5 seconds can hurt your brand!

In a recent web use survey regarding shopping sites, Juniper Research found that 75% of 1,058 people said that they would abandon a website if it took more than 4 seconds to load. So I guess if you are an e-commerce site give some hard thought to that elaborate Flash opening. It may not be worth it.

What's more, if a site was over 4 seconds and the experience online was less than stellar, it reflected on the brand in the eyes of these people. They in turn spoke negatively about the site to family and friends. This survey is worth taking note of. I typically only recommend Flash for effect as a component of websites instead of the whole site or splash page. Lack of search capabilities is another reason to avoid becoming a Flash site.

The web relationship is one more huge opportunity for corporate brands to excell in their service to customers - but if this survey can be believed it can also be the fastest way to do damage to your brand as well. What ever the cold hard facts are, it is best to heed research of this type to assist us all in making our corporate and product brand experiences the finest they can be.

This story is taken from the BBC. Read more on it here.