My 20 years on the web

Author: Milos ZekovicReading time: 3 min

This February I mark 20 years of working on the web. It started rather modestly, as a web master at an online store. Over time it grew into a serious craft, and then a career that took me through different phases, teams, projects and countries. Along the way I made many friends too, which makes the whole journey even more valuable. This is a personal look at what really changes in the web industry, and what stays the same.

How the web changed (and why it was wild)

I had the chance to go through almost every major web transition first-hand:

from static HTML pages and web 1.0
through CSS tables and the shift to semantic markup and divs
from plain JavaScript to frameworks like React, Vue and Next.js
from manual deploy and FTP to CI/CD, automation and AI assistance

The ride was wild.
But almost every new phase came with the same promise: “This will finally solve all the problems.”
In practice it almost always turned out that the tool doesn’t fix bad decisions, it just speeds them up.

What never changed

Technologies changed fast; the essence of the work didn’t.

What still matters most:

understanding what you’re trying to solve
who you’re building it for
and why it matters at all

Without that, even the most modern stack only produces an expensive, pretty and often useless product. I’ve seen too many sites with a perfect Lighthouse score but zero clear message and zero conversions.

Performance, accessibility and the real world

Over time I’ve learned that a good site isn’t just fast; it’s also:

accessible (a11y isn’t “nice to have”)
understandable for people using it for the first time
maintainable for the team that will change it tomorrow, in a year or in five

A site that loads in 1.2s but doesn’t work with keyboard or screen readers is not a good site.
A site that looks brutal in Figma but needs a developer for every content change is not a smart solution.

From chasing the new to work that makes sense

I used to chase what was new too. New framework, new tool, new hype. Today I care much less about what’s new and much more about whether what we build:

clearly communicates value
guides the user without frustration
helps the business grow, not just “exist”

Those are the questions I ask myself on every project, whether we’re doing WordPress, Webflow or a custom application.

Why I’m writing this

I’m not writing this for the anniversary. I’m writing because I often talk to people who have a site, an app or an idea, but aren’t sure:

why something isn’t working as it should
whether they need a redesign or just a better structure
or whether they’re even solving the right problem

In those situations, a good conversation is often worth more than any tool or technology.

Let’s move forward, together

If you want to talk about your project, idea or the dilemma you’re facing, get in touch or book a short call.

I don’t promise magic solutions. I promise clarity, honest feedback and experience from the field.

Let’s move forward.

Start a conversation and let’s talk about your project