1. Know that "wireless" entails an array of different sizes. Andrew Maydoney, vice president of research and strategy at Sametz Blackstone Associates in Boston, warns that what you think of as "wireless" may not be what your Web designer, or even your clients, think of. "It's pretty important to clarify what companies mean when they say 'wireless,'" he says. "That's because PDAs, wireless laptops, and phones are all slightly different. These distinctions may yield different approaches to development." Generally speaking, most Palm OS and Pocket PC devices conform to 150- or 240-pixel standards. Phones can have smaller displays, although some of the newer ones may actually have larger screens. Bottom line: Before you begin the process, have an understanding of what you're developing your site for. And, just as important, what you're not developing it for.

2. Be inclusive in your design. According to Gregory Truman, an assistant professor of information systems at Babson College, the most common mistake small businesses make when it comes to page design is to code Web sites exclusively for PCs. "They're created for laptops or desktop computers, but they don't lay out well on smaller display spaces," he says. Solution? Simply put, less is more. Code according to the most common HTML standard, which is probably going to by XML/XHTML, and "design primarily with text and make minimal use of images and animation," says Truman. That way, you're being as inclusive as possible for site visitors who are trying to access your information with smaller screens and scant bandwidth.

3. Alternatively, consider a separate site for wireless users. That's the advice of John Lee, vice president and general manager of Hostway, a Chicago-based Web hosting company. "When building the site, think about it from your customer's point of view. What information would they need from your Web site? Perhaps they need your location, business hours and contact information," he says. Remember: Most wireless users, whether they're on a PDA or a cell phone complying with WAP standards, will be viewing this at a vastly reduced screen size. The good news is that there's no need to buy special software to implement this kind of solution, because "a Web site's hosting infrastructure already supports it," Lee says. (If you're still concerned about your code, you can download an HTML optimizer for Microsoft FrontPage here.)

4. Don't plan to add too much. "The mistake is in thinking mobile development will require a full rehash of the Web site, and then management of multiple versions of the Web site," says Derek Kerton, a principal with the San Jose, Calif.-based Kerton Group, a wireless consulting firm. "That need not be true." Instead, he advises, consider the most-visited pages on your site. "They're probably a home page and a search page." Then, consider what mobile users are most likely looking for on your site, which is often a contact or directions page. "Now we've identified four pages that could constitute an entire rudimentary mobile site," Kerton says. The mobile site, once exhausted, should link to the full HTML site.

5. Don't take too much away, either. It's also possible to go "too minimal" — to create a wireless site that's so stripped-down that most PDA or smart phone users find it completely useless. Chris Spiek, vice president for Awecomm Technologies, a hosting solutions company based in Southfield, Mich., has seen that happen. His advice is to tailor the wireless site to the specifications of mobile users without jettisoning the functionality they would expect from the regular home page. "The Pocket PC platform is currently robust enough to support many different types of applications," he says.At the moment, Spiek's company offers what he describes as a "simple" wireless site where visitors learn about our business and product offerings. "We're in the process of implementing mobile CRM into an intranet section of our site that will enable our engineers to have access to customer and account information when they're out of the office," he says. "We'll see a benefit because it will allow us to reduce the time that our employees spend searching for and adding information pertaining to our customers and solutions."