Should marketers create iPhone-specific Web sites?

September 3, 2008

Aaron Watkins is vice president of mobile integration at The Hyperfactory

By Aaron Watkins

You simply cannot escape the all-encompassing hype and buzz surrounding the release of the newest iPhone, what with its 3G network capabilities, third-party applications and expanded email features, not to mention GPS.

In a very short time -- the iPhone was first released to the public on June 29, 2007 -- the iPhone has taken a huge chunk of the market share of smartphones -- and that was before the 3G model was released in July. I haven't seen any good statistics yet of the new iPhone numbers with the addition of the 3G model to the market.

The most impressive statistic surrounding the iPhone, however, is this: According to Nielsen Mobile, 82 percent of iPhone users access the Internet from their phone. That is almost five times the average mobile phone user.

Attribute such high mobile Web usage to the beautiful iPhone interface, the ease of use, or the fact that you are forced to buy a data plan with the phone. It doesn't matter -- people are going online directly from their phones and, as marketers, we want to be there when they arrive.

Traditionally, there have been two versions for every site: the typical WAP site you are used to seeing and the smartphone-optimized site that can handle tables and uses the larger screens.

With the release of the iPhone, a third type of mobile site capability was needed.

So what's so amazing about iPhone-optimized mobile sites versus your standard mobile site?

Here is a look at some of the features that can be used with an iPhone site and how they compare with WAP sites.

WAP sites are generally very rigid, restricted by stacked or sliced images and some tables (when you get to smartphones).

The iPhone-optimized site, however, is much more flexible, as it is controlled by CSS and HTML. This gives us many options not available on WAP sites.

For example, in your standard mobile site, one image equals one link, but the iPhone allows you to do image mapping, creating easier visual navigation.

The navigation capabilities of the iPhone site are also made easier through the addition of tabs and drop-downs, instead of the traditional mobile linear navigation methods.

To top it off, instead of loading each page individually, the iPhone can preload content and control the display so that only relevant information is shown.

While some mobile phones now can stream video, we know that the iPhone can do this flawlessly, and we do not have to shy away from creating these richer media environments that can be consumed by the user on the fly.

Animations are generated by the Safari browser, not as an animated gif that is not supported by many handsets. Combined with the image linking capabilities, each image of animation can be directed to a separate link, allowing for rotation of content.

Is the iPhone the perfect phone environment?

Not by any means. Its lack of JAVA support makes many existing mobile applications unavailable, and has created the need for everyone to make specific iPhone apps.

The iPhone's lack of compatibility with traditional mobile sites can create issues when trying to access them. And the fact remains that the iPhone, while garnering a larger piece of the mobile pie each month, is still just one handset.

With the extensive online usage by iPhone users, it makes sense to invest in an iPhone-optimized site for any brand trying to stake a space in the mobile Web.

Aaron Watkins is vice president of mobile integration at The Hyperfactory, San Francisco. Reach him at .