Sustainable web development
It’s easy to think of everything on the internet as magical dust imagined into bytes and links and fancy apps, but what are the environmental costs of creating and storing all this data?
Ultimately Better specialise in sustainable web design and development, reducing the environmental impact of our services.
What is sustainable web design?
The internet – including social media, online games, cryptocurrencies and more – consume huge amounts of electricity through data center use, telecommunications, and end user devices. The Sustainable Web Manifesto states:
If the Internet was a country, it would be the 4th largest polluter
Sustainable web design is the process of designing and building a website that utilises efficient techniques, minimalist build principles, and eco-sensitive or ‘green’ website hosting. This process reduces data transfer and decreases bandwidth usage, thus reducing the digital footprint and ecological impact of an online business presence.
Ultimately Better specialise in performance and sustainable WordPress web design and development practices, whether that’s building a new website from scratch or improving the carbon footprint of existing WordPress websites.
How do Ultimately Better implement sustainable web design?
Some of the ways that we make our design and WordPress development services more sustainable and eco-friendly for our clients are:
- Performant web builds: we build our websites with performance in mind, compressing and optimising assets to deliver your content to your visitors quickly, without using excessive bandwidth
- We cache (almost) everything: using a combination of strict browser caching, database and object caching, and content delivery networks we serve pages without repeated expensive queries
- Clean, green hosting: we host our websites with providers who utilise renewable energy sources, and our hosting is specifically optimised for WordPress websites
- Prioritising content that users want: we encourage our clients to provide content that is logical for their customers, allowing people to find information that they need quickly, spending less unnecessary time browsing
And we practise what we preach for our own website too…
How expensive is a low-carbon, eco-friendly website?
We build low-carbon, sustainable WordPress websites as standard. Our pricing reflects the complexity of your project requirements, and not how eco-friendly we can make it.
Yep, that’s it: no gimmicks, no extra costs, no add-on green sales pitch. All of our websites are built with sustainability in mind, from initial design consultation right through to launch and post-launch support. We believe that reducing our digital footprint, and helping customers reduce theirs, supports a better planet for everyone.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make my existing website more sustainable, or only new builds?
Yes, we can audit and improve existing WordPress and WooCommerce websites. We assess your current page weight, hosting provider, image formats, unused CSS/JS, caching configuration, and third-party scripts, then implement improvements to reduce data transfer and energy use.
You do not need a new website to reduce your digital carbon footprint!
How do you measure the carbon footprint of a website?
We use tools including Website Carbon Calculator and Ecograder to measure a page’s carbon output per visit, based on data transfer size, hosting energy source, and estimated visitor numbers. These tools give a CO₂ figure per page view (for example, 0.01g per visit) and a rating from A+ down to F. We measure before and after our work so you can see the specific improvement.
What does green hosting actually mean?
Green hosting refers to hosting on servers powered by renewable energy sources such as wind or solar, or where the hosting provider purchases verified renewable energy certificates (RECs) to offset their energy consumption. Not all hosts that claim to be “green” are equal, but we use hosting providers who can demonstrate their energy sourcing, and we can advise you on switching hosts if your current provider does not meet that standard.
To find out more about our web development services and how we can make your website more eco-friendly, get in touch today.