Mobile Web

The Mobile Web

With the advent of the iphone, the blackberry, netbooks, and other small mobile’ish devices the web has really became more of a mobile platform than ever.

As a webmaster this may mean you need a mobile website, but in most cases these devices and their browsers are now smart enough to render the pages correctly. The iPhone as an example runs on Safari (Apples Browser), and does not require a mobile website.

If you decide to create a mobile website here are some tips for doing so.

• Use a Subdomain – using a mobile subdomain like mobile.bluewidgest.com will help you seperate out your content pages.
• Browser Detect & Redirect – detect the browser type, if its a mobile browser that cannot render normal pages then redirect the device to the mobile version of your site.
• Database Driven – if using data that changes often, build a dynamic database driven page. doing this will save the hassle and time of editing 2 websites.
• Think Simple – provide simple data, the user using a mobile device will most likely be looking for things like your address, phone, and email directory.
• Less is More – Less and Smaller graphics, maybe even no graphics at all. Mobile devices are often on slower connections so load time is critical.

Those simple steps if followed can create a perfectly functioning mobile website for years to come.