantages of Magento has grown widely in the recent days.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Like any other business, you need to come in from a position of strength. I have all the answers and knowledge that I need to deal with almost any type of client so I do not have any worries about any questions that someone should ask me. That strength comes through in any discussions you have with a prospect. I also would never sell a mobile site. Why? Because business owners son't want mobile sites - they want more customers. So my approach would be coming from that direction. Once they have agreed that they want more customers, I can explain more about what I would do and how many potential searches are currently being done in their area. I would also show some of the sites that I have created and a sample site that I have created for their business. I tell them that I could have it completed in a few more days and "teach" their web guy how to install it or I would do it for him. After all of this, you very rarely get a no and if you do, the business owner isn't going to have the other guy do it either.
HTH

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Well one of the most benefits I have faced while adopting Responsive Website Design is save of time and money. After implementation of RWD, my current site will simply adapt to fit whenever a new device or operating is introduced. There is no need to redesign my site every time after introduction of any smart device.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

I find this thread one of the best possible in terms of information. I would also bet for responsive website design. Reason is obvious. Make it mobile friendly as today, we mostly browse the Internet using our smart phones.

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

sadly there used to be some other really good and more up to date and informative posts but they got mysteriously deleted along with some others...

Re: Difference Between Mobile Site and Responsive Design?
 

Hello Sean D,

Well i found a tool to check how your website looks on a smartphone as compared to Desktop System. Check Test your current site here on following link .

google.com/think/collections/make-website-work-across-multiple-devices.html#gomo-meter