In our everchanging world of technology, it can be important to understand who is using it, how they are using it and why. For example, the device people are using to access the web plays an important role in web access. According to research.com, “When it comes to mobile vs desktop traffic, a study by Statcounter (“Desktop vs mobile,” n.d.) found that 50.48% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Meanwhile, desktop devices account for 46.51% of the total web traffic.” (Imed Bouchrika). While at the start of the World Wide Web, web access came primarily from computers, it seems as though use from mobile devices has caught up and even surpassed computer use, and this trend is expected to continue.
It can also be helpful to understand what the internet is composed of and some of how it works. The internet is not owned or controlled by one single person, instead it is made of internet service providers and applications that contain web URLs and their information. It was created in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee. An article from the World Wide Web Foundation entitled “Sir Tim Berners-Lee” states that in 1989 he was “working to ensure it was made freely available to all” and even now he still “seeks to ensure the web serves humanity by establishing it as a global public good and a basic right” (p. 2 Paul Clarke).
Now on to what the web offers and what it consists of. For instance, one popular use for the web is blogs. A blog is a website that is regulated and customized by a person, to provide information or entertainment to others. Similarly offered to the public are responsive web designs. These are websites that are coded to be responsive to “customers”, often consisting of buttons that do different things when clicked. These websites are necessary for practically all purposes, from buying and selling products to streaming videos. Speaking of videos, YouTube is another popular use of the web. A large portion of the population has a YouTube channel set up, where they post content in order to entertain or inform the public.
These websites mean next to nothing unless people can locate them to utilize them, this is where SEO or Search Engine Optimization comes in handy. SEO pulls certain terms and information from websites and looks for those certain things in a web search in order to recommend a website. This can be crucial for website managers and owners to understand to make their website more accessible and become more likely to be recommended, which in turn means more business for the website. Changing a website to improve it is called dynamic content. Dynamic content that is always being bettered will also improve its search engine optimization.
Finally, for a website to exist, it must be built. Something that helps in this process is a content management system. It dramatically makes building and managing websites easier and less time consuming. A great example is Word Press, which aims to help make content such as this blog.
Sources:
“Mobile vs Desktop Usage Statistics for 2021/2022”, Research.com, Imed Bouchrika, February 24, 2021, accessed May 29,2022, https://research.com/software/mobile-vs-desktop-usage#:~:text=When%20it%20comes%20to%20mobile,of%20the%20total%20web%20traffic.
“Sir Tim Berners-Lee”, World Wide Web Foundation, Paul Clarke, accessed May 29, 2022, https://webfoundation.org/about/sir-tim-berners-lee/
“What Is a Content Management System (CMS)?”, Kinsta, September 1, 2021, accessed May 29, 2022, https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/content-management-system/
“What Is SEO / Search Engine Optimization?”, Search Engine Land, accessed May 29, 2022, https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo
“Who controls the World Wide Web?”, The Hindu, Deepa Kurup, May 27, 2012, accessed May 29 2022, https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet//article60445924.ece