The speed of a mobile site’s load time is the most important factor for consumers, Jeremy Anderson, head of financial services at Google, told attendees last week at LendIt 2016.
“The No. 1 thing that people get frustrated with is speed. Speed is money,” Anderson said. “40% of people will abandon a site if it takes more than three seconds to load, 47% expect the page to load in two seconds, and — this is killer right here — 52% said fast load speed is important to brand loyalty. So you’re affecting your brand if you have a slow load speed.”
On average, people use their phones 150 times a day, for a little over a minute each time. “One of the challenges that is facing financial services today is how do you actually address these users because [user experience] is very fragmented,” Anderson said. Still, there are plenty of moments during this time where a brand can come in and deliver the right message, he said.
Google conducted a survey on small business loans, to to find out how mobile devices are being used in a consumer’s decision journey. The company found that 76% used mobile device to research, 65% then used mobile to visit a brand website, and 31% of those surveyed signed up for personal loan on mobile device.
There has been a “fundamental shift” in consumer behavior that’s obviously from the smartphone, Anderson said, in fact, 50% of Google’s search traffic comes through mobile devices, and certain companies outside of financial services, have set the bar for customers. “You’re competing with Uber, and you’re competing with Google — we have set the expectation with all of these wonderful mobile-first companies,” he said.
Another important core principle is the content itself, Anderson said, making sure that the content a company provides is actually useful. “Is it something that they’re asking for, are you solving a problem?” he asked attendees. “If you’re not, it could be the most beautiful website in the world, but they’re not going to stay on your site, and they’re not going to come back.”