Is Your Website Ready to Go Mobile? What You Must Know About .mobi

The days of only accessing the web from a desktop or laptop are long gone. Today, the world wide web has gone mobile with just about any handheld device capable of receiving web content. Cell phones, Blackberries, and even walkie-talkies are all new access points for users to find you. Question is, are you .mobi-ready?

What is a .mobi domain?

.mobi is the domain extension designed specifically for mobile products like completely updated hand sets (ker-ching), content providers, broadcasters, and other companies currently operating solely in the .com region. With a .mobi domain extension, your current site can go mobile and be recognized by users as a member of the mobile world, i.e., you get it!

Do we need .mobi?

This is the subject of some debate within the digital community. There aren’t many cell phone users surfing the web, despite the fact that the technology is there. The fact is, accessing the web from a cell is cumbersome and there’s a lot of “guessing” going on among users over which domain name a site is using.

Solution? Create a domain designed expressly for the mobile community, which simplifies accessing on-line, web-based information. By using the .mobi extension, cell users will know that the site uses low-memory, low-bandwidth technology to meet the receiving needs of a mobile device.

Some wireless world insiders believe the new domain will require more advertising and promotion expense for small commercial site owners. Even so, all the big companies – from Google to Microsoft have their .mobi domains in place. Whether a good or bad idea is no longer a concern. .mobi is here – to stay.

The Segmentation of the Digital World?

So does this mean that we all have to remember a land-based .com and a mobile .mobi for every one of our favorite sites? This is a concern for many site owners having enough trouble getting their .com noticed without having to now market a .mobi. But the technology exists that allows a web server to identify the source of contact – cell phone, or PC – and provide the content in the proper format for the access point.

In fact, this technology unites the mobile and land-based technologies rather than segmenting them. Cell users will no longer be limited to a subset of website data required by the low bandwidth and small memory of hand-helds. All users will access the same .com/.mobi and the web host server system will figure out how the requested data should be sent.

WML: Wireless Markup Language

Before .mobi, cell users were limited to pieces of the world wide web but lacked entry to the entire, wonderful, world wide web. You got slices or snippets because cell phones lack the smarts and the bandwidth to access the entire W3.

To accommodate these limitations, a new programming language had to be developed. WML (wireless markup language) is an extensible mark-up language (XML) designed specifically to address the limitations of HTML code which is used for the construction of traditional .com websites.

This allows cell users greater web access. It also provides site owners with lots of new ways to reach their target markets.

It’s a wireless world

There is now an entire generation of people who don’t remember a time when wireless technology wasn’t around – pre-cell phone. These users grew up with the technology – no learning curve required. They’re cell-savvy and they use the web the way others use the interstate. It’s how they get from Point A to Point B. And wouldn’t it be great if Point B was your website?

The typical handheld user is either a teen or young adult, or a member of the business community. They use their cell phones to text message their friends or co-workers, download music, conduct on-line conference calls and other tasks that make life easier and more interesting.

So what should I do?

Before you do a thing, ask yourself if the mobile demographic is your site demographic. If you’re selling walkers or hip replacements, even if you have the best viral marketing campaign in the whole universe, you aren’t going to boost site sales because you’re not reaching those most likely to purchase your products.

If you’ve just launched your .com, check to see if your domain is available with a .mobi extension. By the way, because of its novelty and implicit hip ness, mobi extensions are costing buyers up to $200 for a registration when a standard .com registration is usually under $10 bucks and even free with some web hosts. Anyway, check to see if your .com domain is available as a .mobi. Even if you never use it, you know it’s protected and won’t ever create confusion on the marketplace.

Start the registration process with your web host since you’ll probably get a better price from a company interested in keeping you as a customer than from one that doesn’t know you and doesn’t expect you to use additional services moving forward.

If you don’t know WML (or what it’s used for) get you site mobile with the help of a professional programmer – one with experience in WML and mobile technology. A lot of guys will tell you they can deliver when they can’t. So shop accordingly – eyes wide open.

Cell phones are great for accessing blog content because it doesn’t require a lot of bandwidth. No Flash animations or other “heavy” content. So, if you don’t currently have a blog, consider adding one to your site and reaching out to your buyers in a proactive, interactive way.

The digital world is changing daily – by the minute. And you can be sure that mobi domains will get more content into the hands of more people who currently don’t use mobile devices for web access because it’s clunky. With WML and domains specifically designed for the mobile community, you can be sure that we’re seeing another major shift in the distribution of content.

Get on board or be left behind. You better find out if .mobi works for your website.