- Craigslist is the fastest-loading website in 2023, based on loading times on mobile and desktop
- Wikipedia and Zillow take second and third, respectively
- X.com falls just short of the top ten
New research has revealed the fastest-loading websites in 2023, with Craigslist coming out on top.
The study by web design company DigitalSilk.com analyzed the loading times of the most popular websites in the US based on web traffic to see which sites loaded the fastest on mobile and desktop, respectively.
Craigslist
It found that Craigslist is the fastest-loading website in the US. The online advertisement site takes an average of 1.35 seconds to load, with 2 seconds on mobile and just 0.7 seconds on desktop. Since its founding in 1995, the site has maintained its simple text-based layout, and much of the site still looks the same after more than 25 years.
Wikipedia
Coming in second place is Wikipedia, which comes in with an average of 1.4 seconds. It takes 1.6 seconds on average to load on mobile and 1.2 seconds on desktop. Another primarily text-based website, it’s another entry where the layout has remained mostly the same to keep the simplicity of the website.
Zillow
Third place goes to real-estate marketplace Zillow, with the site coming at a load time of 1.6 seconds on mobile and 1.4 seconds on desktop, an average of 1.5 seconds. It’s one of two real-estate sites in the top ten, with Realtor.com also in sixth place.
Amazon and The New York Times
Tied for fourth place is Amazon and the New York Times website, with an average of 1.55 seconds for both. Amazon sees load times of 1.5 seconds on mobile and 1.6 seconds on desktop, whereas the New York Times site loads in 1.3 seconds on mobile and 1.8 seconds on desktop.
USPS
Rounding out the top five is the USPS website, with an average of 1.6 seconds. It loads in 1.8 seconds on mobile and 1.4 seconds on desktop.
Surprisingly, the study’s slowest loading website to feature is Instagram, where findings showed an average of 5.45 seconds for loading. The site on mobile takes a whopping 6.7 seconds to load and 4.2 seconds on desktop.
The most visited website, Google, does not feature in the top ten. With loading times of just 1.1 seconds on mobile, it falls down the rankings with a loading time of 4.6 seconds on desktop, averaging out at 2.85 seconds.
Facebook, the most visited social media website, was found to have loading times of 3.8 seconds on mobile and 3.9 seconds on desktop, an average of 3.85 seconds.
X.com, formerly known as Twitter, falls short of the top ten, with an average loading time of 2.0 seconds. However, it remains the fastest loading social media site.
|
# |
Site |
Loading time to full load on mobile (seconds) |
Loading time to full load on desktop (seconds) |
Average loading time (seconds) |
|
1 |
Craigslist.org |
2.0 |
0.7 |
1.35 |
|
2 |
Wikipedia.org |
1.6 |
1.2 |
1.40 |
|
3 |
Zillow.com |
1.6 |
1.4 |
1.50 |
|
4 |
Amazon.com |
1.5 |
1.6 |
1.55 |
|
— |
NYTimes.com |
1.3 |
1.8 |
1.55 |
|
5 |
USPS.com |
1.8 |
1.4 |
1.60 |
|
6 |
Realtor.com |
2.0 |
1.4 |
1.70 |
|
7 |
Ebay.com |
1.9 |
1.6 |
1.75 |
|
— |
Weather.com |
2.0 |
1.5 |
1.75 |
|
8 |
Worldstar.com |
1.9 |
1.7 |
1.80 |
|
9 |
DuckDuckGo.com |
2.1 |
1.6 |
1.85 |
|
10 |
Fandom.com |
2.1 |
1.7 |
1.90 |
Commenting on the findings, Gabriel Shaoolian, CEO & Founder of DigitalSilk.com, said: “It’s interesting to see how websites like Wikipedia and Craigslist, who have barely changed their design and have remained largely text-based, top this list, and the popularity of these sites shows that sometimes simplicity can work. However, with both being historically household names, going the extra mile with website design on a new brand can be crucial in 2023.
“All of these sites in the top ten load on average between one and two seconds on average, and that aligns with consumers’ expectations that their web browsing experience should be smooth and instantaneous. The lesson for business owners is clear, they need to make sure that their website loading times on both desktop and mobile are slick and responsive, to ensure that all potential customers get a high quality user experience.”
