Web design principle 3
Obtain a yield

“The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited – or only limited by the information and imagination of the designer.”

Bill Mollison

Obtaining a yield: While traditional permaculture is about harvesting crops, such as vegetables, websites are about yields of a different kind. If the relationship between systems is symbiotic, they will generally produce sustainable yields.

Yields on a website

• Define and prioritise your conversion goals. Identify concrete and measurable goals for your website and use them to structure and design the site.
• Generate passive income: A web project that generates a lot of passive income without requiring a great deal of effort is the perfect equivalent to an efficient permaculture garden. However, in both cases you will need to put in some work ;). You should also appreciate indirect yields, such as recognition, positive feedback or new contacts and knowledge.
• Use stacking functions to combine multiple functions.

• Grow sustainably: If something is working well, think about whether you want to focus on it more and how you could do this. Take things one step at a time and think about using automation to improve profitability.
• Follow the fair share principle and divide profits fairly. Permaculture web design isn’t about unlimited consumption and growth. Aside from responsible marketing, this could also mean sharing a percentage of the project revenue with the team or donating profits to a good cause.