Why you might not need a mobile site (or an app)
The days of only being able to access the internet on a computer have long since passed - using a iPhone or an Android based smartphone to get online whilst on the move has become commonplace. Surely this means that you need to supplement your existing website with a dedicated mobile version, or, even better, with an app? In short, the answer is no. Of course, it's actually a little more complicated than that - but the answer will still usually be no.
There are generally four distinct options when it comes to dealing with mobile devices: do nothing; adapt the design of the site; create a dedicated mobile version of the site; and, build an app for each platform you wish to support. Each of these is a perfectly valid option - which one is correct depends entirely on your site and your visitors. At Base Creative, the second option is usually the one we recommend; to explain why, I'm going to first justify each of the other options.
Do nothing?
The first of these options is probably the one which surprised you the most - how is doing nothing a good idea? Well, most websites, like this one, are actually very simple: content is spread about across a number of pages, and users can browse through as they see fit. This frequently means that the existing version of the site can be viewed successfully on a mobile device without any major problems. It is also important to bear in mind your target audience - are they likely to visit your site on a mobile phone? If not, then justifying any other option will quickly prove difficult.
Dedicated
The third option in the list is a dedicated mobile site - this will have a customised design which specifically targets mobile devices, and may offer slightly less functionality that the desktop site. So why would you choose this option? The most common reason is that the standard site would simply be too complicated to use on a mobile device; this is often the case for e-commerce sites and web applications like Gmail and Facebook. In order to offer a better experience, a specialised site is shown to mobile devices, which allows the key functionality to be used without difficulty. We have previously advocated this approach for some of the sites we have built for our clients, but only under certain circumstances.
The App
The final option above is the creation of the app. In some cases, this becomes a necessity - there are some things which mobile devices simply cannot do through a website - however, for the vast majority of sites, an app is just a vanity exercise. The two main problems with apps are that they are both expensive to build, and by their nature they exclude users - if you build an app for the iPhone, you exclude the 70% of mobile users who use something else.
Responsive
So, we are left with the second option: adapt the design. With modern technology, it is possible to design a single site with the ability to allow itself to adapt to the device it is being viewed on - this process is called responsive design, and is the standard approach of Base Creative. Using this process, every device visits exactly the same website and sees exactly the same base content, but optimised for the device in question. It's the best of both worlds - a site optimised for mobile phones and PCs.
In conclusion, most of the time, a mobile site or app isn't necessary. However, we will always suggest the option most appropriate for your needs - whether this is an adaptive design, a dedicated site or an app. All that matters is that the right choice is made.