Designers 'need to create pages to work on netbooks'

Web designers need to consider how their pages will look and work on netbooks as up to hundreds of millions will soon use this portable device to access the internet, it has been suggested.

So far, many people have not felt the need to make pages mobile-friendly but they must not ignore the growing popularity of the low-cost, "bare bones" laptops, states Patricio Robles writing for Econsultancy.

Businesses using Wordpress hosting to create their own site might want to consider his tips.

It should be noted that most netbooks have a screen resolution of 1024 x 600 – compared to 1024 x 768 for other laptops and PCs – and most affordable ones come with one gigabyte of Ram.

Creating a number of websites for use on different devices such as desktops and netbooks is not an ideal option, explains Mr Robles.

"The use of fixed widths and designs that still display core content elegantly when other content gets cut off are probably more viable options," he suggests.

Last week, the chief executive officer for Volantis in an interview with bMighty said that businesses who want to generate sales online should do business on the mobile web.