Shopper's Screen Resolutions vs Site Size
Eli
resolutions of 800 x 600. It was a factual statement, but not anymore.
>From time to time we have read articles saying that people are now
using bigger resolution sizes. However many still hold on to the idea
that 800 pixels wide is the ideal size. Well, quite frankly they are
wrong.
As a business we work with many customers and I have checked the log
files on 53 customers. 3 customers in, I began to see a trend. These
sites range from small 400 page views a day to 60,000+. Here are my
findings:
On average, 52% to 58% of users where running 1024 x 768 screen
resolutions.
However, only 11% to 13% are running 800 x 600. The rest of the
percentages where running 1280 x 1024+.This means that approximately
87% of all shoppers are running greater than 800 x 600.
Personally I run 1440 x 1050 resolutions only because I can't read
text much if it's bigger and if I make the text bigger it's choppy.
If I game I run 1600 to 1900 pixels. 800 x 600 is almost a thing of the
past. Even if you are up in years 1024 x 768 is usually a big easy to
read size on these modern day monitors. Also since more and more
monitors are widescreen they may not be tall but they are wide.
For sites that are 800 pixels wide it's nice and centered on the 1024
but there's wasted space. For wider resolutions is like a tiny page
in the middle of your screen. Some sites use 100% widths this has some
good and a lot of negative points. Ecommerce sites that expand 100%
usually are a turnoff for 35% of the shoppers (There are stacks of
Marketing research that shows this). Also it complexes and increases
development time for websites, since it is extra work to keep
everything all correctly sizing. For most shoppers though it's not a
big turn off since they are running around 1024x768. 930 to 1000 pixels
wide see to have the best results. It looks nice for the bigger
resolution sizes. This also gives you more room to work with and helps
keep your site not looking cramped.
One thing which might be good to keep in mind. Take a look at your log
files if available, and over the course of this year see what highest
percentage of Screen Resolutions coming to your site is. Then you can
make changes accordingly to help target that biggest percentage of
traffic. Also most script languages allow you to check which resolution
the person viewing your site is at. This is powerful for enabling
Floating Adds or Cross-sells that you don't want to jam in the
smaller sites.
Feel free to comment on this!
glaikit
Thank you very much for that information... I hadn't checked on screen
resolutions lately. My attitude has always been, build to what is
'most' common without causing difficulties for the minorities on either
side of the curve. ( I will say that my mother still runs hers at 800 x
600 even on a new, larger - 19" at least, flat-screen monitor.)
Could you elaborate on one point you made -
"Ecommerce sites that expand 100%
usually are a turnoff for 35% of the shoppers (There are stacks of
Marketing research that shows this)."
I'm currently rebuilding an e-commerce site. I started out in a
fixed-width layout but the site owner has had me change over to
flexible-width because SHE likes it. Where can I find some data about
this?
Fiona
Eli
Thanks for your comments. I will try to get some links for the
Marketing Reports. Most of the reports has been via conferences and
some printed articles is where I picked up that figure. What it means
about a turnoff for aprox. 35% of customers is: On average 35% of
traffic to your site is using Very large monitor resolutions. This
causes some sites to become just too much information in a big area.
But really it all depends on what your site is selling. Usually if you
have a Technology/Electronic website most users are running really big
resolutions. However if you are selling herbs and oils most traffic is
1024x768 and usually their monitors are not that hugh. However if a
site is laid out properly, even streching on Big wide monitors can have
a none, over busy feel.
My main point is that I feel we should raise the bar on boxed site size
widths. Forexample I am building a site right now for one of the
biggest Fashion companies in NewYork. They supply all the fabric to
Victory Secret, Ralph Lauren, CK...list goes on and on. The graphic
designers returned a 710 pixel wide site and that's what the client
wants to go with. It's beautiful, but they could have had a little more
room to work with and their site will look strange and small for Big
resolution sizes. Since only 11% to 13% have the 800x600 I would rather
worry more about the 87% and give a little extra reason for 800x600
users to consider upgrades. :)
Cheers!
glaikit
That additional info about what exactly it is that turns people off is
pretty much all I needed to hear. It makes sense
I think your key point is to consider the audience.. are they most
likely to be casual internet users, perhaps not with the
latest-greatest equipment, or is your audience likely to be in a
high-end business office with nothing but the best where high
resolution screens are the norm?
A couple of years ago it was easy to stick firmly with about a 740
pixel width. Now it's not so cut and dry! I've been leaning towards
allowing wider designs in fixed width, hoping that "few" will encounter
the dreaded sideways scroll, but it will look pretty good at 1024 or
1280 resolution.
My client asked me, do big businesses actually care about the width
they choose for their sites? Absolutely they do! For example when I
check my banking online, the pages look like they're built to still fit
on 15" monitors, all scrunched up on the left-hand side. So SOME
businesses who MUST consider access issues for the broadest possible
audience still build for small monitors, low resolution.
And now we've got to think about web for mobile devices... it never
ends :-)
Fiona