WebProNews

Is your website annoying? If so, there's a good chance you're driving away a huge chunk of your customer base. And you may not even know why because only a quarter of the ones you've ticked off will tell you the reason.

The Center for Media Research reports that over 70% of consumers said they'd give a company the old heave-ho if they find a "pet peeve" on their website. But only 25% of them say they'd complain to the companies about what they found objectionable.

"The Internet has matured to the point where consumers demand an easy online experience. ... Consumers are warning companies, 'You're going to lose my business if your web site experience is annoying,'" says John Lee, vice president of Hostway Inc., the author of the survey.

The consumer's list of website pet peeves:

93% find pop-up ads to be annoying.
89% don't like installing extra software.
86% hate dead links.
84% are annoyed by confusing site navigation.
83% dislike registration log-on pages that block free content (some are even taking action-click here).
83% said slow-loading pages are an annoyance.
80% are annoyed by ineffective site-search tools.

The aesthetics of websites was slightly less important to them, but the numbers were high enough to merit concern. Just under 60% thought moving text was annoying, while 55% felt strongly that poor choices of colors, fonts and formats were annoying.

The reactions to these annoyances were quite strong, at least in words. Of those surveyed, 74% considered themselves likely to unsubscribe from company promotions or messages, 71% were likely to view the company negatively, and 55% were likely to complain to their friends and associates about the site.

If accurate, these numbers are a huge indicator that the look, feel, and overall experience of your website can make or break your online business.