How to Audit Your Website for Eco-Friendly SEO (2025 Guide)

As digital activities account for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions—equivalent to the aviation industry—eco-friendly SEO has become essential for responsible businesses¹. Eco-friendly SEO combines traditional search optimization with sustainable web practices, reducing your website’s carbon footprint while improving performance and user experience.

1.Technical SEO Audit: Building Green Foundations

Begin by evaluating your web hosting provider’s environmental impact. The Green Web Foundation reports that a significant portion of the internet still relies on fossil fuels, but an increasing number of providers are transitioning to renewable energy sources. SiteGround powers its infrastructure with 100% renewable energy through Google Cloud, ensuring carbon-neutral hosting². Google’s Core Web Vitals directly correlate with energy efficiency—faster sites consume less energy per user interaction³.

Code Optimization Audit your website’s technical efficiency:

• Minimize HTTP requests by combining CSS/JS files
• Compress images using WebP format (reduces file sizes by 25-35%)
• Enable GZIP compression to reduce data transfer
• Remove unused plugins and code bloat

2.Content Audit: Quality Over Quantity

Focus on creating high-value, evergreen content that serves users long-term rather than producing frequent, low-value posts. The UN Environment Programme emphasizes that sustainable digital practices include reducing unnecessary content creation⁴.

Audit existing content to:

• Consolidate similar pages
• Update outdated information instead of creating new pages
• Optimize content for featured snippets to reduce user search time

3.UX Audit: Energy-Efficient Design

Digital sustainability begins with user-centric design. Research shows that energy-efficient UX practices not only improve performance but also significantly reduce a website’s carbon footprint. Sustainable design principles, such as passive solar design and efficient HVAC systems, can reduce a building’s energy consumption by 50% or more, resulting in lower operational costs and a smaller environmental footprint:

• Use dark mode options (OLED screens consume 63% less power with dark themes)
• Optimize images and videos—they account for 70% of web traffic
• Implement lazy loading for below-the-fold content
• Choose system fonts over custom web fonts

4.Tracking and Measurement: Monitor Your Impact

Quantifying your website’s carbon footprint is the first step toward meaningful reductions. Digital emissions are often overlooked despite the internet’s global carbon output rivaling aviation emissions. You can use these tools to measure your website’s environmental impact:

• Website Carbon Calculator: Measures CO₂ per page visit
• Ecograder: Comprehensive sustainability scoring
• Google PageSpeed Insights: Correlates performance with energy efficiency

The average website produces 0.8g CO₂ per page view. A site with 10,000 monthly visitors generates 102kg CO₂ annually—equivalent to a 450km car journey⁶.

Conclusion: Take Action Today

Eco-friendly SEO isn’t just about environmental responsibility—it’s smart business. Sustainable websites typically load 2-3x faster, rank higher in search results, and provide better user experiences.

Start your eco-friendly SEO audit today:

Check your hosting provider’s renewable energy usage

Run a website carbon calculator assessment

Optimize your three highest-traffic pages

Set monthly carbon footprint reduction goals

The future of SEO is green. Make your website part of the solution.

References:

1.The Shift Project (2019). “Towards Digital Sobriety: How to control the environmental impact of digital technology.”
https://theshiftproject.org/app/uploads/2025/04/Lean-ICT-Report_The-Shift-Project_2019.pdf

2.SiteGround. (n.d.). Green Web Hosting and SiteGround’s Commitment to Sustainability. Retrieved from https://www.siteground.com/blog/green-web-hosting/ 

3.Google (2024). “Core Web Vitals and Performance Metrics.”
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/core-web-vitals

4.United Nations Environment Programme (2023). “Digitalization for Sustainability.”
https://www.unep.org/topics/digital-transformations/digitalization-sustainability

5.International Energy Organization (IEO). (2025). Building a greener tomorrow: The impact of sustainable design principles on architectural projects. https://www.ieorg.org/architectural-engineering/building-a-greener-tomorrow-the-impact-of-sustainable-design-principles-on-architectural-projects/

6.HTTP Archive (2024). “Web Almanac 2024 – Sustainability Chapter.”
https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/sustainability