Slow Webpage Load Times Plague Smartphone, Tablet Owners

August 9, 2012

This article is included in these additional categories:

Mobile Phone

keynote-webpage-problems-mobile-users-august2012.pngTwo-thirds of smartphone and tablet owners say they have experienced slow webpage load times at some point in the past 3 months while using their device, per results from a Keynote Systems survey [pdf] released in August 2012. This is the most commonly-experienced problem for these device owners, ahead of websites not being optimized for smartphones, and loading errors (each at 48%). The study also indicates that tablet owners expect pages to load more quickly than smartphone owners.

Indeed, 60% of tablet owners expect to wait 3 seconds (29%) or less (31%) for a webpage to load, compared to 44% of smartphone owners. Laptop and desktop owners, though, are the most impatient, with roughly three-quarters expecting to wait 3 seconds (26%) or less (48%).

Long Load Times Drive Some Away

If a webpage accessed by a mobile device takes too long to load, a plurality of smartphone and tablet visitors (44%) typically refresh the page, while 21% close the page and try again later and 12% wait for the page to load. Even so, slow load times can drive some mobile visitors away: 16% said they typically close the page and give up, while 6% go to a competitor’s website.

These mobile device users appear quite patient when compared to respondents to a Compuware survey released in March 2012. According to that study, 70% of tablet users said that a website should load as quickly or faster on their tablet than on their PC. And when faced with a problematic website, 49% say they would be less likely to visit the site again, 46% would visit a competitor’s site, and one-third would be less likely to purchase from the company.

Many Complain of Inefficient Sites

Data from Keynote Systems’ “2012 Mobile User Survey” indicates that a significant proportion of smartphone and tablet owners also report problems with webpages once they’ve loaded. In the past 3 months, 46% said they have had difficulty interacting with a webpage, 44% complained that navigation on a website was difficult, and 36% said the website didn’t have the functionality expected.

Much of this may be tied back to the 48% who said that they have encountered websites not optimized for smartphones, an unsurprising result given Chief Marketer survey results from June showing that only 48% of marketers either have optimized their main website for viewing over mobile browsers (31%), or run a separate mobile-specific website (17%).

Other Findings:

  • 40% of smartphone owners responding to the Keynote Systems survey said they browse the web from their device for more than 1 hour a day.
  • 55% of tablet owners said they browse for more than 1 hour a day, with 19% browsing for 3 hours or more.
  • 86% of desktop and laptop owners said they browse the web from their computer for more than 1 hour a day, including 52% who do so for at least 3 hours daily.
  • 55% of respondents use mobile applications for more than 1 hour daily. 39% do so for 1-2 hours a day.

About the Data: The Keynote Systems survey was conducted in H1 2012 among 5,388 panelists from the Keynote Research Panel. 3,145 respondents were smartphone users, and 1,976 were tablet users.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This