Traffic Spikes Pose Challenges For Small Businesses’ Sites

The classic TV show The Twilight Zone often dealt with people getting what they wanted, only to be unable to handle it.  [Spoiler ahead]  Recall the episode in which a disgraced jockey became a physical giant, then couldn’t accept a chance to race again, for example.  And similarly, it seems many small businesses’ sites couldn’t survive a traffic spike.

Neustar, in partnership with Decipher, conducted a survey of 300 IT workers at small businesses before reaching this conclusion.  The stats were pretty definitive, too.

Neustar said in an official blog post, "In fact, we found that 73% of SMBs nationwide are unable to handle a 200% spike in online traffic without changes to their website.  The number jumps to 93% in the case of a 300% increase in traffic."

Then, if you’re wondering how that’s possible, the post continued, "30% of the IT professionals surveyed go for savings through ‘every free or low-cost service’ available, while only 12% say they’re willing to fight for an ‘optimal’ solution regardless of cost. . . .  Nearly half the respondents admit they recommend a ‘best option’ to management but then settle for a compromise."

So small business owners who think they might see an uptick in traffic should check that their sites can actually handle it.  And if not, they should realize spending more money may be a necessary response.

Of course, traffic spikes don’t occur on a daily basis (or else they wouldn’t be spikes), so we’ll point out that it could be possible to take advantage of free trials around Christmas and other important occasions, thereby increasing a site’s reliability and saving money at the same time.