How much have you spent on your website? Is it your main channel of communication with customers and clients? What would happen if your website disappeared today? What if your competitors have found new ways of making their web presences work harder, does it matter to you and your business?

A website is pretty much an expected feature of almost any business, from sole trader through to giant multinationals publishing information and offering the chance to make purchases via the web has been proven to work time and time again. The success stories of companies like Amazon are well known and need no further elaboration. However, companies like Amazon, Ebay, Google and Yahoo and others like them who recognised early on the potential of the web are now exploiting a new channel - the mobile web. 

There is a lot of discussion within development circles about what is the mobile web? But there is an emerging consensus that the mobile web is part of the ‘World Wide Web’ but has specific design and implementation challenges and opportunities.

Companies like the Amazons and Ebays of this world are already recognising this and developing mobile interfaces to their systems appropriately. 

But it’s too difficult isn’t? I hear this a lot, there is sometimes a fear about the mobile web in business. Perhaps memories of the overhyped WAP 1.0 of the turn of the centuary is still lurking in the back of minds but times have changed. The mobile web is now based on devices that are more powerful with better connectivity and whilst there is still distance to be travelled it is possible to have usable, fast loading web services on mobile phones.

Access to web services isn’t limited to the expensive new consumer smartphones, like the Iphone. Many mobile users already have Internet access on a wide variety of devices and the network providers (aka service carriers - US) are now starting to offer bundled packages, which reduces the cost of access and make it simply part of a monthly service contract. 

The best mobile web services are specifically designed for the mobile experience they recognise the environment they are operating in. Too many companies are still relying on the phone adapting their desktop web presence to the phones screen size and capabilities. This is a huge risk on a rapidly growing medium and some desktop technologies in common use will not even work on a mobile device. Think about how much is spent by successful companies on nurturing their brand and on content positioning. If they rely on the device to handle content and interfaces originally developed for far bigger screens and more powerful systems then the risk of damage to that careful brand development on the new medium is massive. At best those companies that don’t think about their mobile web presence will end up with very slow loading, ugly and difficult to use web interfaces on mobile devices and at worse their site will not even load. Do you want you customers struggling to use your web site on their mobile phone? Because increasingly reports from companies like Cisco are saying the mobile web is a place to do business.

So I need to start again? The last paragraph might leave some readers thinking that to develop a mobile web presence means starting again. Not at all. There will be much that can be reused and repurposed when developing a mobile web presence and this has been the approach of the likes of Amazon. But it is a considered, thought out process, with many aspects to be taken into account. The very good news though, is that your content can be brought on to multiple platforms bringing added value to your orginal investment.

These are financially hard times, there is talk of a recession but even if that is not the case the cash flow is slower that was. The savvy business always makes sure every Pound, Dollar or Euro etc. works as hard as possible but they make doubly sure in these days of economic uncertainty. 3 Sheep can helps organisations make the most the their web presences and investments. Helping bring web presences on to platforms like mobile phones means that customers can interact with business anywhere anytime. They are no longer tied to the desktop, that purchase they cannot wait to make doesn’t have to. It can be done there and then. If you want your customers to be able access your web services anywhere or anytime please contact 3 Sheep to find out how we can help you.

About This Post

• Written by Stuart Smith
• July 17th, 2008 at 9:39 am