Small companies with slow websites containing broken links will lose vital business to their competitors, according to new research into the UK‘s internet buying habits.

The poll found that nine out of 10 people would go directly to a company‘s rivals if their site failed to load with over half (52%) only prepared to wait a maximum of 30 seconds.

 

The survey of some 1,600 consumers revealed that nearly 80% of people found slow website loading a major irritation, 71% disliked websites that required specific software to run, 61% were annoyed when images failed to load and 24% were turned off by domain names which are difficult to remember.

Almost two-thirds of internet users (63%) would go to another firm‘s website if they came across a broken link, with just 4% prepared to tell that company about the problem.

 

“It is no surprise how strongly consumers feel about poorly performing websites when they suffer significant stress from using them,” said Andreas Gauger, chief executive at 1&1 Internet, which carried out the research. “As users become more dismissive of slower sites, small companies must ensure that their market has instant access to their products and services.”

The research also suggested that consumers are becoming more aware of the reasons behind poorly performing sites. Some 69 per cent of those surveyed blamed poor web hosting as the cause, rather than their own bandwidth, internet connection or computer.

Women are more likely to revisit a site later in the day, with 33% prepared to come back later compared to just 25% of men. But they are also more likely to complain about a site to their work colleagues or friends, the survey carried out by Tickbox.net added.

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