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Sustainable Web Design: Why Does It Matter?
You often hear or read in blogs and articles that the world of technology is ever-evolving. Well, that is very accurate. The technological advancements we see today have been beneficial for us in more ways than we could ever fathom. It has not only made our lives much more comfortable and efficient but also allowed us to explore new opportunities.
As you all know, technology has been the driving force for industries, both large and small. However, this blessing that we all love and appreciate comes with a cost. It has been causing tremendous impacts on the environment. And we don’t mean the positive effects.
Digitisation and the use of different technologies have been causing a tremendous impact on energy consumption. And this, in turn, is very harmful to the environment.
As the number of industries or businesses increases, so does carbon footprint and energy consumption. The Coronavirus outbreak has made this situation worse. In the past several months, internet usage has risen exponentially, ergo rising carbon emission. The internet contributes to 2% of the global carbon dioxide emission. And you’ll be surprised to know that, right now, websites are one of the main contributors to CO2 emissions today.
There are 4.7 billion internet users worldwide and 1.8 billion active websites right now. And this figure is increasing rapidly. So you can imagine the impact we are causing to the environment. Thankfully, more and more businesses are now being conscious of the repercussion of internet usage and the amount of CO2 emitted due to websites. They have been trying their best to reduce carbon dioxide emission and fight climate change. And one of the most efficient ways to do it is through Sustainable Web Design.
What Is Sustainable Web Design?
It is somewhat a new concept that has gained popularity steadily in the past couple of years. Sustainable web design is making use of a few web design techniques that can reduce your carbon footprint. You design a lean and green website in hopes that it creates a sustainable digital ecosystem.
Research shows that streaming on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime contributes to about 4,120 tonnes of CO2 emissions every minute. And we would all agree that the use of these online streaming platforms has increased tremendously. A website on an average produces 6.8 grams of CO2 per page view, which is not a small amount. It’s high time we do something about it. And the only way to do it is by choosing sustainable web design.
Let’s now list out the reasons why every company should opt for sustainable web design. They include:
- Reduce non-renewable energy consumption
- Lessen the burning of fossil fuels
- Decrease carbon footprint
- Maintain a green online ecosystem
- Most importantly, minimise ecological impact
4 Pillars of Sustainable Web Design
Findability
The more accessible your content is, the lesser pages a user has to load to find the information they need. Ergo, reducing the amount of CO2 emitted which can mean saving a tremendous amount over time.
Performance Optimisation
When your website performs more efficiently, you use lesser processing power. Meaning, your site uses less energy, leading to a lower carbon footprint. Remember, webpage speed and sustainability go hand-in-hand.
User Experience & Design
In a sustainable web design, you still prioritise design and user experience. After all, website efficiency and accessibility are always of utmost importance. By creating good website experiences for both desktop and mobile users automatically enhances the website accessibility. Mobile-first web design can also prove to be beneficial as you avoid loading large assets designed for desktops, which increases the site’s speed and energy efficiency.
Green Hosting
The servers you use to host and store the files from your website need power 24/7. And this, in turn, increases energy consumption and CO2 emission. The only way to avoid this is by using a green hosting provider. You can choose a web hosting company that operates on 100% renewable energy.
6 Best Practices Of Sustainable Web Design
Building a sustainable website is not as difficult as you think. You can use a plethora of techniques to ensure your website is more energy-efficient and sustainable. Here are six ways you can ensure that.
- Create energy-efficient websites – Minimise the amount of data transferred while loading your webpages, reducing energy consumption.
- Optimise images to reduce the file size – Optimising the pictures, illustrations, fonts, media, etc. as well as using “Lazy Load” for them to improve webpage loading speed.
- Use green web host – Choose an eco-friendly hosting provider who uses renewable energy to power their data centres.
- Improve site navigation – Reduce the number of web pages and make your information easily accessible.
- Set web caching – Caching can help retrieve the required data from the cache location rather than from the web server again when the user revisits the page.
- Reduce network request – Improve the overall performance of the website, set your site to load JavaScript files asynchronously, check the number of HTTPS requests your site makes, and remove unnecessary images.
Sustainable Web Design Can Help Save The Planet
If you care about the environment and want to make a difference, then ensuring your website has a sustainable web design is the right way to move forward. Besides being eco-friendly, it also improves your site’s performance and makes it more accessible, user-friendly, and well-optimised.
So, the crucial question here is,
Are you doing your part to control climate change? Do you have a sustainable website?
If not, it’s time you build one now.
About Mass Software Solutions
Mass Software Solutions has been keeping businesses at the forefront of digital transformation for over two decades, all while keeping sustainability a high priority. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. We equip businesses with custom design, development, and marketing solutions. With us, you get a team who deliver custom solutions that fuel innovation and boost business efficiency.
We always consider the impact our decisions, designs, and our solutions make on the community, and most importantly, on the environment. We collaborate with brands, large and small, to help them stay digitally forward and ensure we do our part for the environment by reducing the carbon footprint. Apart from that, we create web designs that build credibility and add value to your business.
- We always make use of web caching.
- We improve the overall website performance.
- We optimise the media and use lazy load technique.
- We only create sites with clean and efficient coding.
- We choose green web hosting providers.
- We use Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).
Want to build a website with us? Contact us now and get a free consultation!
