Even as the backlash about the Google Reader redesign is picking up steam, something Google seems willing to ignore in favor of its “Google-Plus-ification” of all their products, the company isn’t resting on its laurels of at least trying to develop new products and services.
Such is the case of GoMo, a new service that helps site owners make their web property more mobile friendly. Found under the HowToGoMo.com URL, the site/service explains the reason for its existence, which essentially revolves around making a site more mobile-visitor-friendly. The site’s disclaimer states as much:
Millions more people are using mobile devices to get online every day. Does your business have a mobile-friendly site? If not—or if you’re not sure—you’ve come to the right place to get started.
From there, users can learn more about the mobile web, test to see how their site looks in a mobile browser environment, and get help on improving a site’s mobile usability.
In fact, GoMo has a list of suggestions of web development companies that can assist in the mobilization process, which includes such companies like Atmio, Duda Mobile and iLoop Mobile to name a few. In fact, it could easily be said this portion of GoMo is nothing but an advertising page for companies that develop and convert sites to the mobile environment.
It should be noted that GoMo does not actually build these versions for users, instead they suggest companies that will do the heavy lifting for you. If, however, you are looking for a free conversion, Google does link to their “Mobilize your business” service, which assists in the development for mobile landing pages at no cost. However, if you want a full conversion to the mobile environment, that’s not going to be free, at least if you’re using GoMo as your starting point.
As for Google’s motivation behind GoMo, they have another disclaimer explaining their approach:
Just because you can see your desktop site on a mobile phone doesn’t mean it’s mobile-friendly. Mobile sites are designed for the small screen, with the needs of mobile users in mind. A mobile-friendly site can help your business connect with customers and drive conversions.
Perhaps the most useful aspect of GoMo is the “Test Your Site” feature, which, like the description suggests, tests a site to see how it looks and performs in a mobile browsing environment.
Once a URL is entered, the service returns with a report generated by Google’s “GoMoMeter,” which is about as fun as it sounds. Over at the Google Mobile Ads blog, there’s a video promoting GoMo:
While it seems like such a service is aimed directly at the new web owners/users of the world, for those of you who have been procrastinating the mobilization of your site, GoMo is a good place to start.