Photo by Dinkum

#4. Mobile websites.

Hey guys, did you know mobile is the future?! If you don’t have a mobile website, you’re done for!

Just kidding… kind of. Though if you don’t understand the impact mobile devices have had on the way we read, watch, talk, shop—you know, live—well, I’m not sure anyone can explain it to you. Ol’ Steve Jobs really changed everything with the iPhone, you know?

Speaking of the legendary visionary, here’s an interesting factoid: He really didn’t like Flash. He even wrote a lengthy treatise about it in 2010. The fact that Apple refused to support Flash on any of its devices really dealt a blow to Adobe’s widely-used platform. So much so, that even Adobe says Apple killed Flash.

So Flash didn’t really make it to mobile, which was too bad for all the companies that invested lots of time and money into creating dynamic content in Flash for their websites.

For this and other reasons, the differences between coding for websites and mobile sites led most companies to adopt a two-website strategy: one with a mobile domain (mobile.something.com) and one for desktops. This strategy was meant to optimize customer experience, though most of us know that the mobile versions were often stripped-down to the point of being restrictive. Sure, it helped with speed and smaller screens, but shouldn’t there be a better way?

Yep. It’s called responsive design, and if you’re not investing in it, it could be costing you.

Responsive or adaptive design eliminates the need for multiple websites, which is great for several reasons:

The “mobile or desktop” paradigm is outdated; we now have tablets and devices of all sorts and sizes.

Responsive web design will react to the needs of the viewer, no matter what device or browser they’re using. Your customers get the same great branding experience, every time they visit your site.

Google now penalizes duplicate content—so having two websites with the same content is a liability.

Google also clarified its stance on mobile website strategies and search results, with strong support for responsive design.

Maintaining one site (and one SEO profile) is cheaper, plus it’s easier to push out updates when you only have to do it once!

Ditch the separate mobile site and start thinking about responsive web design. When your SEO guy says “mobile-friendly,” make sure he means “responsive.” And as for Flash… Better to use HTML5 instead.