Did you know that the Internet is one of the biggest polluters on the planet? And that websites have high energy consumption? So time to make your own website more sustainable. In this article you can read how to create a sustainable website yourself.
Why are websites polluting?
“If the Internet were a country, it would be the fourth largest polluter in the world.” The Sustainable Web Manifesto. In fact, the worldwide web is responsible for 4% of global CO2 emissions. In fact, that would be more than the entire airline industry!
Why is that? Websites are on a server somewhere in this world, and these machines need electricity to run. In addition, websites are displayed on computers, tablets and phones, and those devices also need electricity. And all electricity, of course, has to be generated, which often costs CO2.
In the coming years, the challenge is to make the Internet sustainable. More and more web designers and IT professionals are signing the Sustainable Internet Manifesto. See here what the Sustainable Web Manifesto means.
How can I make my own website more sustainable?
Do you have some technical knowledge? Then this is not at all difficult to do yourself. Some of the tips below apply to the entire website, others rather specifically per page.
1. Images: optimize in webp
Here is a very big opportunity to make a website environmentally friendly. In fact, it is very common for images not to be optimized for online use and to weigh more than 1MB. That’s more than a sustainable web page itself.
How you optimize your photos or illustrations depends on the size in which you want them to appear. You can usually vary between 1920 pixels and 800 pixels on the longest side, for logos you can work (much) smaller. Working in JPEG is very nice, but by working with a modern file format like webp, you can make your images three times smaller on the back end without sacrificing quality!
Want to know more about compressing photos? Then read here how to compress images.
2. Design: less is more
Do you have a slider on your site? Very nice, but it slows down your website and increases carbon emissions. Or do you have a social media feed showing off your pretty latest posts? Better get rid of that, too. And what about countless graphics? Nice to look at, but you’re not building a sustainable site with those.
Sustainable web design often has a penchant for minimalism or is minimalist. In this, it is important to make tough desicions: what do you need and what don’t you need? Anything unnecessary can be left out. To be clear: we are talking about design here, not complete pages and texts.
Wondering how to build a minimalist web design? Find out here how to create a minimalist website.
3. Remove outdated content
Do you have outdated pages or blogs on your site that are no longer relevant? Feel free to remove them and set up a redirect to avoid being penalized by search engines like Google or Ecosia. Is your WordPress media library full of photos and illustrations that you no longer use? Delete these as well. Or how about several small pages? Feel free to bundle them into one and, again, set up redirects for your deleted content.
Redirects, by the way, are a kind of directional blinker for visitors. Has a page been deleted? Then redirect it to an existing page such as the home page. You can arrange that with the WordPress plugin Redirection.
Are you planning to delete dozens to hundreds of images? Then read here how to delete photos in bulk in WordPress.
4. Remove unnecessary plugins, builders, themes and code
Have you ever changed your WordPress theme or builder and it’s still on your site? Feel free to remove it, this way you will create extra space on the server. Do you have plugins you no longer use and they are already deactivated? You can remove those as well. The same for lines of code that no longer apply to your site. Feel free to critically go over the added code in your theme builder, WordPress customizer or theme editor.
Attention: some knowledge of code (HTML, CSS, PHP…) is probably needed here. So make sure you know what you’re doing. Not sure? Then enlist the help of an IT professional or web designer.
5. Fonts: use what is common
This sounds very boring, but common fonts simply take up less space on a server. Think of Roboto or Open Sans, for example. You can often style these common typographies on your site to fit nicely into your web design.
In addition, general fonts are also inclusive. That’s because they are sans serif (sans serif = with no dashes at the ends of the letter feet). Sans serif fonts are easy to scan in online texts and easier to read for people who are alphabetizing or have a dyslexia certificate.
Want to learn more about online typography? Then take a look here: How to choose a great font for your site.
6. A lightweight theme and builder
With a CMS (content management system) like WordPress, you can build a great website in no time, but some builders and themes can be really polluting. For example, theme and builder Divi is heavy software. In contrast, the Astra Pro theme and builder Elementor Pro are lightweight and excellent for a sustainable website. WordPress’ default builder, called Block Editor, all the more so because it comes by default with WordPress.
7. Sustainable hosting
Switching hosts is usually pretty easy. Often your new host can take care of that for you. And if not, it will have a roadmap or help desk to do it yourself.
Conclusion
Websites can be hugely polluting, but by making certain choices, you can make your website more sustainable. Consider optimizing images, minimizing web design, using common fonts, installing lightweight WordPress themes and builders, removing outdated content and unused software and possibly switching hosts. This can really make a very big difference.
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