Things to Avoid if You Want a Sustainable Website

Striving towards a more sustainable business? Well, this article is definitely for you!

You may have reduced your use of single plastics or even invested in recycled materials, but have you ever considered making your website more eco-friendly?

Yes – we’re serious!

The environmental impacts of the internet is something that is often overlooked. As a way to help businesses do their bit for the planet, we recently uncovered five tips for making your website more sustainable.Today, the team at Coconut Design are here to teach you what not to do. Keep reading as we reveal five things to avoid if you want a more sustainable website…

Avoid Unnecessary Tools

Just because you can put almost anything on a website, does not necessarily mean that you should.

On many websites, you will find fancy tools that are used without much thought. These don’t just prolong loading times, but also use a lot more energy, making your website not so sustainable.

Examples include:

• Unnecessary pieces of text
• Videos that don’t really benefit your business or website visitors
• Maps
• More than one pop-up
• Unnecessary social media icons

Avoid Complicated Animations

Sure, animations are cool, but do they really have a positive impact on your business? Or the planet? Absolutely not! They may look great, but – in some cases – they use A LOT of energy, making them a super unsustainable website feature.

Avoid a Long & Complicated User Journey

Did you know that a simple user journey is also more sustainable? 

By making it easy for visitors to navigate your website, they won’t have to spend as much time browsing, ultimately reducing the use of energy.
This is also one of the best ways to attract and maintain loyal customers. With straightforward features and a seamless experience, you can increase sales and impress your audience.

Ways to simplify the user journey include:

• Organising your menu
• Including clear CTAs
• Structuring your content & text

Avoid Too Many Fancy Fonts

By carefully choosing your fonts, you can also reduce page loading times, resulting in a more sustainable website. We recommend using custom fonts sparingly, as these can take a lot longer to load. 

Generally speaking default fonts such as “Open Sans” are the most sustainable, because their loading does not require communication with a server. This means less energy consumption and better readability – ultimately resulting in a smoother user experience.

Of course, we understand that these default fonts can be a little bit “boring” and perhaps not exactly what you want to use throughout your beautiful eye-catching website. In this case, a default font could be used in the body copy, while a web font or custom font can be used in titles.
If you fancy learning more about sustainable fonts, feel free to read our handy guide.

Avoid Large Images

Did you know that large photo and video file sizes will also slow down your website? Again, having a negative environmental impact. According to research, 40% of your potential customers won’t even get to see them – as they have already left your yet-to-be-loaded page. Crazy, right?

And if a visitor has left without any action or impact on your business, well, isn’t that just some wasted energy? Absolutely!

The good thing is that this can be easily avoided through some straight-forward optimisation strategies. Many of which you can find here.

And there you have it! Five things to avoid if you want a more sustainable website!
So, looking to learn a little bit more? Then why not read our guide for a better converting website?