How to make your website ‘greener’
Posted on 25th May 2023
There are many ways to make your business more sustainable and ‘greener’, but did you know one of them involves your website? Interestingly, a website can have a relatively large carbon footprint and use lots of energy. This article explains how and provides five tips to help you boost your website’s environmental efficiency.
How does a website impact the environment?
Believe it or not, the internet produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the airline industry. Why? Because websites rely on data centres and servers to store their files, plus use underground and satellite networks to transmit them – which uses lots of electricity. And all devices used to view websites are also powered by electricity.
While your website might not use as much energy as Netflix, it still has a carbon footprint. The good news is that you can reduce the amount of electricity your website uses by making a few simple changes…
1. Use system fonts
To keep up with the latest web design trends, web designers often use custom fonts, which look fantastic. However, custom fonts require coding, and coding increases the amount of energy needed for your website to be viewed. So, ditch custom fonts and instead use system fonts like Arial, Times New Roman and Calibri. These are ‘web-safe’ fonts usually already installed on most users’ devices and therefore don’t require any special coding.
2. Reduce media files
Videos and imagery are an important part of web design. They help sell products and services but also use lots of energy when loading (hence these can be the primary cause of a slow-loading website). So, review your videos and images to see if all are absolutely necessary. Switch off autoplay on videos and consider shortening the length of them. And with images, compress them to reduce their file size.
3. Improve your site’s SEO
By optimising your website’s copy for search terms and making content clearer and more concise, visitors will spend less time browsing and clicking through to different pages. They’ll be able to find the information they need with less effort, and this will reduce the amount of energy used.
4. Research the data centre
All websites have their files stored at a data centre, but not all data centres prioritise sustainability. Fortunately, it’seeze uses a UK-based data centre that actively cuts down on energy consumption by using natural fresh air (most of the year) to cool its computer systems.
5. Focus on the user experience
Consider the visitor journey and the actions you want them to take while on your website. Can you shorten the time they need to spend navigating the checkout, for instance? Do you necessarily need pop-ups on entry and exit to encourage visitors to sign up for your newsletter? By making the user experience as frictionless as possible, you can make each visit more pleasant and reduce energy usage too.
Create a sustainable website with it’seeze
With it’seeze, you can build an affordable ‘green’ website from scratch or upgrade your existing site to reduce its carbon footprint. We’ll design with sustainability in mind, ensuring your media and content are optimised for fast-loading times and SEO. You can rest assured your website’s usability and SERPs ranking will be improved as a result.
Want a free website health check? We'll look at your site's sustainability factor and advise on any improvements to make. Contact us today.
Tagged as: Environment, Sustainability, Web design tips, Website content, Website design, Website redesign, Website tips
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