LocalBizBits Local Search Marketing Information and Resources
Building a mobile ready website is not as easy as it sounds. I am also a web site designer, with 6+ years of experience and even I am getting confused on all of the options out there right now. I know as time goes on and the local mobile market stablizes, the standard for mobile web pages/sites will change some. What is out there right now?
Current options for mobile website creation:
1. hire a professional
2. do it yourself (either by hand or with some on-line program)
Now the next option or decision to make is, do you:
1. create a new mobile specific web site for your business
2. modify your existing web site to be mobile friendly
3. create mobile friendly page(s) for your current web site
As I mentioned the other day, folks are using mobile versions of search engines, i.e. Google, Yahoo, Local, Ask. Now this Friday, Yahoo is coming out with big changes to Yahoo Go . Check it out, also read what Andy Beal said about it on his blog, Marketing Pilgram
Right now, my recommendation is to create (or get someone to do it for you) a mobile specific page(s) for your current web site and then submit those to the mobile search engines.
One of my current clients is a new restaurant here in town. I am not 100% finish (at the time of writing this post) with the regular site but you can see it here. Now, I created a mobile specific information page for it here. I have tried this mobile page on my Treo 650 and it looks good. The big differences between the two pages are the lack of graphics and fancy layouts on the mobile page. I tried to be specific and to the point on the mobile friendly page. Now I could add some color and a small image but for now, this will do.
Ok to wrap this up: local mobile is growing rapidly and if it makes sense for your business type, you should get your feet wet by having some mobile presence. Start out small and see how this market grows and changes before investing a lot of time and resources. Also check in here at LocalBizBits, since I know I will be discussing this more in the future.
