Model 1: ecommerce. The website exists to sell your product. Having an alternate version is a simple cost/benefit decision: will people buy your thing from a low-overhead site? This may be combined with a mobile-friendly rendition.
Model 2: advertising. The website exists to catch attention long enough to show ads. You need seven tracking systems and eleven ad networks; all of them need JS and graphics and won't make money for you otherwise.
Model 3: public service. The focus is on providing information, not on making a sale or showing ads. The benefit of a low-overhead version is clear, but you need to keep the costs low, so you can't spend much extra time or money on it.
Model 4: SAAS. The website is the service, so user satisfaction is the top concern. Understand how your users want to use your service, and provide that for them.
Comments
It depends on your business model.
Model 1: ecommerce. The website exists to sell your product. Having an alternate version is a simple cost/benefit decision: will people buy your thing from a low-overhead site? This may be combined with a mobile-friendly rendition.
Model 2: advertising. The website exists to catch attention long enough to show ads. You need seven tracking systems and eleven ad networks; all of them need JS and graphics and won't make money for you otherwise.
Model 3: public service. The focus is on providing information, not on making a sale or showing ads. The benefit of a low-overhead version is clear, but you need to keep the costs low, so you can't spend much extra time or money on it.
Model 4: SAAS. The website is the service, so user satisfaction is the top concern. Understand how your users want to use your service, and provide that for them.