In an age of fast moving technology, mobile devices and the opportunities they bring are bringing new dimensions to traditional marketing approaches, from merging media with the web and now to mobile devices. Text messaging is already an establishing venture and bringing in keen opportunists from all areas of the globe.

When you first decide to take your website to a mobile device be it PDA or common cellphone, it is imperative to realise one size doesn't fit all. Which means, you can't just lift your current website as is and with a few slight tweaks conver it to "something" viewable on a mobile device.

The first step is to realize that standards do exist, even if the field is a new one and they might not necessarily look like their web counterparts. While designing the mobile website, it is important to keep the users in mind. Most of these users aren't interested in fancy web or graphic design - they want something on the go, so to speak.

So it might be important to realise the KISS rule.

There are in essence three ways in which you can go about creating a mobile functional website, which are presented in detail below.

Rendering the site in raw HTML, no stylingd

As hinted above, the majority of mobile users want information rendered quickly and relatively easy to use and access. Presently, all devices available on the market are WAP 2.0 and support XHTML in addition to XML. Presenting the material in raw HTML renders a simple page with virtually no images and styling involved

There exist several tools that allow developers to perform raw rendering with minimal or no effort. Mike Davidson's "two-minute" mobile mod, allows developers to repurpose their existing websites with a domain mirror and global_prepend / global_append PHP files. Of course, the natural prerequisite is to have PHP installed on the server.

Incorporating Handheld Stylesheets

Handheld stylesheets are being heralded as the one way in developing a friendlier mobile-web and as in line with the WWC's Device Independence principle, with an implementation that is as simple as adding a single stylesheet to a well coded website.

However one important thing to note with this method is that though these stylesheets are extremely flexible and provide the developer with unlimited control, they are limited by mobile technology. Many available devices don't support them yet and more specifically they deal more with aesthetic and less with content.

And at the end of the day, it's content that still remains key.

Developing a Mobile-Specific Website

The last option is to develop a website catered to specific mobile devices, but due to the overwhelming number of devices and models available today, this is neither a realistic nor feasible solution.

However, it does take into consideration the content before addressing what it looks like.

Concluding, I believe the best way to optimise a website for a mobile device is to keep it simple. Of course, it is ultimately the developers' prerogative should they want to mix raw HTML rendering with handheld stylesheets, or generate a mobile specific website.

All things considered, and the wealth of technology available today with an increasing number of mobile standards being approved consistently, the methods outlined above are only the tip of the iceberg.