1.3 billion people can access the Internet from their mobile phones, making the mobile web a new marketing channel predicted to generate $150 billion by 2011. Building a mobile-specific version of a website is important because of the different needs. Mobile users want a quick-loading site that provides important information like directions or contact info.

With recent advancements in mobile technology, you can still provide a rich user experience, balanced with an attractive fast-loading site. Because a mobile website is usually a stripped down version of the full site, most code can be repurposed for the new project.

If you are ready to create a mobile-specific website, here are a few tips:

• Keep it simple – provide simple pathways to information, as it is more difficult to maneuver a mobile device. Divide content over multiple pages to keep each page as friendly as possible.
• Make contact information and directions easy to find and available on each page of the site.
• Scrolling on a mobile device can be tedious. Repeat navigation at bottom of each page so users don’t have to scroll back to the top.
• Use brief, descriptive text and few graphics to aid in load time. Make sure the graphics that you use are small, optimized thumbnails.