With an estimated 38 billion connected devices, the web browser is the lone number one platform for reaching potential customers. And most of that enormous bulk of data traffic from all those billions of devices goes via a mobile phone. 59 percent of all searches and 58.7 percent of all web traffic to be precise. This makes it crucial for companies, especially B2C, to have a more than excellent mobile website. And if you really want to make a difference, then one thing stands out: speed!
Put the user first
The Netherlands has just about the best digital infrastructure in the world. Almost everyone has a smartphone and is almost always accessible. However, that does not mean that everyone has an iPhone 11 in their pocket. Here too, the majority of the phones are of mediocre quality at most, and that is a point where developers often drop stitches. When you mainly start looking at offering nice features and micro-optimizations, things go wrong. The core of an excellent mobile website is that it is focused on the needs of the users.
The hard numbers
The graphic above shows how the user’s mood changes the longer the page takes to load. At some point, of course, you get tired of it, you leave the site and probably never come back. In the field of mobile, users are certainly not forgiving. This is also evident from the following figures, based on a survey conducted by Forrester Consultants among 1048 internet shoppers.
- 47 percent of visitors and consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds.
- 40 percent of visitors drop out if a website’s render time exceeds 3 seconds.
- 52 percent of respondents say speed determines the level of loyalty to a site.
- Buyers are easily distracted if they have to wait a long time for a page to load. In that case, 14 percent will shop at another web-shop, while 23 percent will stop shopping or close the website.
- 79 percent of dissatisfied people no longer come back to a webshop, while 64 percent now buy similar products from their competitors who offer a faster and better internet experience.
The need for speed
If you take these figures as a starting point, the users’ need is clear: they mainly want speed online. And mobile sites that don’t offer this will be punished mercilessly. The opposite is also true. Sites that do offer users a good user experience are rewarded with more (loyal) customers and higher turnover.
Users won’t be concerned about which technology is used, as long as it meets their requirements. This can clash with the creativity and assumptions used by both business managers and developers. It is noble to want to make the most beautiful product possible, but if the loading time increases, you shoot yourself in your digital foot.
The solution:
Fortunately, this does not necessarily mean that you have to limit yourself to a kind of skeleton website that only offers the necessary. Yes, you have to start with that. You can then progressively offer more features and capabilities where this is possible. Do you have a visitor with a cheap smartphone? Offer him true value and keep it simple. If you get someone with an expensive iPhone to visit, you offer them everything you have in terms of functionality. The logic behind this is also clear. The target group that has an expensive telephone more often places higher demands and may also be willing to spend more. If this is your target group, then you legitimize the development of “expensive” features for a limited number of people.
Do you want to know more about the do’s and don’ts of developing a mobile website? Please contact one of our experts for more information. or read our matching whitepaper about (mobile) web performance.
