What Is A Mobile Website?

Article courtesy of Noodlehead Marketing.

Mobile websites are pretty much what the name suggests. Developers have started to build sites specifically for viewing on mobile devices.

To be effective on a mobile device, websites of today need to be de-contented in order to be optimized for use on a mobile device.  Typically, all but the most neccessary functionality and graphics are stripped out in order to provide the best user experience.  The pay off is a mobile experience that can be every bit as useful and enjoyable as a native phone application.

Some of the benefits are that they have lower development costs than apps since they run on a mobile browser rather than the native platform of the device. It is very easy to carry the brand’s look and feel from a traditional website to a mobile site. And the functionality can mirror that of a traditional website.

A couple of restrictions on mobile websites are that their performance is only as good as your connection (Can you hear me now?), and they do not interface with phone features as well as Apps. With the proliferation of smart phones and the relatively low cost of developing mobile website, it seems anyone with a website should have at minimum a mobile landing page.

According to the International Telecommunications Union mobile access to the internet exceeded that of desktop based access in 2008.  With the introduction of Tablet Devices running on mobile operating systems, the meteoric rise of mobile web browsing is sure to continue.  Big brands are going to great length to provide good user experience on mobile devices.  Autotrader.com recently released the mobile version of their site so that while waiting for your next appointment, you can search for a new or used car right from your phone.  Conversely, there is little that is more frustrating than the following user experience:

While looking for a place to grab dinner, I search for local restaurants.  The first option that comes up looks good, so I click through to their website.  First, it is slow to load. I think:  bad sign but could be the phone.  Next, the page that loads is so compressed I can't even make out the words.  Thankfully, I have pinch zoom.  I find the menu button and click it only to get the message: image can not be shown on this device.  Hmmm, well OK, I saw the phone number on the home page, I'll try that.  Pinch zoom, ah, found the phone number, wait, it's not a hot link so I can't click on it to call the restaurant to ask about the menu.  Gone.  On to the next option.  This happens millions of times a day.