Is The Mobile Web A Moving Target?
5 May 2010, 3:06 p.m.
It's tricky. Technology can tremendously help your business: lowering costs through automation, and opening new channels for sales and service.
The flip side of that is obvious: the rapidly-changing edge of technology, well, rapidly changes. And that means something that works today may suddenly not work well tomorrow.
Consider the iPad. It's like a handheld device in some ways, and a full-screen desktop and laptop in others. It occupies a new and relevant niche that is unique, for the moment.
If your business has a full-size website, and also a mobile-enhanced website for handheld devices, which one do you want a visitor on the iPad to see? In almost all cases, you want the full website to be shown. The iPad's larger screen works much better with the full size website.
But some businesses found a problem: visitors to their company website using the iPad were shown the MOBILE site rather than the full-size website. The iPad was mistaken as a small-screen handheld by their web server! Those prospects got a poor website experience, which certainly did not help the company's sales.
Even now, many business websites still suffer from this issue with the iPad.
At Mobile Web Up, we figured out there would be a problem before the iPad was even sold. We were able to update our software to deal with it right away. All our clients had a website that worked great on the iPad from the start.
The lesson is this: when you pick a partner to bring your company on the mobile web, ask how and IF they are going to handle the inevitable changes in technology. The mobile web is a "moving target", so it's important to work with a someone who can navigate the best path for your business.
Be Successful,
Aaron Maxwell
