The History of Web Design [INFOGRAPHIC]
Web design has changed dramatically since Tim Berners-Lee created the first HTML website in 1991. Twenty years later, an online website builder makes the complicated process of building a website, simple and possible for anyone to have a strong presence on the web.
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Since the beginning designers have tweaked the way websites look and feel; early sites were mostly text with very few images. Today, with advanced ecommerce tools, businesses don’t even need brick-and-mortar locations. Even a computer novice can design a website for selling their products online.
A decade ago, small businesses were mystified by the prospect of building their own site. Though more than 2.2 million websites were already online, many companies hadn’t grasped programming languages like HTML, CSS and PHP. Producing a website was expensive in a time when some questioned whether the Internet would even survive.
Of course the web grew and by 2003, there were 38 million websites and 782 million Internet users.
With the emergence of social media, Blogger and free, open-source applications like WordPress, web design became accessible to small businesses that could not afford to hire sophisticated design teams. Companies with huge sums of cash like Sony, Ford, People magazine and The New York Times were no longer the only ones able to produce polished, dynamic websites.
The same web-building applications became available to all and the effect has been astounding.
Though the Internet today has more than 2 billion users, this infographic shows how the playing field has been leveled even more for businesses hoping to compete online. More attractive, better functioning websites are created at a fraction of the cost 10 years ago. Tools today allow businesses to simply drag and drop elements of a website into place.
Westhost, a traditional web hosting company, designed the best website builder, DropClick, for those with no experience making websites. The website builder software makes it easy to add shopping carts, social feeds and image galleries. Users are given complete control of their websites while avoiding the expense of costly designers.
With the first 20 years behind us, who knows what the future holds for the world of web design?