You may have heard a lot about the net neutrality debate, and not been sure where to fall, or even what it all means. With as much confusion as there is surrounding net neutrality, it can be explained in a fairly simple way. The first thing you need to remember though, is that the result of the net neutrality debate will have a huge impact on businesses and SEO.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality is the idea that the internet should be an equal place. This means that access would be the same no matter what, so your business website would load just as fast as any other. Internet service providers want to make that go away.
Imagine there are two bus lines. Average Joe’s is small and local, they make enough to provide for themselves and their employees. Big Box is multi-national, and takes in billions of dollars in profit every year. Both bus lines have an agreement with the Road Providers, and can use any road when transporting passengers to their destinations. The Road Providers want to change that.
Instead of equal access, the Road Providers want to make is so only bus lines who pay them extra money every month can use the freeway. Big Box doesn’t have a problem with this; they can afford to pay the Road Providers. But if Average Joe can’t use the freeway to transport paying customers, those customers will leave him for Big Box, and he’ll lose his business. All Average Joe’s SEO efforts won’t help him if Big Box can simply pay the Road Providers to put him out of business.
Equal Speeds for Average Joe
Internet providers are trying to do the same thing to small businesses right now. Studies have shown that 40% of customers abandon a website if it doesn’t load in three seconds. If Internet providers are allowed to charge companies for access to better speeds. Average Joe’s customers won’t wait to find out what he has to offer, when Big Box’s website loads so much faster.
The President is currently trying to pass legislation that will keep the net neutral, and make sure competition between businesses remains focused on the quality of business, not the amount they can pay for faster internet speed. If you agree that the internet should remain equally fast for all websites, contact your local senator, or your local state representative, and let him or her know you support net neutrality and want to keep the internet equal.
For information on how effective your website is, contact Effective Web Solutions.