In every great area of technology, there are always two platforms, which are always portrayed as battling, to become the number one platform being used. Today, that battle is being fought, over the mobile internet, by dedicated mobile sites and responsive web design (RWD). As your organization moves into the mobile web world, which platform do you believe is a best fit, for not only your organization, but your target audience as well?
As the mobile world continues to grow, the battle between dedicated mobiles sites and RWD does not seem to be going anywhere fast. When designing your site, for the mobile web, there are various benefits for both platforms, finding out which one will suit your organization the best, should be based off what your target audience is looking for, and combined with your organization’s brand. To get the full experience, out of either dedicated mobile sites or RWD, we first need to get an understanding of each platform, and how they can benefit your organization.
Dedicated mobile sites are a way of designing strictly for the mobile web. Dedicated mobile sites present a user interface that is appropriately displayed for a mobile device. These sites are usually smaller than your regular website, as well as cannot contain as much content, as your regular site. Many organizations get discouraged about dedicated mobile sites, when they find out their content gets limited; however these are actually really amazing for microsites. If you would like to set up a microsite, for the mobile web, dedicated mobile sites would be the perfect platform. Many times your target audience, for the mobile web, will agree with your decision for your site, as a dedicated mobile site, because it will provide just the right amount of information they are looking for.
On the other hand, responsive web design (RWD) is a new innovative way for designing not only for the mobile web; it is also a new way of design for the desktop web. RWD is a way of designing for the web that builds a website on a flexible grid pattern, and allows the site to adjust its size appropriately, to the screen size it is being viewed on. With RWD, organizations only have to build and maintain one website across all web capable platforms, RWD also allows your audience to take their experience anywhere they go. On the upside, RWD will not limit any of your organization’s current web content. On the Downside, RWD carries all that large content across all platforms, making load times slightly longer, than dedicated mobile sites. Sites built on the RWD platform, will provide stunning user interfaces, along with the same first-class user experiences, across all web capable platforms.
Both, dedicated mobile sites and responsive web design have an array of benefits, which appropriately suit the average end-user. When your organization moves into the mobile world, remember to think about your target audience combined with your brand, to choose the perfect platform, for your organization’s mobile web presence.