• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, October 21, 2015

How long a user will wait for a Web site to load has a measurable impact on an organization's brand, according to Limelight Network's second annual The State of the User Experience survey.  In 2014, 37% of respondents said they would leave a Web site to buy a product from a competitor if that Web site failed to load quickly. In 2015, that number fell to 34%.

Still, if a Web site loaded too slowly, 18.77% said they're not sure they would give it another try in the future, whereas 9.09% said no.

On mobile that changes. Nearly 35% say they would wait longer on a mobile device in 2015, compared with 44% in 2014. About 26% say they would wait longer on a laptop or desktop computer in 2015, compared with 15% in 2014. Nearly 40% say they expect a site to load equally fast on a mobile, laptop or desktop in 2015.

Still, consumers seem to have developed more patience for slow Web sites. For instance, in 2014, 41% of users reported they would wait longer than five seconds for a Web site to load. In 2015, that percentage rose to 52%.

Some 45% of respondents  admit spending more than 15 hours per week online outside of work, up from 23% in 2014. The increase in time makes site performance critical.

In 2014, 52% of survey respondents said a high-performing Web site was the most important expectation for a great digital experience. The results of our 2015 survey reinforce those findings. "Fresh and updated content" became the No. 1 requirement for Web sites.

The report is based on responses Limelight received in July 2015 from 1,302 consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore, with a range of demographics, gender, and education.