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Carbon cutters: designing a greener website, byte by byte

Fay Roe

For all the progress and new technologies, the environmental impact of digital activities is significant. From powering vast server farms to the electricity used by end-user devices, the environmental footprint of digital technology is substantial. However, as web designers in Christchurch, it is possible for Digital Presence to mitigate some of these effects through thoughtful and sustainable design practices. The great joy of green website design practices is that they also enormously improve website SEO and the user experience at the same time, so not only are supporting the green agenda, but growing your business too.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Optimise your website design for performance

The more data a website has to transfer, the more energy it consumes. Optimising your website’s performance reduces the amount of data transferred and the time it takes to load pages. You’ll find the site speed and accessibility dramatically improve which also delivers a better user experience (hello SEO) but is also greener.

Minimise file sizes: compressing images and videos not only saves bandwidth but also speeds up your website. The good news is the image and video quality is not sacrificed.

Efficient code: write clean, efficient code and remove redundant code. Use techniques like minification to reduce file sizes of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Leverage browser caching: proper caching reduces the need for repeated data transfer, which decreases the load on servers and the energy required for those transfers.

2. Simplify your website design

A minimalist approach to web design not only provides a better user experience but also reduces energy consumption. A clean, simple website design with fewer elements and less complex functionality makes a website more efficient (and more attractive to Google’s algorithms). Add a search bar and simplify navigation to make it easier for users to find what they need quickly. This reduces the number of pages they load and the overall data transfer.

While multimedia images and videos are essential, use them thoughtfully. Implement lazy loading for images and videos so they only load when they come into the user’s view, rather than being continuously active.

What is lazy loading?

Lazy loading is a technique where certain parts of a website are only loaded when needed. This means that the website loads faster because it doesn't try to load everything at once. Instead, it loads important stuff first and brings in the rest as you scroll or navigate through the site. This way, your page appears more quickly, and you can start interacting with it sooner.

A person is using a cell phone on a map with red pins.

3. Sustainable SEO practices

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can also be approached sustainably. By improving your website SEO, you can ensure it appears in relevant searches, reducing the number of unnecessary visits and associated energy consumption.

Local SEO: focus on local SEO strategies to attract local traffic. This can lead to shorter, more efficient data routes. For example, Digital Presence is a Christchurch website design and SEO agency, so through the content published there is reference to Christchurch NZ or ChCh.

Publish E-E-A-T content: the more high-quality, relevant content that meets users’ needs effectively you publish, the easier searchers can find the information they seek. This reduces the number of pages a user needs to visit but it is reliant on the navigation being user friendly too.

4. Responsive and adaptive website design

Responsive web design ensures your website adapts to various devices with different sized screens, providing a seamless user experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones. According to research by Statista, in Q1 of 2023 58.33% of global website traffic was via a mobile device (other than tablet) so it’s wise to take a mobile-first approach for your website design to take advantage of the audience. Using responsive images that adjust to the user's device reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred, especially on smaller screens.

5. Use a local Content Delivery Network (CDNs)

For businesses in Christchurch, using a CDN with local servers enhances performance and reduces latency. The main goal of a content delivery network (CDN) is to make websites load faster by reducing the delay caused by long-distance data travel on the internet. Normally, data has to travel back and forth between a user's device and the website's server, which can be far away.

An aerial view of the earth at night with lots of connections.

A CDN helps by using nearby servers to handle some of this data transfer. These intermediary servers take on some of the workload, cutting down on the amount of data the main server has to handle and using less bandwidth. This results in quicker load times and a better experience for users. Digital Presence use Amazon Web Services, which is an incredibly reliable, global CDN and means local NZ servers host our clients’ websites. The benefits of a local CDN include:

Reduced page load time: also reduces bounce rate and increases time visitors spend on your website.

Reduces bandwidth

Increases content availability: less likely to crash, and even if the CDN server does go offline there is capacity of another operational server to replace them.

Improves website security: DDoS) attacks try to take down applications by sending large amounts of fake traffic to the website. CDNs handle such traffic spikes by distributing the load between several intermediary servers, reducing the impact on the origin server.

6. Regular audits and updates

Websites should not be static. Regularly auditing and updating your website means that it continues to operate efficiently and sustainably. Google regularly updates its algorithms which can impact your website’s performance, so a regular SEO audit identifies any areas than need improvement. The easier it is for search engines to crawl and index your website, the greener your website becomes. Keep your content relevant and optimised and remove outdated information and replace it with fresh engaging content to better serve your audience.

Sustainable web design is not just about reducing energy consumption; it's about creating efficient, user-friendly websites that meet the needs of both users and the planet. As a leading web design company Christchurch, Digital Presence have the opportunity and responsibility to lead by example. By adopting these eco-friendly web design strategies, the websites we design are not only beautiful and functional but also kind to the environment. Whether you’re interested in local SEO Christchurch, looking for a web designer in Christchurch, or need some help with broader digital marketing strategies, integrating green practices into your digital efforts is a step toward a more sustainable future.

To learn more about how Digital Presence can improve your website design, contact us today for a free no-obligation chat.

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