Update On Web Browser Usage - April 2012

Here's a look at current web browser usage in April 2012, according to both Statcounter and Netmarketshare. All numbers rounded to nearest percentage point.

Usage stats for IE - Chrome - Firefox - Safari
  - Statcounter: 35% - 31% - 25% - 7%
  - Netmarketshare: 54% - 19% - 21% - 5%

Statcounter uses "15 billion pageviews per month collected from... more than 3 million websites".

Netmarketshare uses "160 million unique visits per month" from "over 40,000 websites".

Does Your Website Work Right On All Browsers?

Today's post is a reminder that there are five major web browsers people use to surf the internet, plus a variety of mobile devices with potential quirks regarding how they show web pages. Does your website look and behave the same on all of them? When was the last time you checked?

In days of old, web designers would build only for Internet Explorer and many sites would fail sadly on other browsers. Things are much more standardized today, both in terms of technology and the way designers build sites, but there are still vast differences among computers, browsers, and devices that warrant a routine compatibility check.

Like everyone else, business owners and managers have their own preferred web browser and typically only ever see their site using that one. It's time for a quick look to be sure all your visitors are experiencing your website properly.

Here are the download links for each major browser:
Internet Explorer
Firefox
Chrome
Opera
Safari

To check the look and functionality of your site on mobile devices, you'll need to get hold of (or ask someone who has) an Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, and whatever else.

These days desktop and laptop browsers are split primarily across IE, Chrome, and Firefox, so at least ensure full compatibility and functionality across those three. But the truth is your website should be designed to work the same on all browsers and devices.

If you find problems, we can likely help. We design responsive websites for all browsers and resolutions. Drop us an email.

Stats: Javascript Enabled or Disabled

Another stat about the visitors to our highest traffic domains.


Javascript is generally enabled by default, but can be disabled within your browser settings. It is often used to determine which ads to show on a web page, set formatting and layout styles, and gather information about user activity.

So why would it be enabled or disabled?

Disabling it can considerably speed up web page load times, prevent piles of third-party advertisers from tracking things, and eliminate spyware & trojan risks.

Java is a two-way street, it sends data back to the server about the settings and usage of the browser and computer being used. Simply by looking at a web page without clicking on anything, Javascript is running.

"Java exploits" are currently being used quite often to piggyback trojans into computers. (Cell phones and PDAs are at risk too, because they are powered by Java and it can't be turned off. Blackberry/iPhone/cell hacking has become a new goldmine of identity theft because everyone stores all their phone numbers, contacts, emails, account logins, photos, and other personal info on them.)

We've also made the interesting observation that sites offering higher-ticket specialty products and services have noticably higher rates of Javascript disabled (upwards of 30%). Should we assume these people are more security-aware in general, and/or more tech-savvy?

Are the above stats surprising? Higher or lower disabling than you'd expect?

Stats: Browsers Used By Visitors To Our Sites

Here's a current look at the browsers being used by visitors to the heaviest traffic sites that we operate. No big surprises with Internet Explorer leading the pack, followed by Firefox.


Without saying too much about our clients, trust me when I say this traffic is very broad in scope. These statistics reflect traffic to sites in many unrelated industries, with very different target audiences and user demographics (from highly educated specialists to random consumers, and from world-wide to Peterborough-specific).