After recent releases of Google’s website performance tool, Google are at it again. Google has launched a new experimental tool called “Browser Size”. Using an overlay guide, the tool shows how much of a website would display in particular browser resolutions and where improvements can be made to increase conversions or make important information readily available.
How does Google “Browser Size” work?
To find Google “Browser Size”, go to Google Labs homepage and click on the “Browser Size” experiment. The “Browser Size” tool is presented with a browser guide to show what users are likely to see on their browser screen. To use the browser size tool, simply enter your website address and your website will be shown underneath the browser guide to give you an idea of what certain users will see.
Thoughts on Google “Browser Size”
The Google “Browser Size” tool is a great idea that, moving forwards, I believe can only improve. A great feature is the way you can change the opacity settings of the graph, with ranges from 0% to 100%, which will let you easily compare the graph with your own website.
The horizontal axis should be used with a pinch of salt, as the tool doesn’t take into account websites that automatically appear in the centre of a browser. One way of truly utilising the tool is to click the restore button in the top right of your browser and re-size the browser to the width of your website. The guide will then fit to your website and give you a better idea of how various users will see your website.
Will Google “Browser Size” succeed?
The tool is very useful but could be improved. In particular, I would like to see the option of accommodating websites that align left or centrally. This is a welcome addition to Google’s experiments and we’ll be sure to test this within Epiphany’s Web Convertor projects.
Give the “Browser Size” experiment a try and let us know what you think of the new Google tool.