Answers to your questions
about mobile websites

Can you tell me more about what a mobile website is?

A mobile website is not a duplicate copy of your existing site. Instead, it's a separate version that's streamlined for a mobile audience, with design and content that's optimized for users on the go. I follow the best practices for mobile websites ensuring each one:

• Loads fast
• Has simple navigation
• Doesn't require users to zoom in and out and pan everywhere
• Contains information relevant to mobile visitors
• Is easy to read
• Is thumb-friendly
• Has local content
• Offers a similar experience to your desktop site
• Is compatible with all mobile devices
• Makes it easy for visitors to accomplish their goals (contact you or buy something)

Why should I build a mobile website?

The use of mobile devices for internet access is growing at an explosive rate. Much faster than the original growth of the internet in the 90s. Not having a mobile website now is similar to not having a website back then.

We all know that businesses who jumped on the internet bandwagon early had a huge competitive advantage over their competition. Now you have that same opportunity!

Offering a mobile website to your visitors shows them that you value them. It offers them a much better experience and gives you a new way to reach them and engage with them. This will ensure you have happy, loyal, repeat customers, and it improves your brand equity.

Is a mobile website useful for small businesses too?

Absolutely! A mobile website is just as advantageous as a full website, if not more. In as little as 1 year, more users will be using the mobile devices to access the internet than their computers (if that hasn't happened already).

Mobile users are also closer to point-of-sale than internet users as home, which makes it easier to convert your visitors into paying customers. They may also be closer to you locally — perhaps just a few blocks away. Allowing mobile users to phone you with one tap, or providing directions to your location via GPS makes it no surprise that 61% of mobile users call a business after searching online, 59% visit the location, and 50% of mobile searches lead to a purchase. Those are astonishing statistics.

How does a mobile website integrate with my desktop site?

The mobile website that I'll build you is a separate entity. A small bit of code will be placed on your existing website to detect whether a visitor is on a mobile device and they'll be instantly redirected to your mobile website if they are. There's no delay — they won't notice.

On the technical side, your mobile website will still be part of your domain name (yourbusiness.com), but uses an m. prefix instead of www. I will set this up for you. If you're building a new website with me, this is all automatically handled.

What is Responsive Design and what's the difference between a mobile website?

Responsive design is a method of coding a website that allows the layout to change based on the visitor's screen size / browser window size. Sometimes content may be hidden on smaller screens like mobile phones, but most often the content is identical to the full website and simply displayed differently for a smaller screen. Alternatively, a mobile website contains modified content from the full website, tailored towards mobile users' needs, and the site design is also optimized for smaller screens.

Responsive design is a viable option for some types of websites, but I recommend a separate mobile website for most business owners because it serves a much better purpose of serving mobile-specific content that's more relevant to local mobile users. A mobile website will usually also load faster. All of these reasons encourage higher engagement with your mobile audience compared to a responsive design website.

When we discuss your mobile needs, we'll determine which solution is best for your audience and your circumstances. I won't pigeon-hole you into one solution for any arbitrary reasons. You will be educated and included in the decision-making.

Another web designer manages my full website, but they don't offer mobile web design like you do. What now?

Don't worry, I'm not going to up-sell you and make you switch web designers. I can build you a mobile website separately, then work with your web designer to get everything set up properly. I'm a nice guy and I'll probably make a new friend, and being able to speak geek with another designer may even make the process easier.

Can users on mobile devices still visit my full website?

Yes, and this is an important feature. Whether it's personal preference or a mobile user is looking for information that's only on your full website, the option is always available for them to switch back and forth. Tapping the "full website" link on any page of your mobile website will take the user to the equivalent page on your full website. It's smooth.

Do I need to purchase another domain name for my mobile website?

No. Your mobile website will still be part of your domain name (yourbusiness.com), but uses an m. prefix instead of www. I will set this up for you. If you're building a new website with me, this is all automatically handled.

Do I need to purchase different web hosting?

This will depend on your hosting provider, but typically no. As a worst case, you may need to update your web hosting plan for a few $/month. But you won't need to change anything if your web hosting provider allows multiple subdomains (the www. or m. that comes before yourbusiness.com) within your existing hosting plan. I will set this all up with you. If you're building a new website with me, this is all automatically handled.

Will you set up the domain name + hosting for our mobile website?

Yes. I'll ask you to share access to your domain and hosting administration page, and I will configure everything for you and test it. If you're building a new website with me, this is all automatically handled.

Are your mobile websites built from a template?

No. I use a powerful mobile-specific framework for building our mobile websites, but they're all custom-designed and built, and I'm very hands-on when doing so. The framework is used to offer advanced mobile-friendly functionality and ensure absolute compatibility with all mobile devices, but I write the majority of the code myself because I'm very attentive to detail.

Will my mobile website work on all mobile devices?

Yes. My mobile websites will work great on Apple iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Palm Web OS, Bada, Symbian, and Meego. My mobile websites even work beautifully on older versions of these devices that may not support some of the advanced features I put into my designs or code. Any feature that's not supported will gracefully degrade into something simpler that works better.

How do we get started?

The first step is to contact me to get started. I'll get back to you right away to discuss your goals, review your existing website, let you know the full process and provide you with pricing information. There's no obligation throughout this process.