You may have heard the latest controversy concerning the abolishment of net neutrality and what it means for internet service providers. Do you have a clue what it means for websites like yours? If you run a small business, you may be concerned that the end of net neutrality will negatively affect your operations. It’s a legitimate concern, and one that merits research and explanation.

What is Net Neutrality?

Here is what net neutrality is in a nutshell. It’s the ability to roam the world wide web without delays. The company providing internet service to you doesn’t have a say over which sites load the fastest and are the most readily available. Each gets equal importance so that you can continue to enjoy as free of web as possible. The FCC recently voted to end net neutrality. The action allows your internet service provider and the internet service providers of your customers to control the speed of the internet. Disregarding promises to deliver certain speeds for a specific cost, these companies can slow down certain websites without warning, forcing free sites to charge money for their services. To make this example crystal clear, if you enjoy YouTube and streaming videos from the website to your computer, phone or tablet, you may not get to in the future without paying for service. As a business owner, net neutrality could affect your website and the public social media sites you post on regularly. What was once free may cost you membership fees if companies decide they can no longer provide access to their sites for free. Your overhead costs of running your business suddenly become greater because you need to be able to reach your intended audience like you did in the past.

How It Negatively Impacts Small Businesses

According to The New York Times, net neutrality changes how a business handles its operations and whether they stay in business at all. With a thin margin to work with, it may be the kiss of death for small businesses. If this concerns you in the least bit, you’re not alone. The abandonment rate of customers who can’t get a website to load in less than three seconds is significant. If the gatekeepers slow down the speed of your site or the social media platforms you rely on, you’ll have no chance of turning traffic into customers.

How You Can Keep the End of Net Neutrality from Destroying Your Hard Work

One of the things you can do, is go to BattlefortheNet.com and enter your phone number. The website will connect your call via the web and even provide you with a script that you can read to your state legislators. Voicing your concern about the type of web you’d like to see in the future is important as it is critical to the survival of your business. Only time will tell if net neutrality will affect your business. If you haven’t experienced any real changes in your network speeds, and your webpages continue to load at a rapid-fire pace, consider yourself lucky. Your customers may not be experiencing the same level of ease when visiting your website, and you’ll need to come up with clever solutions to take care of the problem effectively.