Why m. sites are not good for your website

Firstly, we all know what the differences are between a Responsive and an Adaptive website, don’t we?

Listed below are my main concerns in regard to websites that have a mobile version, the m.yourdomain.com.

1. Duplicate content SEO issue

Google, the king of web etiquette, has made it very clear that the optimal solution for a website is: 1 website, 1 Domain/1 URL, 1 page, allowing any device to access it the same way.

If you have a mobile website with a different domain (e.g. | m.yourdomain.com) then in Google’s eyes, unless you have taken the correct approach, your site will stumble on the “Duplicate Content” issue and you will be penalized.

By ‘penalized’ by Google, I mean pushed down the search results. And that sucks. You’ve worked hard to be where you are on the ladder, so don’t fall off. 

How can I to prevent being penalized?

Something you should look into is helping Google index your mobile site. 

Update your Robot.txt to allow “"Googlebot-Mobile” review your mobile site. More information on this here. 

Another approach is to update all the canonical URLs. Here’s how. 

2. URL Spaghetti

Let’s have a look at the CatchOfTheDay.

The mobile site looks good, it’s easy to use, but if I want to share a product to my mate Rob in the office, you’ll fall on the URL spaghetti issue.

This will be what you’ll see on your mobile device:

This is what Rob will see in the office:

Desktop same Page

Instead of

And for Rob it is actually impossible to go from the first URL: https://m.catchoftheday.com.au/product/22242/159362

To the one for desktop: http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/event/22242/product/nike-men-s-downshifter-5-grey-yellow-159362

3) Email redirect and content issue

Managing 2 websites is also more expensive than managing one. This is why some sites don’t have all the pages. 

So if users on mobile devices can’t access pages, the options are to leave (very easy), or go the the “main” site and tap around a terrible user experience (very frustrating).

Check out this email LinkedIn sent me...

Once I click on the link, this is what i have to deal with... 

Come on LinkedIn, you’re better than that!

5. Cost

On average, planning a new site and integrate a responsive layout is 10%-20% more expensive than the initial build, and for any future changes you  only need to add a 20%-40% extra time on slicing and testing.

Compare that to having to update two websites all the time, where any changes are 70%-80% more expensive every time you need to update your site. And that’s for the rest of the life of your mobile website.

Are you really saving m.money now?