◦ Proactive monitoring
◦ 24/7/365 support
Many SMBs outgrow their hosting long before they notice. Our survey of 225 leaders reveals when teams re-evaluate infrastructure, how prepared they feel for traffic surges, and the true costs when sites cannot keep up.
This study revealed that hosting issues are often reactive rather than proactive. Most small businesses only upgrade when performance problems arise, often at a high cost in downtime, lost revenue, and customer trust. Teams that act before problems arise, however, see outsized gains.
Executive summary
- Only 39% of businesses reassess hosting annually
- Proactive upgrades deliver 11% traffic gains, reactive upgrades deliver none
- 52% of businesses see performance degrade at or below 1,000 visitors
- Load failures cost an average $15,383 and 611 conversions per event
“Teams that upgrade before problems see results, teams that upgrade after do not,” says, Ryan MacDonald, Chief Technology Officer at Liquid Web, “and half of SMBs hit performance limits at everyday traffic levels.”
Key findings
- Only 39% of small business leaders have re-evaluated hosting in the last 12 months, meaning most teams run on assumptions, not data.
- 42% of small business leaders report their company has upgraded its hosting in the past. Top triggers for the most recent upgrade include: site slowdowns under high traffic (41%), organic traffic growth (33%), and developer/IT team recommendation (33%).
- Upgraded companies report monthly visitors rising from 53.4K to 101.9K, a 91% increase in year over year traffic.
- Small business leaders were just as likely to have upgraded their hosting proactively (50%) vs. reactively (50%). Those who proactively upgraded their hosting saw a 111% increase in monthly visitors, while those who reactively upgraded saw no increase.
- 35% of small business leaders have experienced a website crash or slowdown due to high traffic. When sites falter under load, 32% report average losses of $15,383 as a result. Plus an average of 611 missed conversations.
Readiness is key to saving thousands, get a hosting performance evaluation today.
Many small businesses are flying blind with hosting performance
- Only 16% of small business leaders precisely know their current hosting plan’s traffic threshold; 60% have a rough idea.
- 1 in 5 small business leaders are not confident or are unsure that their current hosting setup could handle a sudden 2x spike in traffic.
- 29% of small business leaders stress test their websites monthly or more often, but 52% do so yearly, less than once a year, or never.
- SaaS/tech small business leaders are the most proactive with stress testing, with 39% doing so monthly or more.
- 47% of small business leaders monitor both website speed and uptime; 29% don’t monitor either.
- Google Analytics or similar software is the most used monitoring tool (66%).
- 36% of small business leaders rely on their developer or IT lead to identify and respond to performance issues; 26% believe the business owner is responsible.
- 58% of small business leaders have a quick resolve, with performance issues fixed within a few hours or immediately after.
- Only 39% of small business leaders have re-evaluated their hosting plan or provider in the last year.
- SaaS/tech small business leaders (52%) and ecommerce small business leaders (50%) are the most likely to have done so.
“The clearest insight is the proactive gap. When SMBs modernize before pain, they grow traffic by more than 100 percent, when they wait for issues, the lift disappears.”
– Philip Palmer, Sales Director at Liquid Web
Hosting upgrades double traffic, but only for proactive teams
- 42% of small business leaders report their company has upgraded its hosting in the past. The top triggers for the most recent hosting upgrade include:
- Site slowdowns under high traffic (41%)
- Organic growth in traffic (33%)
- Developer/IT team recommendation (33%)
- Site crash or downtime (31%)
- Security concerns (29%)
- Companies that have upgraded hosting report having doubled their monthly website visitors from last year (53.4K) to this year (101.9K).
- SaaS/tech companies saw a 51% increase in monthly website visitors (99.1K to 149.9K).
- Ecommerce companies saw a 49% increase in monthly website visitors (86.1K to 128K).
- Small business leaders were just as likely to have upgraded their hosting proactively (50%) vs. reactively (50%).
- Those who proactively upgraded their hosting saw a 111% increase in monthly visitors, while those who reactively upgraded saw no increase.
“Set a recurring hosting check-in, fund a pre-peak load test, and right-size to VPS or bare metal as usage grows. Treat hosting like a growth lever, not a sunk cost.”
– Chris LaNasa, Sr. Director of Product Marketing at Liquid Web
High-traffic failures come with a high price tag
- For 52% of small business leaders, report performance degrades at 1,000 visitors or fewer, a threshold within reach of many campaigns.
- 35% of small business leaders have experienced a website crash or slowdown due to high traffic.
- 34% of these small business leaders reported losing an average of 611 customers, leads, or sales as a result.
- 32% lost an average of $15,383 in revenue.
Leadership takeaways
- Make hosting reviews a quarterly KPI.
- Fund a pre-peak load test and synthetic monitoring.
- Move traffic-sensitive apps to dedicated or bare metal servers for stability.
- Align marketing calendars with capacity plans two months ahead.
Don’t wait for a breakdown
Small businesses can’t afford to be reactive when it comes to hosting performance. The data shows that teams who proactively stress test, monitor performance, and upgrade their hosting environments see significant gains in traffic, while those who delay often face preventable slowdowns, crashes, and revenue loss.
Understanding your infrastructure limits and planning for growth is business-critical. If your current hosting can’t keep up, it’s time to make a change before performance problems do the deciding for you.
Readiness is key to saving thousands, get a hosting performance evaluation today.
Learn more about this study
Fair use statement
This content is based on proprietary research conducted by Liquid Web and is shared here under fair use for educational and informational purposes. If you reference any part of this article, please provide proper attribution with a link back to the study so your readers can see the findings in their entirety.
Copy and paste source
<a href="https://www.liquidweb.com/white-papers/proactive-smb-hosting-study-equals-more-traffic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Liquid Web study on the hidden costs of outdated hosting for small businesses.</a>
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