Winksite Shares Some Mobile Love

Note to diary.

July 6 – Winksite introduce upgraded mobile publishing platform that promises to extend the reach of the Mobile Web.

July 7 – Launch my personalized, optimized, cross-browser compatible mobile portal.

Can it be that easy?

One of the biggest challenges for both experienced content publishers and web enthusiasts alike is the strict flavour (subset) of HTML that mobile browsers depend on – xHTML Mobile Profile (often dubbed WAP 2.0). So far, it’s been a vicious cirlce! Desktop browsers (mostly talking IE here) have been so forgiving in the past – rendering poorly coded websites in a presentable manner – that adoption of standards for mobile screens has been resisted, resulting in poor user experience and the dragging of progress heels.

However, in a few days time the tide could begin to turn. Mobile site creation and community tool, Winksite, will not only begin generating W3C Standards compliant mobile websites but will also bundle an array of features designed to make mobile publishing a cinch!

Firstly, providing broad support for every browser – even iPhone-optimized templates – is a huge step forward. And not at the expense of personalization. You’ll still be able to mix and match color schemes and apply your own sense of style. WiFi Gamers haven’t been forgotten either – Sony PSP and Nintendo DS Lite users will also enjoy fully-functioning sites on their integrated browsers.

Secondly, and equally as important IMO, is solving the lack of discoverability. In layman terms, mobile webmasters aren’t linking out – again, a relunctance based on incompatibility worries. The knock-on effect is that Mobile Search crawlers are having a hard time traversing the Mobile Web. To help combat this, Winksite will generate a Google Mobile Sitemap with every site. Plus with options to include meta data and the ability to optimize your page titles, header tags and anchor text – you could soon find your optimized mobile site not only found quickly, but topping the mobile search listings!

So, your mobile site is now found and easily browsed, but what next?

The third breakthrough, and what really stands Winksite apart, is in tackling these Mobile Web hurdles they can still deliver the real deal – the mobile one. Because the point of the mobile is to stay connected – not just to read stuff. Social networkers are looking to mobilize their connections and Winksite is ready for them. Whether you want to integrate a feed, start a chat room or hook up with friends on Twitter or Jaiku – they’ve got it covered.

David Harper, Winksite CEO, rounds off:

From it’s simple, channel-based structure, to it’s universal “Main Menu” link, Click-to-call dialing options, and easy to use community features – each mobile site you launch comes bundled with a pleasurable mobile experience

This exciting combination of usability-focused mobile publishing and community integration is a winner with me. Finally, and I forgot to mention, the Winksite service is a free and fully hosted solution, so there’s no excuse – go on – share some mobile love!