Get more users
As mobile users continue to make up a larger portion of internet users worldwide, it's important to bear in mind that many of these users access the web through mobile LTE,4G,3G and even 2G networks. As Ben Schwarz of Calibre points out in this study of real world performance, the cost of prepaid data plans is decreasing, which in turn is making access to the internet more affordable in places where it once wasn't. Mobile devices and internet access are no longer luxuries. They are common tools necessary to navigate the function in an increasingly interconnected world.
Improve user experience
Performance is a foundational aspect of good user experiences. When sites ship a lot of code, browsers must use megabytes of the user's data plan in order to download the code.Mobile devices have limited CPU power and memory. They often get overwhelmed with what we might consider a small amount of unoptimized code. This creates poor performance which leads to unreasponsivness. Knowing what we know about human behavior, users will only tolerate low performing applications for so long before abandoning them.
Retain users
Performance plays a major role in the success of any online venture. In DoubleClick by Google study, it was found that sites loading within 5 seconds had 70% longer sessions, 35% lower bounce rates, and 25% higher ad viewability than sites taking nearly four times longer at 19 seconds. Retaining users is crucial to improving conversions. Slow sites have a nehative impact on revenue, and the opposite is also true.
