December 1, 2006 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – UK-based web hosting provider Fasthosts (http://www.fasthosts.co.uk) has issued a warning over possible problems related to increased traffic over the holiday period. The company suggests that traffic increases of around 200% may place strain on systems leading them to function slowly. The result, according to the company, could be a loss to small- and medium-sized enterprises of £5 billion ($9.8 billion).
According to Fasthosts, some websites of smaller organizations are “set to collapse” as a result of seasonal traffic. At the very least, they say, websites of company’s running on “in-house, single server solutions” are likely to be slow and unresponsive, driving visitors to competitor sites, particularly those of large organizations able to deal with the traffic increases. The company cited IMRG, an industry body for global e-Retailing, who showed how important the issue really is - half the UK’s adult population shopped online for Christmas 2005 spending an average of £208 each during the 10-week run-up to Christmas.
“As online competition increases, it amazes me that so many SMEs are willing to chance their Christmas sales. Ensuring that your website is supported by the correct infrastructure is vital to provide a quality buying experience,” explained Director of Product Marketing at Fasthosts, Mr. Stephen Holford. “Having the right sort of hosting package is key if businesses are going to reap the benefits of the Christmas revenue window. To make this Christmas a success for SMEs, the right hosting is as important as turkey and mince pies.”
