Congratulations go out to Eric Duncan, DDS on the launch of his new web site from Dog Star Media. You can see it here at www.drericduncan.com. All DSM web sites are custom designed and we congratulate Dr. Duncan on updating his look on the web.
Last week, I blogged about the development of mobile web sites. We had requests for more information and several orders were placed. As this is a leading edge topic, here are a few of the key points from the discussions I had last week about mobile sites.
Do you need separate hosting for a mobile site?
No. The mobile site files sit on your web server just like your normal web site. When a mobile device calls up your domain name, the server recognizes it and displays the mobile site?
What is not shown on mobile devices?
The main brands of mobile devices are Iphone, Android and Blackberry. None of them display Flash. So, Flash sites or elements embedded in Flash, such as your video will not play. This is not to say that video will not play. Video will play on most mobile devices as Quicktime. It is just a matter of changing the programming and how the video is displayed.
What is the main advantage of having a mobile site right now?
Click to call. Everyone loves this feature and the usage stats we saw from Google last week support this. You are more likely to get an impulse call now if someone searches you on their mobile device when your phone number is displayed. Why not? The link is on their phone.
What is your top reason for having a mobile site right now?
If you have a paid search campaign (and most of you do), it is possible you could be paying for searches that are being conducted on mobile devices. So, when someone clicks through on a paid link, they are not going to get your best presentation. There are other good reasons, but this is the most immediate reason to put on starter mobile site. Corollary to this is the fact that the mobile user is going to be a more advanced user. So, even if you are getting low number of mobile searches at this time, the people who are conducting those searches are most likely better Internet users.
Graphically, what can I expect?
A mobile site is not primarily graphic but can be made to look similar in style to your main web site. The idea here is to make a site that is appropriate for the mobile device. So, your mobile site will make the best presentation of your style and content for a mobile device. It is different than a normal web site. If it wasn’t this would not be such a hot topic.
What do you think is going to happen?
I think this is going to be just like when Flash became a big deal on the web. I think that most people will invest a lot of money in re-developing their whole site as a mobile site. This will be expensive and time consuming. This is exactly why we made our starter mobile site program to be inexpensive and quick. Mobile sites as they are now are not highly graphical, so they can be done rather quickly. If you go in with the idea of only posting key information on your mobile site, then you can have a starter mobile site right away. Also, the mobile site can then be developed as you understand how it is being used. So, with one of our starter sites, you make a minimal investment while the need is low and growing, then develop the site on an as-needed basis. We are only pricing additional pages at $100/page so you it is never going to be a big deal to add a little here or there to the mobile site as the need for more content increases. MARK MY WORDS... in every market where we have a client with a starter mobile site, they will have a competitor who overpay for full site design on mobile, then takes forever to get it launched. Meanwhile, our quick and nimble mobile site clients will be making the best impression with a minimal investment while that competitor takes the long, expensive way to the same destination.
What are we charging for the starter mobile site?
$1000 (plus sales tax for Texas clients). This includes a home page, meet us (meet the doctor) page, contact us page and three portfolio pages. Before/After cases are one page. Additional pages can be added any time including at the inception of the site for $100/page.
Where is all this going?
The people on the Google webinar made an interesting observation. They reminded us of the first TV ads. Prior to TV ads, you had product ads on radio. The first TV ads were spokesmen holding the product talking about it as if it were a radio ad. It is what we knew about how people were used to getting advertising. But, as we began to understand the medium and the behaviors it created in viewers, we adjusted TV ads. That is still going on today. The same will be the case with Internet use. Mobile web surfing is no longer a phenomenon. It is here to stay and it is the next step in the evolution of the information age. As we understand the use of the medium more and the devices develop new capabilities, we will make adjustments. But for now, mobile Internet use is a base that needs to be covered with what we understand now. I recommend making this small investment in covering this base for anyone who has a serious Internet strategy. We did it and you can see our first generation mobile site at dogstarmedia.com.... just look it up on your Iphone.
If you want more information on this topic or are ready for a mobile web site, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com.
