Some real world browser stats

Having pestered someone working on a large healthcare web site in the UK to release some of their browser statistics I got a tweet today that they released an infographic (available here as a PDF). The site has had over 2 million visitors in 2011 and here is what they looked for:

Most went to the homepage and then to services. A big part was search and services offered.

In terms of devices used to read the site the web is not really as mobile as we make it out to be:

Windows rules supreme, followed by Mac, iOS, Android and Blackberry. I was surprised at the low number of Blackberry actually. It would also be interesting to see just how many services like meeting times are done via text message.

The browser share was the real blow here:

Internet Explorer accounts for 55% of the numbers, with Safari at 16% and Firefox at 14% following after quite a gap. Chrome clocks in at 11% and others with 4%.

When it comes to the version the IEs used, the numbers are interesting:

With 47% IE8 is the most used browser, followed by IE7 with 24% and IE6 with 19%. IE9 only accounts for 10%.

Of course these are not stats of a common web site, but it shows a few things to me:

• Web sites that people really need to go to would be wise not to block out older browsers
• The large numbers of IE8 and Safari shows us that browsers that come with the OS are the weapon of choice
• IE8 will be a problem to face for a few years to come

I love that the St. George’s trust made these insights available, and I’d love to see much more of these being released. Browser data from counter companies is to me just a very small percentage of the market of sites that provide services to people out there.