The Hidden Environmental Cost of Having a Slow Website
Usually, when we discuss slow website load times, we’re talking about how they negatively impact the user experience, but did you know that it also impacts the environment?
The internet consumes 416.2TWh per year.
That’s more than the entire United Kingdom.
Every Action We Take Online Produces A Carbon Footprint
It all adds up
Every interaction with your website results in electricity consumption
- A User types in your URL, which sends an HTTP request to your server.
- Then, the server needs to send back a response.
- Finally, the browser has to process the received data.
Think this is just one user, and each of these processes requires electricity. Now multiply this by 10, 100, 1000. It all adds up.
Also, let’s not forget the data centres where all your site’s information is stored. The amount of energy they need to operate 24/7 is HUGE.
Depending on a website’s size, traffic, and level of optimisation, the CO2 footprint can vary. But slow-loading websites are definitely more problematic.
So, What Can I do?
Move to a more eco hosting provider – If you already host with us, then you’ve already done this without knowing!
Optimise Your Website – We Can Help with This Too.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
Imagine you’re hosting a big party, but your house is small and can’t fit everyone comfortably. So, you decide to use a big garden nearby for the overflow of guests. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) works similarly.
When you visit a website, especially a popular one, all the information (like images, videos, text) needs to travel from a distant server to your device. A CDN is like that spacious garden, but for website content. It stores copies of the website’s data in various locations worldwide, just like how the garden accommodates extra guests. So when you access the website, instead of everything coming from a single faraway server, the CDN delivers content from a closer, faster server, making the website load quicker, just as the closer garden makes it easier for guests to enjoy the party without overcrowding your house.
This means there is less time waiting for the loading. Websites have grown exponentially over the last 5 years due to the increase in internet connection speeds, which means more video and larger images can be served but there is a trade-off in load times.
A CDN combats that load time issue and helps reduce the amount of time users waste and energy waiting for those pages to load.
