The world’s gone mobile, and mobile websites are stealing the spotlight. And the advantages are not limited to companies. Universities have jumped on board to reach current and prospective students more effectively through the mobile arena. Georgia Institute of Technology, for example, recently tasked Cool Blue Interactive with creating a complete mobile version of its admissions site - spanning over 120 pages.

The underlying problem is that many organizations looking to go mobile may not want to allocate the time and resources needed to maintain two different versions of the same site.

Enter responsive web design – a revolutionary practice that equips websites with the intelligence to adapt to the various devices through which they are accessed. Text and photos automatically shuffle and resize to fit the viewer's screen. No more zooming in to read and sliding about to see all the content. This technology allows website managers to focus on creating one set of influential content that will seamlessly translate between desktops, smartphones, tablets and whatever the future may bring.

For Georgia Tech, however, certain aspects of the institution’s admissions site still needed some mobile customization. While most of the site’s mobile version mirrored that of the traditional, the homepage needed a mobile “feel.”

An admissions department’s focus changes with the season. For part of the year, prospective students doing applications are the top priority, and during other times, the emphasis shifts from application to enrollment activities. In response, Cool Blue created a mobile homepage that can be customized easily by internal staff for seasonal changes. The result – current and prospective students can access a mobile site that caters to their individual needs based on the time of year.

The trick with an effective mobile website is navigation. The Sterling Research and SmithGeiger survey went on to reveal that 61 percent of respondents move on to a different site if they don’t find what they want in approximately five seconds. Thus, easy navigation can make or break a mobile site.

With responsive design, however, navigation on the mobile site is just a compact adaption of the desktop version. Drop downs, tabs and increasingly specified levels of content still apply, and users can zip from the homepage to whatever section of the site they need. And to make things even easier, the custom mobile homepage helps users get off on the right foot.

Cool Blue implemented the use of photo links to drive traffic to the appropriate sections of Georgia Tech’s admissions site – a slightly different tactic than the desktop version. Students viewing the site through their mobile device can now access popular sections like “Majors Offered” or “Directions & Parking” immediately.

And in the “Directions & Parking” section of the mobile admissions site, students will find one of Cool Blue’s more intricate designs. Originally, this page – like many others on the web – was limited to a list of text directions directing visitors onto campus from whichever direction they were coming. Cool Blue transformed it into a 13-page way-finding network complete with custom visual maps and online mapping services from Google and Apple.

As mobile devices continue to grow in popularity, mobile websites will become an even more influential medium for companies, organizations, universities and others. That does not mean, however, that website managers will be loaded with twice the work – managing content for two different versions of the same site. Responsive web design makes websites, like that of Georgia Tech, more intelligent by teaching them to adapt to the device through which they are being accessed.

If you are on mobile device now - click and visit the new Ga Tech Admissions Mobile site.