It seems as if the bar is being raised on technology every year. Advancements are coming so fast that even the most sophisticated gadgets aren’t as surprising as they should be. Some of the more notable technological upgrades relate to wireless technology and cellular phones. The average phone these days is anything but, coming with the ability to play music, surf the web, pull up directions and more. Even with everything technology has thrown our way, most would probably agree that they didn’t see mobile domain names coming.
What are Mobile Domains?
The mobile domain is a fairly new concept on the domain name market. As wireless technology becomes more tightly integrated with the internet, webmasters are increasingly trying to target a new audience – mobile web surfers. If you are looking for innovative ways to increase your visibility, you may want to consider a domain name strategy centered around the fast growing traffic surfing the mobile web.
In 2004, a case was made for adopting DotMobi as a new Top Level Domain. In 2006 .mobi became a reality, now standing alongside TLDs like .com and .net. The major difference is that this extension is exclusive to delivering the internet to mobile devices. This is not to say that .coms and other popular extensions can’t be viewed over a mobile device. The advancements in web technology essentially means that any website can be developed for mobile browsing.
Interoperability and Usability Problems
While any given domain can be optimized to provide the internet experience via a PC or mobile phone, integrating the technologies isn’t as easy one may think. Despite all the advancements, most mobile devices do not support key web elements such as Javascript or cookies. And because 3G is still only present in a small number of devices, the mobile internet as a whole lacks the speed needed to surf the web effectively. For this reason, the development of mobile websites must be handled on a separate scale for now.
The Bright Side
The issues of incompatibility does not mean that the technologies will never work in perfect harmony. For now, you may want to consider leaving your existing website as is and then optimizing another for mobile internet traffic, giving yourself the opportunity to embrace audiences on two separate webs. Now is probably the best time since using the mobile internet to increase visibility is a new strategy altogether.
One should keep in mind that mobile domains and the mobile internet are both such new concepts that they will require some fine tuning in order to catch up to the much more mature internet. So, even though mobile technology has come a long way, there is still a while to go before we truly enjoy a seamless browsing experience like we do on a PC.
Mobile domains represent an exciting period for the internet world. Technology has taken us so far yet we have barely even scratched the surface. When it comes to mobile web surfing, the possibilities are endless.
1 Comment
The current difference between optimisation for PC web and the mobile web is vast. Getting your site to rank within the mobile SERPs such as http://www.google.com/m (perform a search then click on “MOBILE”) requires submission of a new XML sitemap, and changes within the HTML for the search engines to recognise the mobile version of your site and rank it accordingly. At the moment this only scratches the surface.
Integrating your mobile site to work in sync with your actually website is another chapter in the book. There is a difference of opinion at the moment as to where a mobile site should be hosted as a subdomain or on a completely different domain name. Methods include anysubdomain.yoursite.com, yoursite.mobi and m.yoursite.com, but these are all down to preference and your own SEO strategy.
One thing for sure is that mobile domains and mobile seo are only in the foetal stages in terms of potential.Companies in the UK such as oneresult.co.uk are making innovative advancements in mobile search but still the current mobile web is not being utilised anywhere near enough as it could be. The next few years for mobile internet will be very interesting indeed.