The World Wide Web made research much faster. Researchers could embed links to related documents to allow for easy navigation. Links also allowed Web developers to include additional resources for users.

Despite the fact that the World Wide Web was mostly text at first, it became very popular for finding information, so its use spread quickly through research communities. Within a short period of time, pictures and colors became common. HTML (hypertext markup language)—the code that programmers use to create Web pages—became more robust, giving Web developers more control over how to lay out pages and present information on each page.