• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 21, 2010

Mobile Internet services company dotMobi has launched a new set of tools that promise to help small and medium-sized businesses to quickly build a mobile Web presence. The new goMobi platform allows users to create sites geared to mobile screens with an icon-based interface and the ability to be automatically optimized for different handsets.

dotMobi, a unit of Dublin, Ireland-based domain name registry Affilias, handles hosting of mobile sites via cloud-based computing and allows users to customize sites with business-oriented applications like mobile coupons, reservation requests and links to social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Sites built with goMobi can also add things like "call us" and "find us" buttons to allow customers to connect more easily with small businesses. "We've created a fast, automatic way for creating a mobile Web site that's highly relevant and user friendly," said dotMobi CEO Trey Harvin.

He added that businesses and other developers using goMobi also aren't required to use the .mobi domain. The vast majority of companies expanding from the desktop to the mobile Web have opted for placing an "m-dot" in front of the Web domains rather than adopting the .mobi domain. But Harvin says it makes sense for companies to utilize the range of domain name options available for their sites.

The new service, for which dotMobi will charge $4 to $7 a month, essentially combines existing company tools such as its Instant Mobilizer, for converting PC-based sites to mobile sites, and DeviceAtlas, its device detection technology for tailoring sites to different handsets on the fly. For publishers creating ad-supported sites, Harvin said goMobi can be integrated with ad networks like AdMob or AdSense to run third-party ads.

To help publicize goMobi in connection with the World Cup, dotMobi will "mobilize" the Web sites of 5,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Johannesburg, South Africa, one of the host cities for the month-long tournament. The company sees much promise for its products in emerging markets where a business' mobile site is more likely to be its primary Web outpost. "Mobile is the desktop for them," said Harvin.

Partnering with dotMobi in selling goMobi in the U.S. is name.com, a Denver-based domain name registry offering the service for $6 a month or $50 a year.