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Does the mobile web alter your web strategy?

We’ve been using desktop computers to use the web for years now and so we sort of expect people to be well placed to view our sites in a reasonably standard size and shape.  For a clumsy one or two years in the mid 2000s we were told that we should optimise for laptops and their ever bizaire screen resolutions but we were able to sidestep that issue by ignoring it.  Fortunately the PCs got better and the screens got larger and nowadays we are able to get a screen on our laps that is nearly as large as the ones we had on our desks.

A quick look at Google Analytics tells me that one of our preferred sites is accessed by people with resolutions of no less than 1024×900 which is sort of a change from a few years back, but a welcome one.

This all seems excellent news for the web developer but there is a new choice and that’s the mobile web.  Again, most of the people evaded making separate web pages for those using small screen cell-phones ( and again, we just ignored them ) but smart phones are now the standard and they have different demands.  Yes, they can view full screen but have you tried it?  The resolution could be good but they are exceedingly difficult to read without zooming in or squinting.

So for those wanting to write for the mobile web properly they must design with this in mind and it does not end a smartphones.  Web design has suddenly altered.

The web is going everywhere and now we’ve got the iPad making its debut soon and there have just been headlines of a stack of other systems looking to ride the wave of the new  ‘tablet computer’ renown.

Again, these larger format screens will be well placed to handle standard websites out the box, but Apple have just claimed they will never support Flash.  Hence at the very least, if you have a Flash site then you’re going to have to think about changing it or at the very least offering an alternative.

All this simply adds to the selling budget of organisations whilst filling the pockets of web design agencies who are looking to  ‘help’ you compete, but there’s another way.

Although it’s been about for years, CSS is still something many tiny companies see as alien technology.  By utilizing CSS nevertheless , your internet site should be viewable by anybody, irrespective of the kind of browser or size of screen.  If designed properly, your internet site should be perfectly good for everybody.

But is this the end of the issue?  Can we rest knowing our pages can be viewed or is there more to it than that?

Well yes, there is more to it because new devices now have new interfaces and we’re being asked to drop the mouse and keyboard and feel our way round the screen by simply touching it.  Once only found in science fiction pictures, the tactile touch sensitive screen is now a typical sight and some of the latest technology depends on it for even the most everyday usage.

So , there is a new age upon us and it means more work for firms, more for web design agencies and far more for the Net marketing experts and seo trainers amongst us, though that may wait for another day…