Google Ads, Meta Ads, programmatic ads… There are many names for online advertising platforms where companies and agencies place their bets to attract audiences, generate clicks, and ideally convert them into sales or engagement. But what happens when the website is down or experiencing instability?
Boby Vendramin, Planner at KAKOI Comunicação, explains that a website is a living organism that needs to be nurtured and cared for so it doesn’t fail when it’s most needed:
“It’s important for companies to understand that the website needs to be fast, responsive, and fully updated, including plugins, and of course, secure.”
In the world of paid ads, the average cost per click (CPC) on Google Ads, for example, varies widely, but in Brazil, it ranges from R$ 1 to R$ 5 per click in competitive sectors like retail and technology. Every time a potential customer is impacted by the ad, clicks, and doesn’t get the right response—such as the site not loading or being slow—this leads to a loss beyond just the cost of the click:
“First, there’s the direct issue of lost sales. Imagine someone excited about a promotion ad, clicks the link, and… nothing. The site doesn’t load or takes so long that the person gives up. This lost customer may not return, especially if they find a competitor that delivers what they want quickly,” explains Vendramin.
According to market estimates, large online retailers can lose between 1% and 3% of their daily revenue when their sites go down. For example, in 2022, Americanas, a giant in Brazilian e-commerce, suffered an estimated loss of R$ 250 million over four days.
User experience studies show that 53% of people abandon a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. A Google study found that the probability of bounce (when the user leaves quickly) increases by 32% if loading time goes from 1 to 3 seconds. If the site is down, that number goes to 100% of lost ad clicks.
