The post Entrepreneurs, the Internet, and Speed: Why Page Loads Matter appeared first on HostGator Blog | Gator Crossing . Entrepreneurs utilize the Internet in a variety of ways: a means of promoting themselves or their products, completing market research, setting up a marketing plan, and so forth. It’s no surprise that, as a result, businesses are able to rise and fall in days or even weeks. If an idea takes hold of the public’s subconscious, it’s liable to explode. If the idea, regardless of promotion, never takes hold in the mind of the public, the company is liable to languish, forever lurking in the darkest corners of the Internet. Not all ideas are gems, but at the same time, something as simple as presentation could be preventing the organization from taking off. Speed Everything happens quickly online. Pages load in a fraction of a second, transactions are able to be completed in minutes, if not sooner, and manuscripts from hundreds of years in the past are able to be read and reviewed in less than a few hours, all without ever leaving the relative comfort of your computer chair. People have come to expect expediency when dealing with all things online. If you don’t believe it, go from a cable modem back to dial up and see how quickly you become frustrated with the inability to work at your normal pace. (If you can’t bear to complete that experiment, switch from your cable modem to a satellite connection in the middle of a rainstorm; the experiment will show you how much you have come to rely on speed without being quite as painful as the dial up experiment.) Turning it Around to Your Benefit Take a second to clear your browser cache and attempt to visit your website like a new visitor would. How fast does your site load? Do experience any frustration as a result of the load time? If you get frustrated with the speed at which the pages load, or the amount of time it takes you to find a certain piece of information, there’s a good chance your users will be frustrated with it as well. Remember, you’re creating your site to get their attention, not to frustrate them. Speed is now of the essence; make sure your website gets the attention it deserves. Image Source: Catchpoint. (2012). Brain wheelie. Retrieved from http://blog.catchpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iStock_000018917656Small.jpg web hosting