Well, you know what they say – Don’t Believe The Hype. Lately, there’s been a lot of hype regarding the word “mobile”.
Because phones have gotten so smart in the last few years, everyone is asking about mobile. “How can I need to take advantage of mobile?” small business owners, or those who run large membership organizations (at the urging of their members, no doubt), will ask. “I need a mobile version of my Web site” they’ll say, worried that they will get left behind and that somehow their site won’t get found.
Some Web design shops have been only too glad to tell people what they want to hear. “We do mobile”, they’ll shout. “Relax”, they say, “we’re experts”.
The small business owner in particular should be highly skeptical about such claims, however. Here’s why.
Mobile is easy
Creating a “mobile Web site” is a piece of cake. How do you do it? You… build a Web site, using HTML and CSS. Sound familiar? It should; that’s the way Web sites have been built for the last 15 years. If you use proper semantic code, and apply Web Standards when building your standard Web site, your site should perform just fine on mobile devices (they don’t call them “smart phones” for nothing).
If you want to “mobify” your Web site (create a simpler, text-only version of your site that’s optimized for not-so-smart phones) this is easily done with any one of a dozen conversion tools that any self-respecting Web development team can apply to your site faster than you can say “blackberry”.
Let me say that again: any self-respecting Web development team.
So much for so-called “expertise”.
When most Web shops say “we do mobile” this is, in reality, what they mean. Small potatoes. Chump change.
Mobile apps are hard
Of course, when most small business owners say “Can you do mobile” usually they’re really wondering “can you build an iPhone app for my business?” Most small Web development shops cannot, nor can small businesses afford bona fide app development.
iPhone app development (most of which is something called “native app” development) is highly specialized and sophisticated. it requires a special software development kit and rigorous testing needs to be done to ensure that the app can send, receive and store data properly. Unlike a Web site, which simply makes information available, an app must be primed for performance, connectivity and specific use cases must be tested for usability. This doesn’t happen overnight, and the cost very easily runs into five figures and often six. Once you’re done with the development, an app still needs to go through Apple’s review process before it gets listed in the app store.
And when you’re through with that, you may want to create another version of your app for Android mobile devices. Lather, rinse and repeat the previous paragraph.
Does your small business have the budget for that? I didn’t think so. But don’t worry – your competitors don’t have that kind of budget either.
Most claims of mobile prowess by small Web development shops are not in line with the (often unrealistic) expectations of most small business owners, and they are (surprise!) taking advantage of that to generate business opportunities.
The bottom line is that mobile is all that, and it’s also nothing at all. As always, when it comes to technology, small business owners should apply a healthy dose of skepticism when they hear the mobile pitch.
