It’s a question I’ve often asked our company: are websites becoming obsolete? It seems like the popularity of apps for both desktop and mobile platforms is only growing year by year. However, we believe that websites aren’t going anywhere.
A website is a collection of pages (like Home, About Us, Contact us) stored on the same server and connected through various links. For a while, there has been a high demand for websites for both public and private interests. This need sprung up from the reality of websites as contemporary tools that assist in various aspects, such as connecting people and circulating information.
Business, as many know, has been a contributing factor to the success of any nation and its economy. In light of this, websites have grounded themselves as a resource in their success. From makers to consumers, websites offer a plethora of uses for several stakeholders in this industry.
Therefore, this begs the question, will websites become obsolete?
In this article, we’ll discuss how this isn’t possible by highlighting the history, uses, and impacts of websites and other solid reasons. Join us as we help you understand this better.
The History Of Websites
In 1989 at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) Geneva, Switzerland, Tim Berners-Lee and colleagues began developing the World Wide Web (WWW) when they invented the Hypertext Transfer Protocol in English.
Clients and servers are connected using HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). A web browser called Mosaic, created in English by Mark Andersen and others at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications located at the University of Illinois and released in September 1993, allowed for the release of text-based web browsers in January 1992, at a time when the World Wide Web was gaining popularity quickly.
Websites have grown more complicated as a result of the commercialisation of the Internet and the expansion of bandwidth by internet service providers. However, a tendency for design simplification has reemerged due to the rise in mobile internet usage.
Worldwide, there are currently more than 1.3 billion websites, ranging in size from simple, one-page websites made with a homepage construction kit to sophisticated, expertly designed online stores with tens of thousands of subpages.
It’s interesting to note that many global websites cannot be accessible over public networks. These are occasionally internal company intranets that specific browsers can only access. Therefore, the number of websites may have surpassed the previous ceiling of 1.3 billion.
Now that we’ve discussed how websites came to be and their initial purpose, we’ll discuss their uses since then and how they are still valuable now.
Applications Of Websites
As you might have inferred from what we discussed above, websites were born from the need to make the Internet simpler to access and explore.
This need has since then evolved into a myriad of purposes that serve personal and public uses. That’s why we’ll explain its different applications since they came to be.
Below are a few of them:
These websites serve as informational resources about certain educational institutions and end with the Internet protocol .edu. They also provide resources on subjects that can be used as teaching aids and learning resources in an online classroom or the physical classroom. In this day and age, these websites help to keep the learner entertained and interested.
These websites aim to disseminate information issued by government offices, departments, and agencies. The content on government websites is often of the highest calibre and frequently ends with the .gov extension.
Military & scientific websites:
They serve as informational resources for the military, defence and the scientific community.
This type of website aims to provide information about current events. Typically, they are online versions of traditional news publications. Today, the coverage of digital editions is far greater than that of print editions.
The objective of this sort of website is to defend or promote the viewpoint of an individual or group. It’s Internet address ends in .org.
The majority of websites on the Internet take this form – a blog. A private individual writing about topics from their point of view and uploading them to their blog makes a blog unique in its original form. Today, there are many different uses for blogs. For instance, businesses frequently maintain a “corporate blog” where staff members post articles on subjects pertinent to the company.
Reasons Why Websites Will Not Become Obsolete
Internet usage has been on the rise for a long time. Even though websites have many uses are no longer the only way to access information online.
However, there’s no possibility of them disappearing anytime soon, and here are a few reasons to back that up.
The usage of different devices like tablets and mobiles to access websites is increasing. Despite the rise in app usage, many individuals continue to utilise their mobile device’s built-in browsers to access websites. This is why having a mobile-friendly or tablet-friendly website is more crucial than ever.
Recent studies have revealed that people spend much more time online than they did ten years ago. This increased time spent is attributed to the growing popularity of tablets and smartphones. As more and more information is sought after wherever we are, mobile Internet usage will only increase.
Websites Are an Effective Marketing Channel
Websites are the best option for developing strong brand recognition, which is crucial for winning over clients’ trust. They offer vital details about a company or organisation. If they don’t have a website, especially one that appears trustworthy and professional, most people in today’s world might be doubtful.
A good website allows companies or organisations to share their ideas and establish themselves as experts in their field. The companies and organisations can use it to advertise their goods and services and introduce themselves and their business to potential clients.
Additionally, websites are the most effective way to handle email marketing campaigns and get leads. There are numerous ways to link websites and email marketing campaigns. Pop-ups, embedded forms, and even an email autoresponder can be used to collect email addresses and welcome new visitors.
A website is also accessible when these systems aren’t. People may search for a company, make purchases, and get help on their website whenever they want, from anywhere, using any device of their choice.
Open Avenue To Information
Websites are vital in today’s society for one simple, universal reason: they allow people to access all the information on the Internet. People can only obtain information via websites and web pages.
Encyclopedic websites and specialised sites in particular fields of science and knowledge make information freely available to the public.
Different individuals can easily and frequently obtain the proper information. Websites connect to the Internet into a vast web page network containing much helpful information. So this also highlights an important reason why websites will not become obsolete.
With the world constantly evolving and going digital, websites offer a lot of educational purposes. Connecting with the university the student has enrolled in allows those who wish to finish their educational path through distance learning. In this situation, the institutions’ websites make it easy for average students to check their grades and progress and get in touch with their professors via the student portals available on these websites. This has changed the education sector worldwide.
How we use the Internet is changing as mobile devices and other technologies continue to advance. Websites must be user-friendly on all devices because websites and web browsers won’t be obsolete soon.
Many businesses have created websites to promote their products or services online. These websites often include product and service information, contact details, social media links, etc. Websites are an essential part of a company’s marketing strategy. And also, we’re in an age where almost everything is digital—including how we consume news and other content.
When it comes to web technologies, the answer is “no”. Web sites are not going away any time soon; they will continue to become more powerful and valuable as time goes on.
Websites will NOT become obsolete.