Should You Register a .mobi Domain?

What is a .mobi Site?

A .mobi site is just a web site that is optimized to work with cell phones and other mobile devices. .mobi is just another domain extension like .com, .net, or .org, but it is supposed to represent web sites that are built to work best with cell phones and mobile devices. This is the root of the problem, some people think they should be building entirely new versions of their web site on a .mobi domain so that it’s “optimized” for cell phones and mobile devices.

What’s the Goal of a .mobi Site

First of all, think about what a mobile site is going to add to your web presence and online business. Will it be able to generate leads for your business or sales? Think about the overall goal of your web site and business’ web presence. If a .mobi site would help expand your web presence and help you achieve these goals then you might want to consider investing in a separate site. Just make sure it is unique from your existing site, otherwise you could be plagued with duplicate content issues.

How Do You Optimize a .mobi Site?

Typically, mobile-optimized sites have been built to fit the much smaller screens that are available on cell phones. As well, they’re built to be stripped of any images and files that can cause your cell phone to download too much data. This is because people would pay based on the amount of bandwidth they use, and because Internet connection speeds are much slower than broadband on mobile devices. Also, because a traditional .mobi site should be stripped of any unnecessary graphics and images, you really only have room for your logo - which makes for a pretty bland web page.

However, these restrictions are no longer applicable with unlimited data plans, and the newer, more sophisticated devices like the iPhone - which allows you to browse web sites in the same manner as you would from your desktop. Because of the release of the iPhone you can bet that all the major device manufacturers will be working on a similar browser technology. Couple this with the unlimited data plans that are available now, and the faster EVDO and EDGE networks and you really have no need for a web site optimized for smaller screens.

Who Uses Their Mobile Devices For Web Browsing

Not many people really browse the web on their cell phone. Sure they’ll use it for local search when they’re out of the office, but you won’t have many prospective clients researching your services on their cell phone. If anything, all they’ll want is your contact information so they can call you or find you. I definitely won’t be opening my webmail through a cell phone’s web browser - they have e-mail clients built in.

A Properly Built Web Site Should Work Anyway

If your developer builds your site properly, then you should be able to view your site legibly on your cell phone/mobile device anyway. When I’ve gone to netshiftmedia.com on my Motorola Razr, it worked fine. That’s the benefit of CSS/standards-based design. It is supposed to be flexible for multiple devices without having to build additional web sites. These other firms I see that are building additional web sites for mobile devices are either:

• not experienced enough, or talented enough to build one site for all devices,
• or just trying to create more work they can bill to their clients.

Duplicate Content Issues

If you do build a separate mobile-version of your web site on a .mobi domain, are you going to rewrite all your content? I doubt it, but if you don’t you could get hit with a pretty hard duplicate content penalty.

Don’t Say No To Mobile Devices or .mobi

Don’t get me wrong and think that you should totally avoid mobile web sites, and the .mobi domain. I still recommend that my clients register .mobi domains, but I tell them to redirect it to their main domain, or in other cases, just put up 1 page with their logo, and contact details.

If you do provide some sort of web application or web-based service, then a mobile-optimized version may be a good idea, but again, do you need to build a separate mobile version or will your existing web application work?

Finally, mobile devices are evolving at such a fast pace. Compare what you could have done on your cell phone a year ago with what your iPhone can do now. Then think about what you can do in one more year with the increased distribution of touch-screen cell phones as well as the increasing number of devices with complete QWERTY keypads. I guarantee that any investment you make now in an optimized site just for these devices will be a waste of time and money unless you can somehow justify the fact that it will be totally out of date and irrelevant in another year or two.