There’s a joke Will Ferrell makes: “Before you marry a person you should first make them use a computer with slow internet to see who they really are.” It’s funny because it’s true. Ever think back to life just 15 years ago and think, “How did I ever deal with dialup internet?” The world has changed so much, so fast. We as a society have become used to having information available at the snap (or swipe!) of our fingers. We expect entertainment to be instantly available on demand. Surveys by Akamai and Gomez.com found that 47 percent of users expect a page to load in two seconds or less, and 40 percent will abandon a site that takes more than three. Additionally, KISSmetrics reports that 79 percent of online shoppers won’t return to a site with which they had trouble, and 44 percent will tell friends about a negative experience. Time is most definitely money: a one second delay could cost your business 7 percent of its conversions. Clearly, loading speed matters. That’s why net neutrality matters.


What is net neutrality, you ask? Simply, net neutrality is a policy literally as old as the internet that internet service providers (ISPs) such as your cable or satellite company are not allowed to favor one site over another. That is to say, net neutrality dictates that end users ought to have access to any site they want with the same speed and efficiency of other sites. In other words, net neutrality dictates that ISPs cannot charge sites for faster access to consumers. There is no pay -to-play on the internet…or at least, there wasn’t until recently, when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. struck down the FCC rules requiring net neutrality. This January 2014 ruling opened the door for ISPs to begin charging some sites for faster access, and companies like Verizon and Comcast have already burst through into the scene, already reaching agreements with companies like Netflix to charge for faster access.

How does this matter to your business? After all, you may not have a large company. You may think your business is unlikely to be targeted. Here’s the good news: It isn’t…at least directly. That’s the bad news: This still affects you. Why? Simple. Chances are you pay for website hosting. Chances are that company is big. Therefore, chances are your website hosting company is likely to be targeted. If they don’t pony up the dough, your website, along with all the others they host, are likely to get throttled, which means, as we covered above, lost sales for your business, and perhaps a significant amount of them. Do you think they’re going to just pay the money and absorb the additional cost out of the goodness of their hearts? Of course they aren’t. You’re going to get dinged for it. That’s bad news for your business, but don’t freak out just yet.

Although the FCC says they don’t plan on appealing, this court ruling isn’t necessarily final, and the FCC is also working on amending the net neutrality rules to make them enforceable and able to withstand future legal challenges. Additionally, Congress could pass a law explicitly requiring net neutrality and outlawing pay-for-play practices. If you want to get involved to enforce and protect net neutrality, writing or calling your representatives is a great idea.

You can also help your business by taking steps to let your page load faster regardless of net neutrality. There are plenty of things you can do, such as streamlining your page by reducing graphics and other flashy whiz-bang features, and by using software that caches the page in order to help it load faster. Did that just lose you? It’s okay, we’re here to help. At The Click Experts, we are experts in designing web pages that load fast while maintaining slick design and curb appeal. We can also evaluate and help with your hosting. Best of all, we’ll take a look for free and let you know how we can help! Contact us today to see what we can do for you.

 

The Young Turks break down the net neutrality ruling and what it means for the country: