Did you know, every action online – from sending an email or streaming a YouTube video to hosting a website or e-commerce store – uses CO2?
Traditional web hosting consumes a huge amount of electricity every single day. And most of that is still sourced from fossil fuels.
Green web hosting offers a more sustainable, environmentally responsible way to power the internet.
In this blog, we’ll explore what green web hosting is, how it works and why it’s becoming increasingly important for businesses.
What is green web hosting?
Green web hosting refers to web hosting services that aim to minimise their environmental impact.
This can be done by:
- Using renewable energy to power data centres (like wind, solar or hydroelectric energy)
- Reducing carbon emissions by investing in certified carbon credits
- Implementing energy-efficient hardware and cooling systems
- Recycling and reducing electronic waste
Green hosting providers are committed to running their operations in a way that protects and preserves the environment, without compromising on the performance or reliability of a website.
Why is green web hosting important?
The internet burns through a lot of energy every year, more than 400 terawatt-hours, to be precise. That’s enough to power every household in the UK for a year.
While your business’ website may play only a tiny part in this, with over 65% of the population now online, it soon adds up.
For example, sending a 1MB email emits 20g of CO2. That’s equivalent to powering a 60W electric lamp for 25 minutes! Similarly, an internet search emits around 10g of CO2, enough to make a nice, warm cup of tea.
Choosing green hosting is one of the easiest and most impactful steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint online. Whether you’re running a small brochure site or a full e-commerce platform, green hosting ensures that you’re doing your bit to protect the planet.
By switching to green hosting, you’re not just making an eco-friendly decision. You’re aligning your business with ethical, forward-thinking values. Displaying a green hosting badge or sustainability statement on your website can boost trust and appeal to a growing market of eco-conscious users.
Benefits of green hosting beyond environmental sustainability
Protecting the environment is a key and obvious benefit of green website hosting, but there are also a number of things outside of that that it brings to the table.
Google's E-E-A-T
While Google’s automated algorithms rank content on a range of indicators, its human content raters use a 176-page document called ‘E-E-A-T Guidelines’ to verify how accurate and reliable its search results are. Published in 2014 and updated at the end of 2022, Google’s raters use E-E-A-T to establish Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust.
Committing to green web hosting demonstrates a business’ commitment to sustainability and helps to strengthen the ‘trust’ aspect of an E-E-A-T score from Google.
Stronger brand image
Your brand and how you’re perceived will make or break your business. Consumers value what a business stands for. Sustainability comes high on that list of values.
When your business can demonstrate a commitment to helping the environment, your users are more inclined to trust and buy from you.
Improved user experience
Green web hosting impacts website performance. The energy efficient hardware and software allows for faster page loading speeds and a quicker management of server outages and website downtime.
Faster page loading means providing your users with a more seamless experience when they visit your website, leading to easier navigation and higher conversion rate.
Future-proof your business
Sustainability is no longer a trend. It’s becoming an integral part of having a successful online presence. With governments and search engines putting more emphasis on environmental responsibility, green hosting can help you prepare your business for the future.
Being proactive in your sustainability efforts now means that your business is already ahead and ready to adapt to future market shifts and digital standards.
How green web hosting works
At QBD we’ve been partnered with green hosting provider 20i for over 5 years, to host the majority of our websites.
20i partners with renewable energy suppliers to ensure its web hosting, cooling and network are powered by 100% renewable energy.
It means the data centres we use to host websites for our clients excel in energy efficiency. Most data centres have a power usage effectiveness (PUE) score of 1.2 or higher. PUE measures how efficiently a data centre uses energy. The lower the score, the better.
The servers also auto-scale – when websites become busy, they are allocated resources from multiple servers to cope with the demand. However, when they are less active, they take up fewer resources, use less electricity and produce fewer harmful emissions.
And as more efficient technology becomes available, 20i replaces its hardware with the latest sustainable alternatives. It means everyone wins, including the planet.
Choose green web hosting for your business
Climate change and sustainability are at the top of the global agenda. Reducing emissions and our impact on the environment is key to helping make the world a better, healthier place.
We all have a part to play. So, if you want to make your website cleaner, greener and more sustainable, we can help.
We have over 300 websites on green hosting – that’s over 95% of our customer base helping to make the planet a greener place.
Whether you’re looking to upgrade your existing website to more efficient servers or start from scratch with a shiny brand new one, we can help you meet your business objectives.
It all starts with a conversation. To find out how we can help, get in touch today.
About the authors
Rich Brown
Rich is our Head of Lead Generation.
Rich is responsible for helping people get the most from the digital marketing platforms they use to help them get more leads and sales and ultimately achieve their growth objectives.