Given that the trends that involve just about everything in our lives are moving towards respecting the environment and conserving our natural resources, I was wondering if we could apply some of these ecological lessons to web design. Ask any project manager and they will tell you that any web design, programming, or app development project has a finite amount of resources behind it (unless, of course, you have an infinite amount of $funds). So I thought I might extend some green ideas to save those resources, or at least use them more wisely.
Use less fossil fuels: This is simple for any developer involved with your project. Virtually work from home more often and use less gas.
use less paper: Who needs one more printer? I don’t even have one on my desk.
Hire only local resources: Here’s a no-brainer for anyone who’s tried it before: Don’t use offshore outsourcing! I can’t tell you how many clients come to me asking me to fix their development project after spending thousands on some developer in India or China. By using locally working programmers and developers, you don’t have to worry about language issues or redundant development cycles. Let’s face it: there is simply no pride in ownership of the application code coming out of these emerging economies. It’s bad, it’s buggy, and it just doesn’t work. Local developers are here to support your code, so you benefit by getting a product that both they and you can be proud of and promote. Using local resources also stimulates your own local economy, which of course represents the very people you are trying to sell or market your business to.
Sustainable Resources: In green building terms, this usually means implementing a renewable energy source, such as solar power, to maintain your power. Why not develop websites that can also be self-sufficient? By using a content management system, or CMS, there is no need to continually hire coders or developers to maintain and sustain your website. A CMS will allow you to update the content of your own website at any time you want, on your own schedule.
recycle:Unless you hire a developer who started working yesterday, every programmer has an arsenal of code that they reuse. Any good ASP.NET or PHP programmer already has a good library of applications that he has worked on in the past. Ask your web developer for a discount on a recycled app; if they’ve programmed it before, there’s a good chance they’ll extend a discount for reusing a pre-built app that simply needs to be customized for your use.
Life Cycle Planning: If you build a green house, you have to make sure that it will not fall apart or pollute the environment in 10 years, so you plan for the inevitable deconstruction of your house. Why not also build your website marketing strategy behind a long-term goal? Many clients scrape together a few dollars, hire a web designer, and launch a website. And then that’s it. There is no promotion behind it, there is no SEO, there is no marketing. So they just sit and wait and two years from now they have this horribly outdated and outdated website that no one ever visits. By working with a marketing and web design team that knows how to plan for the life cycle of your efforts, you can extend the life and productivity of your marketing plan, even the eventual deconstruction of your marketing plan (i.e., redesign).
Innovation in Design: When building green, the LEED system applies points for innovative design. Why shouldn’t you expect the same from your website designer? Today, many cheap and foreign web developers simply copy a template-based design or simply change colors and reuse old websites to sell clients what they call a “new” web design. This is one case where recycling is undesirable – you should always demand a new, original and unique web design, especially if you are paying for a custom web design. Web developers must constantly strive to innovate design for greater usability and efficiency; you don’t want someone else’s old outdated design.
incentives: Building developers who design green buildings now receive up to a 20% bonus for achieving a certification level above the required level. Why not extend the same incentive to your web design or marketing team? Merit-based pay has incredible motivating power. Offer your SEO professional a certain bonus rate if they meet and exceed your expectations. Offer your web marketer an incentive bonus if their site meets and exceeds x amount of $ in sales. By making your developer an incentive partner, you foster and build a mutually profitable relationship.
Positive economic impact: There are two ways to measure the economic impact; direct and indirect. Obviously, whatever you’re marketing on the internet, you want it to have a direct positive economic impact on your own wallet. Don’t budget $10,000 for a massive new web app to sell $100 sneakers and then forget to budget for promotion and marketing. Downstream, this will have a negative impact on your sales, since you did not plan for the eventual marketing spend. And the indirect impact? Techniques like link baiting and viral marketing can generate amazing rewards, even if they use indirect marketing techniques.
Social impact: In green terms, this equates to culture and quality of life; contributing to a positive quality of life for current and future generations. But in the end, isn’t this exactly what you want your web presence to achieve? You want to have an economic AND social impact. One of the best ways to drive traffic and sales to your website is to offer something of value to your audience, preferably for free. By improving their lives in some way, you create a social buzz and people start talking about your service and emailing your URL to others. You don’t have to think about social impact just in terms of MySpace and Facebook; a good marketing team can help you come up with bigger and even better ways to impact online social media to promote your business.
In case you’re wondering where I got these green building guidelines, they come from the Federal Green Building Guide for Specifiers or the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.