Achieve Web Page Consistency For Higher Conversions (Jane Dawson)
May 11, 2009
As an online retailer, you want to be sure that anyone who pulls up your web page will see the same elegant design that you labored to create. However, it has become more difficult to ensure this experience for every viewer. Changes in market dominance of browsers plus changes in the options of basic operating systems have complicated the process a good deal.
In 1994, the browser Microsoft Internet Explorer held over 92% of the market share in the browser arena. Today, according to web analytics vendor Net Applications, Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox has gained dramatically, from 2.8% market share in October 2004 to 21.8% in February. And Apple Inc.'s Safari, Google Inc.'s Chrome and Opera are creeping up as well.
International standards organization the World Wide Web Consortium has issued best practice development standards for the makers of browsers but every browser in use by consumers doesn't reflect every standard.
Plus, different operating systems can affect the way a Web page is displayed. For example, there may be variations in presentation originating in Windows, Linux and MacIntosh operating systems.
What can you do to minimize the problem?
1. Identify how your users are getting to your site. If they are predominantly using Firefox, then optimize your site for Firefox's specific requirements.
2. If you can' identify how people are getting to you, focus on being sure that your pages display well in Internet Explorer, still the top browser application worldwide, and Firefox, its major competitor.
(However, your web analytics software should be able to give you this information. If you do not have it today, the function may reside in a higher level offering; it's worth evaluating the cost/benefit of paying for this service on at least a time-limited basis.)
3. Use one of the many software services available that allow you to test out presentations across a variety of web browsers before publishing those pages to the Internet. Internet Explorer offers a tool kit, some of the web developer softwares such as Dreamweaver do as well.
Strive for a simpler presentation. E-retailers can minimize browser problems with a web development strategy that avoids pushing too far and too fast with new site elements and technologies. Simpler designs are more likely to work across any number of browser and operating system combinations.
This problem should lessen overtime as developers become more accustomed to working with a variety of platforms and as the guidance from the World Wide Web Consortium is assimilated.
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