The average website site visitor will wait eight seconds at most for a website to load.

And one-third will tolerate only a three- to six-second delay, according to a study from Forbes Advisor, conducted by OnePoll. 

This finding has import for publishers who are discovered via search.  

Of the consumers polled, 97% say an unresponsive website is frustrating, and 52% say it is very much so. 

Here’s what they will do when a website is slow:

- Visit the next website in the search results — 48%

- Try to find the same product or service on a competitor’s website — 43%

- Refresh the website — 33%

- Try to visit the website at another time — 31%

- Try the website on a different browser — 16%

- Try the website on a different device — 7%

- Never return to the website — 4%

The study contends that the biggest factor in a site’s speed is the quality of its web-hosting service. 

Meanwhile, 70% of consumers will refrain from using a website that is not secured with an HTTPS protocol.

Only 21% will not use an unattractive site. 

OnePoll surveyed 2,000 U.S. consumers.