Web Statistics
Ferguson Photography and Design includes a full evaluation of your website needs with all custom design sites, basic / template sites and site updates. So, if the following is confusing or intimidating, you can just ignore it and let us do the worrying! It is presented here for the generally curious and the slightly "geeky".
When designing a site, it is important to determine how your customers will use and view your site. Will your customers be using smaller or older computers with low resolution monitors? If so, using a wide site design will frustrate them as they continually have to scroll left and right while reading. Will your customers be using newer high resolution screens and modern computers? If so, using a narrow site design that only fills a small percentage of their screen may look "unimpressive". Will your customers be visiting your site from work or secure areas where javascript and/or Flash may be block for security reasons?
Here are some statistics on USA and Canadian web use to help you decide how to best use the web. These are "general" statistics averaged from a number of sources for the year 2009. Always take into account what your customers need and want. There is no "one right answer" in the charts below. A client building a site for a medical office serving low income customers should come to very different conclusion than a client offering architecture services in Beverly Hills!
Our studio is located in Simi Valley (northwest Los Angeles). You can contact us at 805-577-6914 or use our .
Monitor Resolution (WxH) |
 |
Percentage of Web Viewers |
| 1600x1200 or wider | 20% | |
| 1280x1024 | 32% | |
| 1024x768 | 38% | |
| 800x600 | 6% | |
| 640x480 | 0% | |
| Unknown | 4% |
Screen Resolution
Everything on the web is measured in pixels, rather than inches. This site is 975 pixels wide and will be "about" 10.5 inches wide on "most" screens. However, if the viewer chooses to alter their screen resolution (System Preferences on a Mac, Control Panels on a PC) then this site may be 7 inches wide or 14 inches wide. It is the viewer's decision, not the website owner's decision!
The issue with a website's width is the "horizontal scroll bar". If a site has more pixels of width than the viewer's screen, the viewer can't see the full width of your website. The viewer then has to constantly scroll left and right to even read a sentence. Customers get tired and frustrated, then they often leave the website.
This chart shows how general web users have their monitors set. This site is 975 pixels wide, so its width will fit into the top three sizes (everything 1024 wide and larger). That means that 90% or more of the general web public can use this site without a horizontal scroll bar.
Most of our "Basic / Template" site are designed for a 770 pixels width so their width will fit into the top four sizes (everything 800 wide and larger). That means that 96% or more of the general web public can use those sites without a horizontal scroll bar. Custom designed sites can be any width the client would like.
A note for the truly "geeky": We don't build sites exactly as wide as the user's monitor. For example, our "Basic / Template" sites are 770 pixels wide to fit screens 800 pixels or wider. This is to allow for the space used by the viewer's browser window and vertical scroll bar. Viewers are very accepting of vertical scroll bars, it is the horizontal one that annoys viewers.
Browser |
|
Percentage of Web Viewers |
| Internet Explorer 8.X | 23% | |
| Internet Explorer 7.X | 28% | |
| Internet Explorer 6.X | 9% | |
| FireFox | 27% | |
| Safari | 6% | |
| Opera | 2% | |
| Chrome | 2% | |
| Other/Unknown | 3% |
Browsers
Web browser are what your clients use to view websites. The issue while designing a website is that different browser can read identical page code and display differing results.
Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" is the most popular browser, primarily because it comes free and preloaded with almost all PC computers. Internet Explorer is a PC only browser, there is no current Mac version. Internet Explorer is not the best browser out there (in our opinion) and it has a frightening number of idiosyncrasies that do not conform to the W3C's official coding guidelines. However, 61% or more of the general web public uses some version of this browser. It is, obviously, very important to make sure a site works correctly in Internet Explorer.
FireFox is an alternative browser that is quickly gaining in popularity. It is more popular amongst enthusiasts and consumers than in corporate workplaces. It is also available free, but you have to download and install it (unlike Internet Explorer which comes preloaded on most PCs). FireFox is available for both Mac and PC. Because it is far more conforming to the W3C's official coding guidelines, this browser tends to have far fewer idiosyncrasies. With 27% or more of the general web public using this browser, it is important to test all websites in FireFox. For more info, or to download a free copy of FireFox, visit the FireFox site.
As a matter of interest, in Europe Firefox has 40% of the market compared to Microsoft's 45%. In Germany and Austria Firefox is now the leading browser.
Safari, Opera and Chrome are the three less popular browsers. Safari is a very nice browser and is reasonable conforming to the W3C's official coding guidelines. Safari comes preloaded on all Mac computers, but is also available as a download for PC users. Opera and Chrome are also Mac and/or PC browsers available for download. Because 10% or more of the general web public use these browsers, all sites designed or updated by Ferguson Photography and Design are tested in them as well.
Please remember that these are statistics for 2009: we expect Internet Explorer 8, FireFox, Chrome and Safari to increase while Internet Explorer 6&7 decrease during 2010.
Flash Version |
|
Percentage of Web Viewers |
| 10.X | 90.0% | |
| 9.X | 7.5% | |
| 8.X | 0.3% | |
| 7.X | 1.1% | |
| Unable to Play Flash | 1.1% |
Flash
Flash is the most popular method of presenting animation, motion and video on the web. Flash files tend to be large, which means they load slowly. If overused, this can frustrate the viewer. A small percentage (about 1%) of the computers viewing the web can't display Flash files. Used in moderation, Flash adds a lot of "fun" to a site. Used in moderation, your page will still be usable to those few viewers without Flash. You can see some flash samples here (and also see if your computer is set up to read Flash).
The Flash plugin comes free and preloaded with most browsers and asks permission to update itself (for free) when a new version is available. For those reasons, almost all computers can play a Flash file. Notice that 90% of the general web public has the most up to date version available.
Flash is a poor choice for sites that will viewed on cell phones or iPads. Most web enabled cell phones will not display flash. The phones that can display flash will do so quite slowly. Apple iPhones and iPads do not display Flash at all.
Most of the Flash work done at Ferguson Photography and Design is coded to play in version 8 or later. This means that 97.8% of the public can view these animation, motion and video files. We can also code Flash files for version 7 or later, reaching 98.9% of the web public. Using version 7 eliminates some advanced features. Most version 7 users are on older computers.
The 1.1% of the computer based web public unable to view Flash fall into two primary categories:
1) Users of slower phone modems. Flash tends to be high bandwidth, so some phone modem users turn it off.
2) High security situations, there is a (mostly unfounded) concern that Flash could transfer viruses.
Javascript |
|
Percentage of Web Viewers |
| Enabled | 96% | |
| Unknown or Turned Off | 4% |
Javascript
Javascript is a programming language that Ferguson Photography and Design uses on most websites to add some interesting functionality. Go to the top of this page and mouse your curser over the "Web Design" navigation link, it will turn blue. Javascript is creating a drop down menu of the options for that category (Intro, Planning, Examples, Names, Hosting) appearing below the button.
96% or more of the general web public can run javascript. But, 4% or less of the public has it turned off. Usually this is due to security concerns. When Ferguson Photography and Design uses javascript we always try and insert coding to allow the non-users a viable option. For example, the non javascript user will still see the top of the page navigation on this page (the "Web Design" link). When the non javascript user mouses over that link it will not show the options. But, it will allow the non javascript user to click the link, taking them to a page offering all of the options as simple (non javascript) links.
If you are web browsing with FireFox, it is easy to see what the non javascript users see. Go to Preferences, then Content, then un-check "Enable Javascript", then close the preferences. You will need to reload the current page for the changes to take effect (reload is the circle arrow just to the right of the address window). Please make sure to turn it back on when you are done exploring!
A note for the truly "geeky": Javascript and Java are two separate programming languages.
Operating System |
|
Percentage of Web Viewers |
| Windows 7 | 2.0% | |
| Windows XP | 65.0% | |
| Windows Vista | 19.5% | |
| Mac OSX | 7.0% | |
| Linux | 3.3% | |
| Windows 2000 or Older | 2.6% | |
| Other / Unknown | 0.6% |
Operating Systems
This one is more a matter of interest than concern. All sites at Ferguson Photography and Design are tested on both Windows and Mac OSX.
Please remember that these are statistics for all of 2009, during 2010 we would expect Widows 7 and Mac OSX to increase while Windows XP, Vista and 2000 decrease.
