Website Insurance

The study found that 33% of mid-sized businesses do not have a contingency plan in place if anything were to go wrong with their website.

Of the 67% of businesses that do have plans in place, only 38% of them test them more than once a year. As nearly three quarters of mid-sized UK companies conduct at least some business through their website, any disruption would have a major impact to their online business continuity.

Any downtime, such as viruses, denial of service, attacks or unpredicted spikes in traffic to a company's website, risks online revenue streams as well as brand reputation. The research shows many companies are underestimating the damage any downtime would cause, with 64% of respondents anticipating no damage to their business.

Jonathan Robinson, chief operating officer of NetBenefit, said:,

"Research shows that more than one in four customers are likely to move to a competitor if a website is down for any reason. For many mid-sized companies, this would not only damage customer loyalty but also mean significant lost revenue."

If you are thinking of using e-commerce for your business why not read Business Link's guide to building a website...

Guidance on Building a Website (PDF 38KB)