May 18, 2012 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Britons are reportedly wasting two days a year while waiting for websites to load according to research released by www.1and1.co.uk. This amounts to around nine minutes per day, and suggests that slow-loading websites are causing UK users consistent inconvenience.
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1&1 have stated in their “Need for Speed” survey (i), that around 71% of customers are affected regularly by the trudging pace of websites, with Northern Ireland being cited as the most affected area.
Also investigating emotions caused by the slow speed of the net, the Slough-based company found that unreliable and sluggish websites have caused around 78% of users “negative emotions” with women being more affected by related “stress or anger”.
Following their survey in 2007, 1&1 have discovered minute improvement in waiting time, with the 2007 figures showing that 10 minutes per day were wasted waiting for websites to load.
Oliver Mauss, CEO 1&1 Internet commented on his company’s research, in which he links the speed of the internet to the hosts. “There is no doubt that slow loading and unreliable websites remain an inconvenience to many.
“Whilst consumers can ensure their own super-fast connection, if website owners do not host their sites effectively, the web experience will suffer. Consumers appreciate the benefits felt from industry-leading connectivity and geo-redundancy offered by large web hosts.”
On average, 31% of Britons have admitted that “stress or anger” has increased over the last five years, with half of consumers believing that websites’ speeds have slowed over the duration of time.
While women, according to the research, have shown more emotional stress from the internet speed with 34% admitting to negative emotions, men have opted to stop using the affected websites more often, with 42% deciding never to use a company with a slow website again.
The survey has shown that only 1 in 4 web users deem that internet sites are increasing in speed each year, with most citing “complex features” of websites and “attractive designs” as the reasons behind the loading time.
In comparison to other European countries, Britain appears more affected. In Spain, 60% complained of slow-running websites and only 44% of Germany having problems with slow websites.
“Consumers have never been so aware and unforgiving of slow running websites. If a website does not meet their expectations, users will switch to an alternative,” said Mauss.
“Firms must be aware that their choice of hosting provider has never been so important. Those that fail to leverage the fastest possible bandwidth and most reliable hosting platforms risk losing revenue and reputation”.
(i) 1558 UK adults surveyed by OpinionMatters via electronic feedback form
About 1&1 Internet Ltd
1&1 Internet Ltd based in Slough, west of London, is Europe's No.1 web hosting and domain name registration company. 1&1 Internet Ltd is the UK arm of 1&1 Internet AG based in Germany (a subsidiary of United Internet Group, a public company with a market cap of more than 2 Billion GBP). 1&1 was established in 1988 and holds more than 10.5 million British, German, French, Spanish, Austrian and US customer contracts and serves some 11 million domain names at its 70,000 server strong Data Centres. 1&1 prides itself on being the one-stop-shop for web solutions.
1&1 Internet Ltd entered the UK domain registration and web hosting market in June 2000. As a well funded profitable company, it is in a strong position to deliver a high quality service at low cost. 1&1 is an accredited Registrar with ICANN (.com), Nominet (.co.uk), Afilias (.info), NeuLevel (.biz) and PIR (.org).
