It’s old news that a slow loading or buggy sites will drive users away, but users are apparently intolerant of sites being down for maintenance as well. That’s the finding of a recent survey conducted by 1&1 Internet , an UK analyst firm. According to a report by PCWorld,  1&1 Internet surveyed 1,500 web users and found that, overall, “consumers expect sites to be available 24/7.” And people are just getting more demanding – 44% of survey participants are more intolerant of web errors today compared to five years ago, and 40% said they wouldn’t return to a company because of a faulty website.

So what are the top five biggest complaints about websites?

1. Slow running websites – 71%
2. Sites down for maintenance  - 49%
3. Broken links – 44%
4. Online orders that freeze - 44%
5. Broken website pages - 42%

And if consumers can’t use your site, they WILL use a competitors.

Frustrations with a business website meant over two-thirds of those surveyed had left the site and gone to a competitor’s. …

Oliver Mauss from 1&1 says, “Unreliable websites continue to reflect badly upon businesses of all types and sizes. It is clear that when faced with a faulty or off-line website, consumers will turn elsewhere.”

“Perhaps more surprising is the proportion that will be unwilling to return,” he adds. “With this in mind, businesses must ensure their websites are well designed, have robust functionality, and benefit from the most reliable and high-speed web hosting infrastructure available to them.”

Read the full PCWorld article >>>

So be sure to run routine functional testing, usability testing, security testing and especially load testing on your sites to make sure no unexpected issues pop up and cause a tidal wave of trouble. And remember, just doing one type of testing isn’t enough.