smartren25

This may have been asked before? In Australia most companies display their main website which has been mobile optimized as their mobile site - Do you think this is the way to go or is it better to have a customized version designed specifically for mobile or have both versions ?

What do you guys think?

rlhurst

Whichever way allows mobile viewers to easily view, and navigate content, is the first step. I personally custom design sites, but a business with a responsive design down to the mobile size works, but again, most look too "cookie cutter" to me. That's why I choose to go with custom design.

Quentin

It really depends on the site. Many Australian businesses still have old html sites so we build custom mobile sites for them. If we do a refurb then we try and do Wordpress with a responsive site.

There is not one size fits all in the marketplace.

SEO Power

Responsive sites are better because you don't need to create a separate subdomain like m.domain.com for mobile and you won't have to manage two websites at the same time.

ONE HOUR INDEXING - STOP WASTING MONEY ON LINKS GOOGLE NEVER FINDS

RaymondB

Its always best to have both as they offer different user experience apart from getting a good cred in search engines. :-)

Friendly advice, useful tips...
Raymond B.

Jay Moreno

An RESS/Adaptive approach takes advantage of both responsive and standalone mobile website capability, by allowing you to deliver a more lightweight version of your site with greater control over how the site looks for your mobile users, while at the same time using the same content (if you should decide to do that) - yet unlike a standalone site it uses the same url structure as you would expect with a responsive approach and without a need for sub-domains or a standalone mobile site.

Bottom line when people look at a site on their mobile device for the best end user mobile experience the site needs to be lightweight and easy to navigate period - whichever way you get there is up to you, but understanding the pros and cons of each design approach will certainly give you a better insight. There simply is no one glove fits all solution when it comes to mobile.

For what it's worth our approach is where ever possible particularly with brand new sites is to use WordPress with a responsive layout for desktop and tablet users and then have a RESS/Adaptive layout which is seen by the mobile visitors for the reasons mentioned above.

The coolest thing about a RESS/Adaptive approach is that if a client has an existing site thats dynamically driven ie powered by PHP/MYSQL and the active theme is perhaps not responsive or the responsive site looks terrible on a mobile device you can still use a RESS/Adaptive approach!

JulieWhite

I don't agree when designers suggest I get a different website altogether for Mobiles. Since I run an eCommerce store, the investment required is quite large.

Not only that, a number of visitors use Tablets as well. Does that mean we need to develop a tablet-optimized design as well? And What if a new device becomes highly popular in a few years? Yet another website!!?

A single, responsive design is the way to go imo.

EMaria23

hello friend,
I think the best option for you is an App.
If you wish more details, send me a message.
best regards

rickdangelo

I believe having both would be better.
less management needed like if you get an error you only need to fix one of them plus.
there may not be a one size fits all for all marketplaces but having responsive website cen be just as good as having that one size fits all idea.