Access and communication - URLs and more

Ok, let's start a new topic, specifically about access to websites.
 
 
1. What are the different access methods to a website ?
 
-> Direct user input, bookmarking, link on another website or directory or
search result page, link in a mail.
 
As an website editor, you have to put lots of effort on communicating your
URL through these different means.
 
 
2. How easy is it for people to access website with these methods,
especially on handset device ?
 
To remain simple, we can stick to the mecanisms. Either accessing requires a
user click (link), or a URL input in the location bar. 
The second being a bit more complex, and require the user to know the URL.
This is getting more and more important on mobile, where keyboard input
isn't easy. This is why mobile user mainly use the telcos mobile portals.
 
Now if they try .. they will try the URL they know, most often the one of
your website.
 
When you need to communicate a URL to a mobile user, the best way remain to
push it. Problem is compatibility with Wap push, email, and SMS with
cliquable links, had again a lot of complexity to achieve it.
 
In France, we have a specific portal, or rather a kiosk, called "Gallery",
made by the three national telcos, where editors can register their site to
be accessed by all mobile users through a search engine. Such sites have a
unique code like "servicename" that users can type in the search box or in a
sms sent to the short number 30130 to get access. It is getting really
popular as was it's ancestor, the old french "Minitel" (which inspired the
i-mode creator "Takeshi Natsuno") where you had to type "3615 servicename" .
But well .. this is another topic.
 
 
3. Should I keep a single URL for the mobile ?
 
It depends. Most often, yes. 
 
- If you have one website, that follow best practices and renders ok on
mobile -> Sure.
- If you build a specific interface, accessing the same contents than your
¨PC website -> It depends.
- If you build a specific website only for mobile users, sharing some
content (or not) with your PC website -> It depends.
 
But note that a second URL MEANS a second site (like you could have your
corporate site on www.company.com + your corporate blog on blog.company.com
<http://www.company.com/> ).
 
It depends of your strategy :
 
a) How do you want user to consider your mobile application ? A mobile
"version" or a mobile "site" ?
b) Which has the best marketing impact ? : 
   - "You can now find www.yahoo.com your mobile" 
   - "mobile.yahoo.com <http://www.yahoo.com> "
 
c) Can you afford the complexification of having two URLs (time, money, and
user perception) ?
 
Again, most often you won't wish fragmenting your URL. 
But then, you have to identify clearly the device to avoid displaying the PC
interface to a mobile and vice versa.
 
 
4. Which mobile-specific URL should I use ?
 
This is up to you. You can add a folder or change the alias :
 
www.site.com/mobile
mobile.site.com <http://www.mobile.site.com> 
 
 
You can use "mobile", but I also like "mmm" that stand for "Mobile
MultiMedia". I do not recommand "wap" (first, the word "image" suffered from
wap1 failure, and furthermore, wap isn't the only mobile web technology).
 
I'm glad google recently replaced their www.google.com/palm URL by
www.google.com/pda which is much more generic to a device family (even if
hard to define) than the Palm brand (that people tend to name as a device
type).
 
I'm definitely not (as other already mentionned) for the new extension
".mobi".
 
But don't forget that even if you choose differents URLs, you can still use
a redirect on both to make sure the device goes to the correct site (thought
sometime you'd wish to view the mobile site on PC, and smartphone user may
want to try your PC site on their mobile).
 
 
END.
 
I may have ommitted some aspects of the questions .. but that's a good
start, and anyway, this mail is getting too long.
 
 
Regards,
Nicolas Combelles
Apocope