Sustainable web design might seem to be a rather marginal concern in the face of more obvious environmental threats, but in fact it’s becoming important to businesses and consumers. Here’s a look at what it means, and why it matters for pharmacy website development.
What is sustainable web design?
Quite simply, sustainable web design is the practice of designing and developing websites in a way that minimizes the website’s carbon footprint.
This can be achieved through hosting on energy efficient servers, using streamlined coding practices, minimising the use of resource heavy features, and reducing the amount of energy consumed during data transfers.
Why should online pharmacies care about sustainable web design?
Reduced environmental impact
The most obvious advantage is that reducing the amount of energy consumed by the website lowers carbon emissions. This means that fewer greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere, contributing to the collective effort to reduce global warming and the effects of climate change.
Furthermore, if the energy used in the hosting and operations of the website are from renewable sources, this not only lowers the carbon footprint but also helps to conserve the earth’s valuable resources.
Positive customer perception
Consumers are increasingly concerned about sustainability, and are deliberately seeking out businesses that can demonstrate their commitment to eco-friendly practices. This can strengthen the reputation of the brand among consumers and stakeholders.
Improved website performance
More efficient websites with streamlined coding and faster loading times can create a better standard of user experience. Enhanced accessibility reduces bounce rates and helps the website rank higher in search results pages, thus increasing web traffic and improving retention rates.
Cost efficiencies
Optimising the power usage on your website means lower running costs and bandwidth usage.
Compliance with regulations
Digital sustainability is coming under increasing scrutiny by governments, who are introducing stricter regulations. By being proactive with your pharmacy website design, you will be one step ahead of the competition, and also any future legal requirements.
Tips for a sustainable online pharmacy website
Use efficient coding: make sure the code is well-structured and lightweight, avoiding large libraries. Make use of lazy loading to ensure that only visible content is loaded, and optimise images and video file sizes for faster loading times. Wherever possible, use system fonts to reduce the number of server requests.
Green hosting: Use a hosting provider who runs on renewable energy or offsets their carbon emissions.
Make use of dark mode: The inclusion of a dark mode option reduces energy consumption on OLED and AMOLED screens.
Prioritise user experience: ensure that the website is fast loading, simple to navigate and responsive to reduce energy consumption.
How can you test the sustainability of your website?
To assess the current eco-friendly rating of your website, you can use performance analysis tools to check out loading times and responsiveness, and there are online tools that can provide an approximation of your website’s carbon footprint.