The History of the World Wide Web

The origin story of the World Wide Web is simple. Although starting from humble beginnings, it is now a key component of everyday life. Things like Google, YouTube, even this website would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the invention of the World Wide Web. For the average user, understanding the World Wide Web isn’t necessary. But for businesses, power users, and app developers, grasping the difference between the World Wide Web and the Internet is essential; because these key components will help you gain a deeper understanding of SEO, content marketing, and digital marketing.

Who Invented The World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee who was working at CERN at the time. The intention of the World Wide Web was to facilitate automated information sharing among scientists.

Tim also created the first-ever website dedicated to the project of the World Wide Web. The webpage essentially gave an introduction into what the World Wide Web’s purpose was and how scientists could access it.

By April 1993, and to facilitate growth for the World Wide Web, CERN published the World Wide. Web software on the public domain giving the World Wide Web an open license. Meaning anyone could use the software to create other projects.

This would allow the World Wide definition to change, from a project for scientists sharing knowledge to a resource that allows any webpage to be created.

To put it plainly, the World Wide Web is now a project dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge through webpages.

Is There A Difference: World Wide Web vs. Internet?

People use the World Wide Web and Internet to mean the same thing; however, they’re entirely different things. The Internet allows data from one network, where the webpage is hosted, to be found by another network or computer.

Because the Internet is a network of computers or servers that transport data between one, or more, access points it doesn’t rely on the World Wide Web to function as the World Wide Web relies on the Internet. You use the Internet when you use an app, send or receive emails, face time, or conduct any of the activities that require you to connect to the WiFi.

Why Does It Matter?

The World Wide Web is intrinsic to the transactional nature of SEO because it relies on indexing from other webpages (search engines). Search engines can only see and index what happens on the World Wide Web and not what happens outside of it. This means that content created outside of the World Wide Web, content like emails, messages, and in-app content, will not be effective at helping your SEO strategy, although it may be effective at driving other results