Website design has come a long way since the internet was launched. Some of the biggest sites on the web today started as simple pages with text links. With the help of Wayback Machine, we are able to take a journey to the first drafts of these websites. If your current website resembles any of these dinosaurs, you should contact 220 Marketing without delay to get an updated design!
It’s hard to believe that a site featuring a different theme on the home page each day started out with such a simple design. The creators of Google didn’t know HTML code, so they worked with what tools they had.
Youtube
Possibly one of the most visited websites around, Youtube started as a simple page that had no indication there were videos to watch. The first video uploaded to Youtube came from the creator and featured him in front of some elephants at the zoo.
Anyone who watched The Social Network has a vague idea of how the biggest social media site got started. What they failed to show us in the movie is how simple [thefacebook] looked. It is not hard to believe that this exclusive membership was only extended to those on the Harvard campus.
Yahoo!
One of the biggest sources for news and entertainment, Yahoo! was created as a way to search for information on the web. It featured a simple search bar and links to other websites.
Amazon
While Amazon isn’t a very fancy site now, it was even more straightforward at its inception. A simple page with an introductory paragraph and text links to search for books; this site left a lot to be desired.
Inspired by SMS shortcode rules that call for five characters, TWTTR looks nothing like it does today. This homepage let clients know exactly what to do—sign in or sign up—and little else. The design has gone through about six changes in the past five years, but has still managed to attract more than 100 million users despite its simplicity.
The New York Times
Launched in 1996, The New York Times chose to feature only one photo and a lot of text links on their homepage. While it looked just like a copy of the print version when it first went online, the current site features mostly photos and videos to help attract readers.
Myspace
In 2003 Myspace was launched as a competitor to Frendster. Their design was really simple and it is hard to believe a site that lets users edit HTML code and put in personalized backgrounds began with such a bland homepage.
220 Marketing specializes in Online Marketing and Management for industries such as Insurance Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, and Mortgage Marketing.
