Is SEO Good for the Environment?

No matter what we do in life, we make an impact on the world around us. Whether for better or worse, marketing has an impact on the lives of everyone and everything on our planet. With this said, I truly believe that any tools can be used for good and SEO is a tool I use in my work. SEO is good for the environment from several angles, and today, I’ll be discussing its merits as an eco-friendly marketing device.

SEO Practices that benefits the Environment

Search Engine Optimisation, like all digital marketing practices, happens on the internet. The impact on the planet compared to traditional marketing mediums is significantly reduced. This is simply because fewer physical resources, such as paper, are used to advertise and market. Energy consumption is a big contributor to greenhouse gases. By going digital you can reduce the carbon footprint of your marketing. However, a step further is to ensure that the energy you use comes from renewable energy resources. This includes the lights and heating in your business premises. But it also includes web hosting, data storage and the websites you use. I’ll now take you through some of the SEO specific aspects that a good for the environment.

Speed Improvements reduce energy consumption

While we are on the topic of reducing energy consumption., Speed improvements are one of the best things you can do for the planet. Not to mention your SEO. A good site speed improves the usability of the website for users. The faster a site or page, the more inclined users are to stay on your site. This is great for SEO as search engines reward quick loading websites. They also are on the lookout for websites where end-users spend a long time.

On the environmental side, a faster website reduces energy consumption. A simple change to code can have a massive impact on the CO2 released by your website. An excellent example of this type of sustainable web development comes from Danny Van Kooten, a Dutch programmer. He modified his popular WordPress plugin to save 59,000 kilograms of CO2 output a year. This is roughly the equivalent of flying from New York to Amsterdam and back 85 times.

Good site architecture reduces energy usage

Quality site architecture ensures several benefits for both users and the planet. Part of technical SEO, site architecture refers to the organisational structure of a site and how it delivers the content of your website to users. Well structured navigation, links and design ensure users are able to move quickly and efficiently through your website. This is beneficial from a user experience perspective but also reduces energy usage. The fewer pages clicked through, the fewer resources needed. As with site speed improvements, better architecture will reduce your websites overall energy usage.

Keep it Local

Local SEO is the tactic of optimising your website for a specific area of the country. It may be a city, part of a large city, a county or a region. If you have a local business, like a shop, mechanics or pub, you will want your web pages to rank for related search queries performed by a local audience. This comes from wanting to promote goods and services to a specific audience but also because your business relies on physical footfall, not just internet sales. If you effectively use SEO for your local business you will save energy by:

• Reducing the number of people visiting your web pages from outside your area.
• Encouraging sales in the local economy reducing transport emissions.
• Attracting the right people in your local area and not an audience that will never buy from you, reducing visits again.

While reducing visitors to your website may seem counterintuitive, you only want to spend time and effort on your perfect target audience.

Educating Your Audience

One more abstract aspect of SEO that can help the environment is through SEO educational impact. The content marketing side of SEO should be used to effectively entertain, inspire and educate your audience. The ultimate goal is improved sales but content marketing is an effective way to teach readers about environmental topics. Blog and articles should still relate to your company and its services. But when you gain a big readership on your site, you have the responsibility to use that power to educate in an honest way.

Get help with an Eco-friendly, Ethical Marketing Strategy.

If you are ready to improve your marketing from an ethical standpoint, let’s work together. I help independent businesses grow in a sustainable and ethical way. I do these by providing content, copy and SEO services backed up by research. Whatever your industry or niche, every business can make an extraordinary impact in fighting the climate crisis. Get in touch today.