How Best to Redirect Mobile Users to a Mobile Friendly Site

[meelosh]

Hi Guys...I need some help and general direction please. I have a good performing static site that i want to be more accessable to mobile users...and am not sure how to goabout it. I do have the .mobi domain for this site.

How do i efficiently redirect mobile users from the static site to a mobile version? htaccess - javascript - css @mediahandheld what is the best way to do this?

Then do i build the mobile versions on the .mobi platform and redirect to it or keep it on the same .com

This is a new direction to me and I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

I have concerns as to any of the above affecting the original site with duplicate content issues and that sort of thing.

Would appreciate any help and direction please..thank you

[lucy24]

You've got at least two completely unrelated questions, so it may be best to ask them separately.

#1 guidelines for designing a mobile-friendly version of the site

#2 how and when to redirect

The second question is easier. Or, at least, can be answered in fewer words. It's done in your .htaccess via device detection. Look for keywords in the user-agent string; you can pick up an amazing lot just by the case-sensitive sequence "iP". Others are "mobile" and "mini".

It isn't the single most common question in the Apache forum, but there are enough of them that a Forums search will turn up the recurring themes. One part is: make sure the user has the option of not being redirected if they explicitly ask for the non-mobile version.

But first, design your mobile-friendly site.

[meelosh]

thanks lucy...I understand #1 its more #2 Im concerned about...I will sniff around the apache section..thanks

[phranque]

make sure you serve Googlebot-Mobile the same content as mobile user agents.
Making Websites Mobile Friendly:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/02/making-websites-mobile-friendly.html [googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com]

however, before you do anything you also want to read and understand the distinctions between mobile phone and smartphone browsers as google sees it.
How does Google treat mobile sitemaps that are almost identical to standard desktop ones? - Webmaster Central Help:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=3bc1d9b5d405a362 [google.com]

and i assume you are aware of w3c's mobile bp docs.
Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0:
http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/ [w3.org]