Mobile Readiness & Progressive Web Apps in the UK
Are Digital Leaders Adapting to Mobile Audiences?
1 In 2017, Google’s annual Consumer Barometer Study reported mobile internet usage crossed 50% for the first time in all 63 countries covered.1
In this study we analyse the top 1,000 UK websites against a set of 5 criteria, in order to explore how many are adapting to mobile change. Our collated top level findings are detailed herein.
Source: 1Consumer Barometer Study 2017 Contents
2 Why Use Progressive Web Apps? 16 Findings 39 Summary 4 Progressive Web App Features Overview 43 Appendix 6 The Audit Criteria By Audit Criteria Collated Source Material - HTTPS HTTPS - Content Sized for Mobile Service Worker - Time to Interactivity Time to Interactivity - Service Worker Add to Home Screen - Add to Home Screen Content Sized for Mobile By Category 8 Data Source, Tools & Methodology - Academic Majestic Million - Automotive - Banking & Financial Services Lighthouse Audit Tool - General Services - Government & Non-Profit 14 List of Audited Sites - New & Media - Retail - Travel & Leisure
Source: 1Consumer Barometer Study 2017 Why Use Progressive Web Apps
Most consumer website content is accessed by people using a mobile phone.1 There are a number of factors that contribute to the experience of accessing content on a phone, which differs from person to person. Factors include the device and the size of screen, the browser and whether browsing “in-app”, the The level of stress caused by mobile physical location and connectivity-speed, the security of the data transfer and the website usability on a small screen. delays was comparable to watching a horror movie We believe that the majority of websites have not changed to take advantage of all the features available (and sometimes essential) to ensure a good experience for the majority of visitors. We have found that most websites offer a slow, poor user experience for mobile device users and that very few have started to take advantage of Progressive Web App features that could help to really improve this 1 experience. 0.9
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Google, the largest search engine in the UK market, has already announced plans 0.7 to change to a mobile-first index in 2018.2 Microsoft announced at the Edge 2017 0.6 Summit that the Edge browser will support Progressive Web Apps by 2018. Given that websites that are fast and usable to all visitors will convert better and keep 0.5 attention longer, it makes sense that businesses should endeavour to improve 0.4 their mobile experience. Businesses that are not adapting fast enough may be 0.3 forsaken for those that do. 0.2
0.1
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Waiting Watching a Watching a Experiencing Solving a in line at melodramatic horror movie mobile delays math problem retail store TV show
Cognitive load associated with stressful situations3
2 Source: 1Consumer Barometer Study 2017, 2Mobile First Indexing Announcement, 3Ericsson ConsumerLab. Neurons Inc. 2015 Slow Sites Mean Lost Potential
>3 Seconds 19 Seconds 53% Abandonment Rate Average Load Time
A web page on 3G takes 19 seconds load on average however, 53% have already abandoned the load after 3 seconds4
Faster Sites Convert Better For every second of improvement, Walmart.com experienced up to a 2% conversion 5 rate increase
Source: 4DoubleClick 2015, 5Think with Google, Google 3 Progressive Web App Features
4 Progressive Web App Features Unlike native mobile applications, Progressive Web Apps are websites which can be available on most mobile devices (with the exception of iOS at the time of writing), and adopt a set of app-like features or characteristics that contribute to a better experience for mobile device users. Some of these features are day-to-day best practise for any website, for example those related to speed and security, whereas other features are quite specific to Progressive Web Apps, for example service worker registration.
The full list of Progressive Web App features:
• Progressive - Works for every user, regardless of browser choice because it’s • Discoverable - Is identifiable as an application thanks to W3C manifest and built with progressive enhancement as a core tenet. service worker registration scope, allowing search engines to find it.
• Responsive - Fits any form factor: desktop, mobile, tablet, or whatever is • Re-engageable - Makes re-engagement easy through features like push next. notifications.
• Connectivity independent - Enhanced with service workers to work offline • Installable - Allows users to add apps they find most useful to their home or on low-quality networks. screen without the hassle of an app store.
• App-like - Feels like an app, because the app shell model separates the • Linkable - Easily share the application via URL, does not require complex application functionality from application content. installation.
• Fresh - Always up-to-date thanks to the service worker update process.
• Safe - Served via HTTPS to prevent snooping and to ensure content hasn’t been tampered with.
Source: Your First Progressive Web App, By Pete LePage – Google Developer Advocate 5 The Audit Criteria
6 The Audit Criteria We exported the top 1,000 UK domains from the Majestic Million and to audit at scale we used the Lighthouse Audit Tool. Using Lighthouse we selected 5 of the 11 total (non-manual) Progressive Web App checks to compare across the sites in the data set. We chose the 5 criteria selected to be a good mix of general good mobile experience and Progressive Web App-specific experiences. You can find out more about the tools and data in section 4 of this research; however the 5 criteria we chose are part of the Baseline Progressive Web App Checklist.
Web app features analysed in this study:
1. HTTPS – Is the site served over HTTPS? 3. Speed – Is the site interactive in less than 10 seconds on a 3G connection? HTTPS is recommended for your website independent of Progressive Web App (<10 Seconds TTFI) features. Using secure protocol provides additional security for personal data, As we have mentioned earlier, many mobile device users are still connecting such as credit card information. In addition many newer web technologies such to the internet via 3G connections which can contribute to slow and frustrating as new browser features, Progressive Web App features and HTTP2 are designed experiences. Whilst it might be useful to improve first meaningful paint, if a site for or in some cases require HTTPS to work. Please note, that in the case of a site is unusable it is still no good to the visitor. Instead, we are looking for a faster using both HTTP and HTTPS URLs without any redirection to the HTTPS version, experience from leading sites; therefore the measurement standard is a level of for example Argos at time of writing; we used the URL referenced in the Majestic interactivity. On occasion we have abbreviated this to TTFI (time to first interactive). Million. Again with regards to Argos as an example this was the HTTP version at time of audit on November 10th and again when checked on 30th November 4. Add to Home Screen – Does the site prompt the user to ‘‘Add to Home Screen’’? 2017. As this study is focused on mobile user experience if the URL in the data-set Along with the service worker script and the features it facilitates, the ability to did not redirect when typed into the browser (using Chrome 62) we audited the ‘‘Add to Home Screen’’, which is managed in the App Manifest, is the second main original URL. Where user redirection took place we audited the destination URL. feature of a Progressive Web App that is specific to the app like characteristics.
2. Service Worker – Does the site register a Service Worker? 5. Content Sized for Mobile Viewport - Do they serve content that fits right Technically a service worker is a ‘man-in-the-middle’ which can intercept network to the device viewport, either by serving responsively or adaptively? requests and modify responses; thus managing push notifications, background One size does not fit all when it comes to mobile internet use. This criteria, along sync and the delivery of some content whilst out of range of a mobile internet with HTTPS and Time to Interactivity are good practise criteria that work for connection. Particularly powerful when a user adds a site to home screen this mobile friendly internet use independent of the Progressive Web App features. feature can push content and contribute to a sense of ‘always-on’.
Source: Progressive Web App Checklist 7 Data Source, Tools & Methodology
8 Data Source, Tools & Methodology
The Majestic Million
Majestic surveys and maps the internet and has created the largest link intelligence database in the world, from which we referred to The Majestic Million, a free to use list of the million domains with the most referring subnets. We filtered the list by UK TLD and exported the first 1,000 results to inform our data set in this research.
“Top” is a subjective notion, and may be subject to differences of opinion as to how to define. The Majestic Million uses link data and therefore may not correspond to data sources that rank sites by traffic. In addition, we found that our list of 1,000 UK domains contained some sites that gamed their way into the data set using very manipulative link practises. Many of these were retail ‘fake’ sites and many were returning a 500 status and were no longer available in the time between cutting the data and getting to work. We removed these URLs from the data-set meaning the final list that went to audit contained 739 URLs. There may still be some poor quality websites that remain within our source list however we had to balance the interest of data hygiene with having a robust sample that would largely match with what most web consumers would consider to be top websites in the UK.
Finally, to filter The Majestic Million to the UK region, we used the TLD filter with UK value. What this means is that we are missing .com domains that serve UK audiences. Notable exceptions are social media giants like Facebook and Twitter.
The data was extracted and cleaned from The Majestic Million at the end of October 2017 and audited by November 10th 2017.
See Appendix: Audited Sites from The Majestic Million 9 The Lighthouse Audit Tool
10 The Lighthouse Audit Tool Lighthouse is an open source audit tool and Chrome developer’s project, used to evaluate many performance criteria across four areas which are: Progressive Web App, Performance, Accessibility and Best Practises. You can either install the Lighthouse browser extension or use as the default audit tool in the Audit tab of Developer Tools in the Chrome browser.
At Erudite we believe Chrome developers are leading the way in educating the industry about Progressive Web Apps, and with the natural link to Google Search this is the best resource to help evaluate performance criteria that may set a website ahead of the competition.
We manually ran Lighthouse on each of the sites in our data set and recorded a checklist Y/N if the site passed the audit criteria. To make the work succinct and comparable we restricted our audit to these five Progressive Web App characteristics, in which we posed these questions:
1. HTTPS - Is the site served over HTTPS?
2. Service Worker - Does the site register a Service Worker?
3. Speed/Time to First Interactivity - Is the site interactive in less than 10 seconds on a 3G connection? (<10 Seconds TTFI)
4. Add to Home Screen - Does the site prompt the user to Add to Home Screen?
5. Content Sized for Mobile Viewport - Do they serve content that fits right to the device viewport, either by serving responsively or adaptively?
See: Lighthouse – Tools for Web Developers 11 “Our industry has seen some significant changes in the 12 years Majestic has been crawling the web, but none as significant as the pivot to mobile web use. We’re really excited to see how the data looks when search engines increasingly prioritise algorithms according to mobile device performance.” Dixon Jones, Global Brand Ambassador - Majestic
12 13 Academic kcl.ac.uk sheffield.ac.uk financial-ombudsman.org.uk reed.co.uk culture.gov.uk liverpoolmuseums.org.uk keele.ac.uk sherpa.ac.uk freeindex.co.uk rightmove.co.uk data.gov.uk london.gov.uk aaschool.ac.uk kent.ac.uk shu.ac.uk goconfused.co.uk screamingfrog.co.uk defra.gov.uk macmillan.org.uk abdn.ac.uk kent.sch.uk soas.ac.uk halifax.co.uk surveymonkey.co.uk dfid.gov.uk manchester.gov.uk aber.ac.uk kingston.ac.uk soton.ac.uk hsbc.co.uk talktalk.co.uk dft.gov.uk mariecurie.org.uk anglia.ac.uk lancaster.ac.uk staffs.ac.uk iii.co.uk thestudentroom.co.uk dh.gov.uk mentalhealth.org.uk arts.ac.uk lancs.ac.uk st-and.ac.uk marketoracle.co.uk three.co.uk diabetes.co.uk met.police.uk aston.ac.uk lboro.ac.uk st-andrews.ac.uk mpadevelopment.co.uk tiscali.co.uk diabetes.org.uk metoffice.gov.uk bangor.ac.uk le.ac.uk stir.ac.uk nationwide.co.uk tmselectrical.co.uk digital.nhs.uk mhra.gov.uk bas.ac.uk leeds.ac.uk strath.ac.uk ofcom.org.uk tripod.co.uk direct.gov.uk mind.org.uk bath.ac.uk leedsbeckett.ac.uk sunderland.ac.uk rbs.co.uk ukonline.co.uk dphotographer.co.uk moneyadviceservice.org.uk bbk.ac.uk lincoln.ac.uk surrey.ac.uk saga.co.uk vodafone.co.uk drinkaware.co.uk museumoflondon.org.uk bbsrc.ac.uk liv.ac.uk sussex.ac.uk santander.co.uk webeden.co.uk dwp.gov.uk nao.org.uk bcu.ac.uk liverpool.ac.uk swan.ac.uk yahoo.co.uk easyfundraising.org.uk nationalarchives.gov.uk bgs.ac.uk ljmu.ac.uk tees.ac.uk General Services yougov.co.uk education.gov.uk nationalgallery.org.uk bham.ac.uk london.ac.uk thebritishmuseum.ac.uk zen.co.uk energysavingtrust.org.uk nationaltheatre.org.uk birmingham.ac.uk londonmet.ac.uk ucl.ac.uk 123forum.co.uk zetnet.co.uk england.nhs.uk nationaltrust.org.uk bournemouth.ac.uk lsbu.ac.uk uclan.ac.uk 123-reg-new-domain.co.uk zoopla.co.uk environment-agency.gov.uk nerc.ac.uk brad.ac.uk lse.ac.uk uea.ac.uk 1and1.co.uk fairtrade.org.uk nesta.org.uk bradford.ac.uk lshtm.ac.uk uel.ac.uk advanced-media.co.uk fca.org.uk nhsdirect.nhs.uk brighton.ac.uk man.ac.uk uhi.ac.uk armstrongsecurity.co.uk Government & fco.gov.uk nice.org.uk bris.ac.uk mdx.ac.uk ulst.ac.uk blueyonder.co.uk Non-Profit foe.co.uk nidirect.gov.uk bristol.ac.uk mmu.ac.uk uwe.ac.uk btck.co.uk food.gov.uk npg.org.uk 38degrees.org.uk british-history.ac.uk mrc.ac.uk vam.ac.uk customer.heartinternet.uk forestry.gov.uk npl.co.uk acas.org.uk brookes.ac.uk napier.ac.uk warwick.ac.uk demon.co.uk fsa.gov.uk npoa.org.uk actionfraud.police.uk brunel.ac.uk ncl.ac.uk wellcome.ac.uk dragonsgamehosting.co.uk fsb.org.uk nspcc.org.uk adviceguide.org.uk cam.ac.uk nhm.ac.uk wlv.ac.uk easynet.co.uk gamblingcommission.gov.uk nts.org.uk ageuk.org.uk cardiff.ac.uk nihr.ac.uk wmin.ac.uk ee.co.uk gamcare.org.uk number10.gov.uk amnesty.org.uk cf.ac.uk nmm.ac.uk ychost.co.uk f9.co.uk gassaferegister.co.uk ofgem.gov.uk army.mod.uk city.ac.uk nms.ac.uk york.ac.uk force9.co.uk greenpeace.org.uk ofsted.gov.uk artscouncil.org.uk courtauld.ac.uk northumbria.ac.uk fsnet.co.uk hants.gov.uk oft.gov.uk asa.org.uk coventry.ac.uk nott.ac.uk google.co.uk highways.gov.uk ons.gov.uk autism.org.uk cranfield.ac.uk ntu.ac.uk Automotive gridhosted.co.uk historicengland.org.uk opsi.gov.uk barnardos.org.uk derby.ac.uk open.ac.uk autocar.co.uk handymanernie.co.uk historic-scotland.gov.uk oxfam.org.uk bfi.org.uk dmu.ac.uk oup.co.uk autoexpress.co.uk hermes.me.uk hmrc.gov.uk petition.parliament.uk bhf.org.uk dundee.ac.uk ox.ac.uk autotrader.co.uk homeaway.co.uk hmso.gov.uk planningportal.gov.uk biglotteryfund.org.uk dur.ac.uk plymouth.ac.uk ford.co.uk indeed.co.uk hm-treasury.gov.uk princeofwales.gov.uk birmingham.gov.uk ebi.ac.uk port.ac.uk honda.co.uk jobsite.co.uk homeoffice.gov.uk princes-trust.org.uk bis.gov.uk ed.ac.uk prospects.ac.uk professautogas.co.uk linux.co.uk hope4men.org.uk publications.parliament.uk bitc.org.uk epsrc.ac.uk qmul.ac.uk toyota.co.uk lycos.co.uk hrp.org.uk raf.mod.uk blog.gov.uk esrc.ac.uk qmw.ac.uk vauxhall.co.uk monster.co.uk hscic.gov.uk rbge.org.uk bma.org.uk essex.ac.uk qub.ac.uk volkswagen.co.uk msn.co.uk hse.gov.uk rbkc.gov.uk bps.org.uk ex.ac.uk rca.ac.uk multiplay.co.uk ica.org.uk redcross.org.uk britishcycling.org.uk exeter.ac.uk rcog.org.uk ndirect.co.uk ico.gov.uk rhs.org.uk businesslink.gov.uk gla.ac.uk rcplondon.ac.uk Banking & nildram.co.uk iea.org.uk rmg.co.uk caa.co.uk gold.ac.uk rcpsych.ac.uk nominet.org.uk ifs.org.uk rnib.org.uk Financial Services cabinetoffice.gov.uk gre.ac.uk rdg.ac.uk o2.co.uk independent.gov.uk roh.org.uk ceop.police.uk heacademy.ac.uk rgu.ac.uk aviva.co.uk orange.co.uk ipo.gov.uk royal.gov.uk charitycommission.gov.uk herts.ac.uk rhul.ac.uk bankofengland.co.uk ordnancesurvey.co.uk iwm.org.uk royalacademy.org.uk childline.org.uk hud.ac.uk rl.ac.uk barclays.co.uk ovh.co.uk jrf.org.uk royalcollection.org.uk choiceshomes.co.uk hull.ac.uk roehampton.ac.uk bupa.co.uk ownersdirect.co.uk judiciary.gov.uk royalnavy.mod.uk christianaid.org.uk hw.ac.uk royalholloway.ac.uk capitalkey.co.uk oz-media.co.uk justice.gov.uk royalparks.org.uk cipd.co.uk ic.ac.uk salford.ac.uk cbi.org.uk pagesuite-professional.co.uk kingsfund.org.uk rspb.org.uk cityoflondon.gov.uk ids.ac.uk sanger.ac.uk citywire.co.uk php-fusion.co.uk labour.org.uk rspca.org.uk communities.gov.uk ioe.ac.uk sas.ac.uk crowdfunder.co.uk postoffice.co.uk lawsociety.org.uk savethechildren.org.uk companieshouse.gov.uk jisc.ac.uk schoolnet.co.uk customlasering.co.uk prositehosting.co.uk leeds.gov.uk sciencemuseum.org.uk cps.gov.uk jobs.ac.uk shef.ac.uk experian.co.uk pwc.co.uk libdems.org.uk scotland.gov.uk cqc.org.uk liverpoolmuseums.org.uk scottish.parliament.uk digitalspy.co.uk pcpro.co.uk wired.co.uk grademiners.co.uk groupon.co.uk networkrail.co.uk london.gov.uk service.gov.uk disney.co.uk pinknews.co.uk wownews.co.uk hawking.org.uk homebase.co.uk nufc.co.uk macmillan.org.uk shelter.org.uk eadt.co.uk planetradio.co.uk yorkpress.co.uk historylearningsite.co.uk houseoffraser.co.uk odeon.co.uk manchester.gov.uk statistics.gov.uk e-architect.co.uk plymouthherald.co.uk yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk idealessay.co.uk houzz.co.uk opentable.co.uk mariecurie.org.uk stonewall.org.uk edp24.co.uk politics.co.uk yorkshirepost.co.uk image-salon.co.uk juno.co.uk rac.co.uk mentalhealth.org.uk stpauls.co.uk espn.co.uk portsmouth.co.uk i-sis.org.uk katespade.org.uk rsc.org.uk met.police.uk sustrans.org.uk eveningtimes.co.uk pressandjournal.co.uk itpro.co.uk keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk southbankcentre.co.uk metoffice.gov.uk teachingenglish.org.uk evo.co.uk pressgazette.co.uk Other jjlawton.co.uk liberty.co.uk streetmap.co.uk mhra.gov.uk tfl.gov.uk examiner.co.uk prnewswire.co.uk jppt.co.uk linksoflondon.me.uk tate.org.uk 7songs.co.uk mind.org.uk thekennelclub.org.uk femalefirst.co.uk prospectmagazine.co.uk lancashiretopsoil.co.uk list.co.uk thomson.co.uk activityvillage.co.uk moneyadviceservice.org.uk thinkuknow.co.uk fwi.co.uk realbusiness.co.uk lateshathompson.co.uk maplin.co.uk travelodge.co.uk animeotk.co.uk museumoflondon.org.uk tuc.org.uk gazettelive.co.uk reuters.co.uk lee-field.co.uk monsoon.co.uk tripadvisor.co.uk aparat.co.uk nao.org.uk unicef.org.uk getreading.co.uk saatchi-gallery.co.uk leforums.co.uk myvouchercodes.co.uk yelp.co.uk archiservedesign.co.uk nationalarchives.gov.uk wales.gov.uk getsurrey.co.uk scan.co.uk macworld.co.uk next.co.uk assemblybuildings.co.uk nationalgallery.org.uk wales.nhs.uk getwestlondon.co.uk somersethouse.org.uk majestic12.co.uk nikeair-max.org.uk assignmenthelponline.co.uk nationaltheatre.org.uk woodlandtrust.org.uk gizmodo.co.uk somersetlive.co.uk marilyntuck.co.uk nintendo.co.uk autopaintsupplies.co.uk nationaltrust.org.uk wrap.org.uk glamourmagazine.co.uk spectator.co.uk medicines.org.uk office.co.uk babycentre.co.uk nerc.ac.uk wwf.org.uk gloucestershirelive.co.uk spring.org.uk michaelmatthew.co.uk overclockers.co.uk bcel.uk nesta.org.uk www.bl.uk gq-magazine.co.uk sterling-adventures.co.uk mkholidays.co.uk panasonic.co.uk bei.org.uk nhsdirect.nhs.uk www.gov.uk guardian.co.uk stokesentinel.co.uk no5hair.co.uk paulsmith.co.uk bezpieczni.uk nice.org.uk www.mod.uk harpercollins.co.uk stylist.co.uk olympicitypiwc.co.uk pcworld.co.uk blog.co.uk nidirect.gov.uk www.nhs.uk harpersbazaar.co.uk techadvisor.co.uk patient.co.uk philips.co.uk boroughmarket.org.uk npg.org.uk www.parliament.uk heart.co.uk techweekeurope.co.uk penguin.co.uk photobox.co.uk bridgeextraction.co.uk npl.co.uk yha.org.uk huffingtonpost.co.uk telegraph.co.uk photoshopcreative.co.uk rakuten.co.uk cadbury.co.uk npoa.org.uk hulldailymail.co.uk tes.co.uk phrases.org.uk sainsburys.co.uk cadcamoffices.co.uk nspcc.org.uk ibtimes.co.uk theargus.co.uk pocketgamer.co.uk sony.co.uk camparigirls.co.uk nts.org.uk News & Media icnetwork.co.uk theboltonnews.co.uk premiumtv.co.uk thenorthface.co.uk channelregister.co.uk number10.gov.uk independent.co.uk thecourier.co.uk realessay.co.uk theo2.co.uk accountingweb.co.uk ciao.co.uk ofgem.gov.uk indymedia.org.uk thedailymash.co.uk reghardware.co.uk ticketmaster.co.uk advancedphotoshop.co.uk computerarts.co.uk ofsted.gov.uk inews.co.uk theengineer.co.uk sherlockessay.co.uk ticketsource.co.uk alaraby.co.uk coursework4u.co.uk oft.gov.uk itn.co.uk theherald.co.uk sigur-ros.co.uk ticketweb.co.uk anorak.co.uk coursework-writing-service. ons.gov.uk journalism.co.uk thejockeyclub.co.uk silicon.co.uk very.co.uk aol.co.uk co.uk opsi.gov.uk kentonline.co.uk thejournal.co.uk sofn.org.uk which.co.uk architectsjournal.co.uk cssplay.co.uk oxfam.org.uk lancashiretelegraph.co.uk thenorthernecho.co.uk spoongraphics.co.uk whsmith.co.uk arstechnica.co.uk customessays.co.uk petition.parliament.uk lbc.co.uk thepoke.co.uk startups.co.uk wiggle.co.uk bbc.co.uk customessays.me.uk planningportal.gov.uk leicestermercury.co.uk theregister.co.uk syac-businesscentre.co.uk zazzle.co.uk belfasttelegraph.co.uk custom-writing.co.uk princeofwales.gov.uk lep.co.uk thescottishsun.co.uk tandf.co.uk birminghammail.co.uk customwritingservice.co.uk princes-trust.org.uk lifinews.co.uk thestage.co.uk thenailroomlytham.co.uk birminghampost.co.uk cylex-uk.co.uk publications.parliament.uk liverpoolecho.co.uk thestar.co.uk thetaxforum.co.uk Travel & Leisure bournemouthecho.co.uk darwinessay.co.uk raf.mod.uk londonfashionweek.co.uk thesun.co.uk thetunnel-art.co.uk airbnb.co.uk bristolpost.co.uk darwin-online.org.uk rbge.org.uk lrb.co.uk thesundaytimes.co.uk tomshardware.co.uk banksy.co.uk cambridge-news.co.uk directorphotography.co.uk rbkc.gov.uk lse.co.uk thetelegraphandargus.co.uk totalcoarseangler.co.uk barbican.org.uk campaignlive.co.uk dissertation-help-online.co.uk redcross.org.uk mailonsunday.co.uk thetimes.co.uk trainingzone.co.uk bbfc.co.uk carmagazine.co.uk dooyoo.co.uk rhs.org.uk manchestereveningnews.co.uk the-tls.co.uk typepad.co.uk cheapflights.co.uk catholicherald.co.uk eclipse.co.uk rmg.co.uk marketingmagazine.co.uk theweek.co.uk undiscoveredscotland.co.uk english-heritage.org.uk cnet.co.uk ehow.co.uk rnib.org.uk marketingweek.co.uk thewire.co.uk weatheronline.co.uk expedia.co.uk computing.co.uk essaycastle.co.uk roh.org.uk metro.co.uk thisislondon.co.uk websitehome.co.uk glastonburyfestivals.co.uk cosmopolitan.co.uk essayhero.co.uk royal.gov.uk mirror.co.uk thisismoney.co.uk globalnet.co.uk creativereview.co.uk essaywritingservicehelp.co.uk royalacademy.org.uk morningstar.co.uk timeshighereducation.co.uk gmstransport.co.uk culture24.org.uk eventbrite.co.uk royalcollection.org.uk morningstaronline.co.uk timesonline.co.uk holidaylettings.co.uk dailyecho.co.uk f1fanatic.co.uk Retail royalnavy.mod.uk mtv.co.uk uktv.co.uk manchesterairport.co.uk dailymail.co.uk fantasticfiction.co.uk adidas.co.uk royalparks.org.uk newsnow.co.uk unilad.co.uk marriott.co.uk dailypost.co.uk fastessaysonline.co.uk amazon.co.uk rspb.org.uk newsoftheworld.co.uk v3.co.uk mcfc.co.uk dailyrecord.co.uk friendlyfire.org.uk argos.co.uk rspca.org.uk observer.co.uk vogue.co.uk momondo.co.uk demos.co.uk gamezombie.co.uk canon.co.uk savethechildren.org.uk omgubuntu.co.uk walesonline.co.uk monarch.co.uk derbytelegraph.co.uk gddirectltd.co.uk currys.co.uk sciencemuseum.org.uk oxfordmail.co.uk warnerbros.co.uk mrmoseley.co.uk designweek.co.uk geograph.org.uk ebay.co.uk scotland.gov.uk pcadvisor.co.uk wbstudiotour.co.uk nationalrail.co.uk Audited Sites digitalartsonline.co.uk gettyimages.co.uk game.co.uk Findings
16 Overview Across the data set, we manually classified each site into one of the following Across the whole data set 88% serve content optimised for mobile viewports, categories: meaning 12% of the top UK websites are still not responsive to mobile device users. 56% of sites served content via HTTPS protocol, and in terms of speed on • Academic 3G, just half managed to get some interactivity in less than 10 seconds. The sites • Automotive analysed performed very poorly on the newer truly progressive features; only 1% • Banking & Financial Services installed a service worker and only 2 websites (0.27%) in the whole data set made • General Services use of an Add to Home Screen feature. • Government & Non-Profit • New & Media • Retail Overall Results by Audit Criteria • Travel & Leisure • Other 100%
The ‘Other’ category is a group of 95 sites that did not fit neatly into any of 90% the above categories, and had not enough peers with which to make a robust 80% additional category. The distribution of sites across the categories is as follows: 70% 60%
Distribution of Sites by Category 50%
40% 4% 6% Academic 30% 21% Automotive 20% 13% Banking & Financial Services 10% 1% General Services 3% 0 Government & Non-Profit Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to 8% News & Media for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport 20% Other
Retail
24% Travel & Leisure
17 HTTPS
Retail 79%
Government & Non-Profit 78%
General Services 65%
Travel & Leisure 61%
Academic 51%
Automotive 44%
News & Media 41%
Banking & Financial Services 39%
Other 38%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Retail, Government and Non-Profit sites lead the way in adoption of HTTPS, followed by the General Services category, which includes a lot of ISP and telecoms providers. Finally, whilst the Banking & Financial Services category performed comparatively poorly here it must be said that almost all the high street banks in the data-set were using HTTP throughout. Of the sites that are not, notable exceptions include Bank of England* and RBS.
18 *Between the time of the audit and final review of this data, the Bank of England has implemented a 301 redirection from HTTP to HTTPS Provides Content Sized for Mobile Viewport
News & Media 96%
Academic 94%
Travel & Leisure 94%
Automotive 89%
Banking & Financial Services 87%
Government & Non-Profit 87%
Retail 84%
General Services 80%
Other 75%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
The News & Media category often leads in terms of feature adoption in this study; and again scores highly in terms of content sizing. Interestingly the Academic and Travel & Leisure categories are joint second at 94% optimised for mobile.
Over 16% of the retail category sites failed to provide content optimised for mobile users - a tangible percentage given the commercial nature of these sites.
19 Speed – Interactive in Less than 10 Seconds
Academic 64%
Government & Non-Profit 63%
Other 59%
Banking & Financial Services 52%
General Services 50%
Travel & Leisure 48%
Retail 33%
Automotive 22%
News & Media 20%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Over 16% of the retail category sites failed to provide content optimised for mobile users - a high percentage given the commercial nature of these sites.
In addition the highly commercial Travel & Leisure and Retail channels performed poorly here, meaning potential loss of commercial opportunity.
20 Service Worker & Add to Home Screen
As Progressive Web App features are fairly new, we were not expecting to find adoption in this first year of the study, therefore it was interesting to see a handful of sites start to adopt these features. We have grouped these two criteria together as there is not much to remark in comparing by category. Please note: as the results are so small in each criterion we have presented the data in numbers as opposed to percentages.
Number of Sites in Each Category With a Service Worker Number of Sites in Each Category With Add to Home Screen Feature
News & Media News & Media
Other Government & Non-Profit
Travel & Leisure Other
Academic Travel & Leisure
Government & Non-Profit Academic
Other Other
Banking & Financial Services Banking & Financial Services
General Services General Services
Retail Retail
Automotive Automotive
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2
21 Academic
22 Academic The Academic category is one of the largest and by itself represents 20% from the total audited sites. Only half of these sites are serving content through HTTPS protocol, however nearly all (95%) of the domains sized content for mobile devices. These predominately University sites are amongst the fastest in the data-set, with almost two thirds (64%) having a sub 10 second time to first interactivity (TTFI) including The Open University and The British Museum.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 95% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 64% 30% HTTPS 51% 20% Service Worker 0 10% Add to Home Screen 0 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
None of the sites in this category has any Progressive Web App-specific features, namely Add to Home Screen or Service Worker installation.
23 Automotive
24 Automotive Though one of the smallest categories in the data-set the Automotive category sites were largely (89%) optimised to serve content on mobile viewports. Less than half of this category are using the HTTPS protocol and also performed extremely poorly in terms of site speed. Only 22% of this category managed a sub 10 seconds TTFI, or put the other way, 78% of the UKs top Automotive websites take longer than 10 seconds to get to any interactivity on a mobile 3G experience. The sites that passed the speed audit are Auto Trader and Toyota.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 89% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 22% 30% HTTPS 44% 20% Service Worker 0 10% Add to Home Screen 0 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
None of the sites in this category has any Progressive Web App-specific features, namely Add to Home Screen or Service Worker installation.
25 Banking & Financial Services
26 Banking & Financial Services Another fairly small category this data-set includes significant high street banks and financial services such as RBS and Experian. It was unexpected to find that this sector performed in the lower half of the categories in terms of HTTPS use, with only 39% using this protocol, or resolving correctly via redirection chains. Examples include the aforementioned RBS and Experian.
Speed is another poor performance area for this sector with just over half (52%) - including HSBC and Bupa - managing to get some interactivity in less than 10 seconds. Most (87%) are serving content sized appropriately for mobile devices.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 87% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 52% 30% HTTPS 39% 20% Service Worker 0 10% Add to Home Screen 0 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
None of the sites in this category has any Progressive Web App-specific features, namely the Add to Home Screen or Service Worker. We can see significant applications for push notifications, such as statements, application approvals, finance offers and such; and of course most consumers would add their banking website to their home screen. Perhaps it’s time to consolidate the app/web ecosystem for these banks with a move to Progressive Web App features.
27 “Digital experience is at the heart of Vodafone’s strategy, especially across mobile where usage increases dramatically each year. We can see that PWAs are the future and have been following their progress, in feature development and cross-platform compatibility. The successful deployment of AMP will support the case for a PWA-AMP development path in our 2018 roadmap.”
Nick Wilsdon, Lead SEO - Group Optimisation Team - Vodafone Group
28 General Services
29 General Services The General Services category accounts for 7% of the dataset and whilst a somewhat arbitrary grouping this category contains services such as property, internet and mobile phone services. Only 50% of the category passed the speed audit criteria with a sub 10 second TTFI though HTTPS adoption rate was more encouraging with 65% preferring the secure protocol. Notable exceptions here are EE, 3 and Vodafone. Whilst some of these sites e.g. Vodafone, do have a secure URL which is the preferred by use of a rel=canonical link element, we have focused the audit around mobile user experience and therefore used the URL specified in the Majestic Million unless it redirects to an HTTPS version. This also reflects the customer experience if typing in the domain without prefix intro a browser address bar.
We recommend wholesale redirection to HTTPS protocol to ensure all users experience this, rather than rely on a canonical link reference which is search engine specific; particularly in light of the Google Mobile First Index1 expected in 2018.
80% of this category can deliver their content optimised to a mobile viewport.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 80% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 50% 30% HTTPS 65% 20% Service Worker 0 10% Add to Home Screen 0 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
None of the sites in this category has any Progressive Web App-specific features, namely the Add to Home Screen or Service Worker, this included O2, Yahoo! and EE. Again there is significant application for sites in this category to serve push notifications. For property services this could notify site members could be notified when new property matching saved criteria, is available on the site. Push notifications could be really useful for mobile phone services to notify customers of a new bill or special offer.
Source: 1Mobile First Indexing Announcement 30 Government & Non–Profit
31 Government & Non-Profit The Government & Non-Profit category is the largest in the data-set, accounting for just under a quarter of the data. Across this category 87% are serving content optimised for mobile viewports, and more than half (63%) managed to get some interactivity in less than 10 seconds. Additionally this category came second in term of HTTPS use by default, with 78% of sites using the secure protocol.
In terms of the truly progressive features audited, specifically Add to Home Screen, only 1 site in this category was already using this feature; namely the Office of National Statistics at https://www.ons.gov.uk.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 87% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 63% 30% HTTPS 78% 20% Service Worker 0 10% Add to Home Screen 1% 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
None of the sites installed a Service Worker to enable the advantages of push notifications and other progressive features. This included GOV.UK, The NHS and The National Trust.
32 News & Media
33 News & Media The second largest category, News & Media represents 20% of the dataset. This category was definitely the most advanced in terms of adoption of best practise for mobile, particularly the national and global media organisations (as opposed to trade and regional media which constitute the bulk of the category) and is the only category that contains sites that can be described as Progressive Web Apps.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 96% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 20% 30% HTTPS 41% 20% Service Worker 4% 10% Add to Home Screen 1% 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
7 of the sites in this group (5%) installed a Service Worker, which are CNet, The Guardian, The Observer The Evening Standard and TES. Just under 1% (1 site) had an Add to Home Screen prompt and is the best example of a Progressive Web App in the UK that we have seen to date and is The Evening Standard.
This category was also the highest scoring when it came to being optimised for mobile viewports, with (96%) serving content for mobile devices.
Only 41% of this category uses HTTPS and only 20% managed a sub 10 second TTFI, so despite performing well in some areas of the audit there’s still significant room to improve the mobile user experience in the News & Media web category.
34 Retail
35 Retail Here, we find web giants, large high street stores and global brands such as Amazon, Sainsbury and Nike. Despite being a largely ecommerce driven sector we note that this category performed comparatively poorly in terms of UX on mobile devices. Whilst 84% may sound like a high number, this category came third from bottom in terms of mobile content optimisation. 16% including, Adidas, Next and Ticketmaster, are therefore missing significant commercial opportunity.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 84% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 33% 30% HTTPS 79% 20% Service Worker 0 10% Add to Home Screen 0 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
In addition these sites performed poorly in terms of speed to interactivity, which is critical for a purchase. Only 33% managed to get any interactivity in less than 10 seconds on a 3G connection. This means missed opportunity.
36 Travel & Leisure
37 Travel & Leisure Whilst the Travel & Leisure category is one of the smaller categories in the data-set at 3% of the data; here we find some of the largest most familiar consumer travel brands; including Airbnb, Expedia and Cheapflights. Long since established and transacting online this category performed well in terms of content-to-screen suitability with 94% being optimised for mobile viewports; though a disappointing result in terms of speed for companies like Marriott and Network Rail as less than half (48%) managed a sub 10 second TTFI.
At time of writing this category does contain a site that installs a service worker, namely Airbnb.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Content Sized for Mobile Viewport 94% 40% <10 Seconds TTFI 48% 30% HTTPS 61% 20% Service Worker 3% 10% Add to Home Screen 0 0
Content Sized <10 Seconds HTTPS Service Add to for Mobile TTFI Worker Home Screen Viewport
38 Summary
39 Summary - Are Digital Leaders Adapting to Mobile Audiences?
Whilst some of the UKs leading sites are starting to take note of Progressive Web App features, at the other end of the scale many leading sites even in commercial sectors are still not serving content optimised for mobile visitors. Get in touch with Erudite if you want to know
The disparity of experience offered to mobile web users by these leading websites more: illustrates the scale of the improvements required in order for these organisations to successfully meet the needs in the coming age of the ‘Mobile First Index’.1 Contact: Nichola Stott Call: 01256 384 890 Our recommendations for success in search and user Email: [email protected] experience are as follows:
• Be fast, interactive and responsive
• Use HTTPS and redirect from HTTP. Don’t rely on canonical references at the expense of mobile users
• Embrace Progressive Web App features
Reference: 1Mobile First Indexing Announcement 40 What’s Next? We intend to repeat this study in 2018, to see if there has been an improvement in pass rate across the 5 criteria. As attention becomes more and more important we hope to see broader adoption of Progressive Web App features for digital leaders in the UK. “One of the scarcest resources today is attention - especially in the mobile experience. All businesses need to be constantly optimising their mobile UX to capture and hold attention, and to remain competitive.”
Purna Virji, Senior Manager - Global Engagement - Microsoft
42 Appendix
Collated Source Material
• Consumer Barometer Study 2017 • Mobile First Indexing Announcement • Ericsson ConsumerLab. Neurons Inc. 2015 • Think with Google, Google • DoubleClick 2015 • Your First Progressive Web App, By Pete LePage – Google Developer Advocate • Progressive Web App Checklist • Lighthouse – Tools for Web Developers
Audited Sites from The Majestic Million
• Downloaded here
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