Happy World Wide Web Day

31st July 2020

The internet? World Wide Web? Information Superhighway? However we choose to describe it, we immediately know what each other means! For the past 31 years since its inception, the internet has gone from strength to strength. As of April 2020, an estimated 4.57 billion people were active users of the internet, which is about 59% of the global population. That’s a huge potential audience, so it is a logical progression of thought to conclude that the internet is undoubtedly the most valuable and effective means available to market our businesses.

Let’s step back to 1989 for a moment. Tim Berners-Lee, an English engineer and computer scientist; the man soon to be recognised as the inventor of the World Wide Web, was working at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The concept of a world wide web initially emerged as a computerised method of sharing information between scientists in universities and institutes around the world. From March 1989 when he submitted his first proposal, followed by a collaboration with Belgian systems engineer Robert Calliau, progress was relatively slow until Berners-Lee submitted a formal proposal for his unique ideas in November 1990. CERN quickly accepted the idea of web interconnectivity, and within two months Berners-Lee had the first web server up and running at CERN, and through it was able to demonstrate the worldwide scope and impact of his ideas. The first web server came online in the US in 1991 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in California. From that point on, web servers sprang up around the world and the concept of interconnected computers and systems was established.

Fast forward to 2020, and this method of information sharing has become a huge part of daily life. We have search engines which can recall millions of results in nanoseconds. We have digital marketplaces, social media, and online games, to name but a few. With all the capabilities that have been developed since the inception of the world wide web, it makes absolute sense that we use this incredible gift to our advantage from a business perspective. With a reach that extends to over half of the globe, there are few, if any, better tools than the internet for marketing if used correctly and professionally. No longer are we limited to using flyers, adverts in local newspapers, standing on street corners and shouting our company’s merits to passers-by. We have a seemingly limitless archive of information and online advertising boards. In this age of lightning-fast laptops, high capacity mobile phones and tablets, and even smartwatches which all having significant internet capabilities, we have never been more able to effectively access and influence both customers and potential customers. While the future may well present us with even more effective methods of communication, as things stand, we possess a highly effective means of presenting the best of ourselves to the world.

For advice and support on how to maximise the effectiveness of your digital marketing or web presence, please get in touch with us today!