The Internet has come a long way since the early 1990s when it was just a geeky pipe dream utilized by a handful of researchers. And while our Maryland web designers take pride in building modern-looking websites that will work equally well on smartphones, desktops and tablets alike, the hard truth is that one day this very website will look hopelessly dated.
Sure, it’s fun to laugh at the tacky websites of days gone by, but contemporary website design practices are changing faster than ever. In 2016, our Maryland web designers are using techniques that were totally impractical just two years ago, like high definition hero images, background videos, and parallax scrolling, while flat design has given way to material design.
For a bit of perspective, we’ve created an Internet time capsule to help you see how web design has changed over the years. Ever wondered what websites looked like in 1992, 1996, or 2003? Take a trip back in time and see websites through the years…
August 6, 1991: the First Website Launches
Yes, you really can still see the first website ever made. The year was 1991. People were discovering grunge music with the release of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album, while the future governor of California was thrilling audiences in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day.”
That’s when Tim Berners-Lee, a little-known scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) created the first website, kicking off a new era in human history. The era of Napster, Facebook, cat videos, gifs, and everything we love and hate about the world wide web.
You can check out the first website here.
What Websites Looked Like in 1996
A few years ago, the Internet rejoiced when the original “Space Jam” movie website was found to be online and fully operational, a perfect time capsule of the Internet’s early years. But if you really want to go back in time, instead visit the charming, quaint “You’ve Got Mail” website, or even the Dole-Kemp ’96 campaign website.
What Websites Looked Like in 2002-2005
Despite being three years into the new millennium, websites from 2002 still look incredibly dated to modern eyes. Fortunately, contemporary web design has evolved by several orders of magnitude. Honestly, many of the websites from this era are barely more advanced than the “You’ve Got Mail” website from 1996. Just check out The Broadcast Archive, a resource page about old timey radios.
During this time, people didn’t know you needed to scroll down, and so websites rarely put anything “below the fold.” Of course, long-scrolling websites are now used nearly everyday by our Maryland web designers.
What Websites Looked Like from 2005-2007
Fortunately for humans everywhere, the Internet of today has embraced minimalism. However, there was a time when websites were filling screens with as much noise as possible. Many websites contained little to no blank space at all, leaving a screen crowded with junk. Now, our web design company in Maryland knows how to use blank space to draw the eye. In days gone by, Maryland web designers and development specialists thought you needed to use every available part of the page. Fortunately, some of these websites are still online as an example to us all. Don’t design your website like this.
The Internet in 2016
We’ve come a long way since “Space Jam” and CERN. Today, 100 billion searches are performed every month, forcing Google to change its search algorithm 500-600 times per year. At least four in 10 Internet users will abandon any website that takes just three seconds or more to load! And nearly one in two people searching for businesses or services online (46% to be precise) say that a company’s web design is their top criteria for judging its credibility.
If you need to customize your website so it doesn’t look dated, or so it will perform well on mobile devices, then don’t hesitate to call our website designers in Maryland for help. You don’t want your company’s website to end up in an Internet time capsule of the future…