WebWatch 2010

WebWatch 2010

Prayag’s Third Annual Website

Benchmark Analysis Report

October 2010

• The annual Prayag Website study benchmarks websites of

companies operating in the Indian IT and BPO sector

against global websites

• It showcases websites that stand out through their

innovative design, navigation and content strategies

• Best-in-class tactical ideas and practices are also

highlighted

• It compares this year’s findings with the findings from 2009

Study Overview

Corporate websites searched

3

25

19

11

15

IT Services IT Products Niche BPO

Number of corporate websites analyzedThe study this year examined

corporate websites of 70 companies

Companies reviewed were

organized into four categories

representing a typical mix of

technology companies. This was

done to compare practices followed

across different industry segments.

The study tracks both Indian

companies as well as MNCs

operating in India – since both were

competing in the same markets, it

was considered appropriate to

compare them on an equal footing

List of companies studied available at the end

of the report

IT Services: Companies deriving revenues from diverse vertical and

horizontal services

IT Products: Companies deriving most of their revenues from software

products

Niche: Companies targeting one specific vertical or horizontal

BPO: Companies deriving majority of their revenues from BPO

services

Content

– Wide angle view

– Content style

– Value proposition

Navigation

– Flexibility

– Sitemap and search

– Personalization

– Call to action

4

Design Aesthetics

– Hygiene Factors

– Packaging

– The ones we loved

SEO

– Why SEO

– Page Titles

– Description Tags

– Structuring Content

Web 2.0

– RSS

– Blogs

– Communities

Study Parameters

Navigation― Flexibility

― Sitemap and search

― Personalization

― Call to action

Steering through the web

Organizations have realized that they need to keep their audience engaged; an

increasing number of companies are shifting their focus from voluminous content

to interactive content

• What is essential

– Quick availability of interactive data

– Clarity in appearance of the site

• Information given should be concise and consistent

– Innovative and interactive visual effects

• To attract visitors

6Navigation - Introduction I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

FlexibilityNavigation should enhance site flexibility and

enable the user to access any targeted page easily.

Navigation should also make browsing and search

effortless.

An improvement compared to last year, this

study revealed a significant increase in the use of

breadcrumb trails and dynamic menus.

Case In PointThe IBM site is a clear example of flexible

navigation. It gives the visitor the freedom to

choose from the categories and subcategories

available in the dynamic menu as well as to

navigate to the previous page through breadcrumb

trails. The sectional navigation bar on the left hand

side shows the services available.

Navigational

features

Websites

using

this

feature

Websites

using this

feature in

2009

Breadcrumb trail 76% 59%

Breadcrumb trail

with backward

navigation70% 49%

Dynamic menus 67% 58%

What is there in the Dynamic Menu?

7Navigation - Flexibility I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Navigation - Flexibility I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Innovative styles of navigation

Wipro Before Wipro Now

Wipro’s new site is not only visually attractive but also makes good use of

primary navigation techniques and dynamic menus.

%IT Services IT Products Niche BPO Overall

2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009

1-2 clicks 8 5 21 21 9 11 40 36 19 17

2-3 clicks 64 55 74 36 73 22 33 29 61 39

3-4 clicks 16 18 5 36 0 44 7 14 9 25

4-5clicks 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

>5 clicks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Inconsistent 12 14 0 7 18 22 20 21 11 15

Information comes with a Click

• The fewer the clicks – the quicker the access to information

• Except for a few, all companies managed to get site visitors to the desired page in 2 to

3 clicks

• None of the companies required more than 3 clicks for the visitors to reach the desired

level.

How many clicks to your critical information?


Note: Critical information represents web pages that provide important information on the company and do not include any downloadable material

Contextual NavigationContextual navigation bar is placed beside or

embedded in the body copy to attract users to go

deeper into the site. They are situational and

insightful.

This year’s study revealed a comparative growth

in the use of contextual links by BPO companies.

Case in PointThe Genpact website places contextual

navigation at the right hand side of the body

copy in service-related pages. The related links

support the information available on the page

and make it more interesting and explanatory.

Category

Websites

with

contextual

navigation

Websites with

contextual

navigation in

2009

IT Services 92% 91%

IT Products 84% 86%

Niche

Services73% 78%

BPO 53% 36%

Overall 79% 75%

The Related Zone


IT services and BPOs scored more than 80 per

cent

Search

IT

Services

IT

productsNiche BPO Overall

With

sitemap84% 74% 82% 87% 81%

With

sitemap

in 2009

82% 71% 78% 86% 80%

Sitemap

Companies are increasingly moving towards a

sitemap which is aligned with the site architecture

IT

Services

IT


With

consistent

sitemap

84% 68% 82% 73% 77%

With

consistent

sitemap in

2009

77% 57% 78% 64% 69%

Compared to the previous study, there is a rise in

the percentage of companies offering search

option

IT

Services

IT


With

search

option

96% 90% 91% 73% 89%

With

search

option in

2009

91% 100% 89% 57% 85%

Advanced SearchOnly 30% of the companies providing search option are using advanced search functions –search by specific sections, kinds of resources

Access to Information

11

Sites offering Advanced Search 16

% of Total 23%

Navigation – Sitemap & Search I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Category % of sites with

personalization

% of sites with

personalization in

2009

IT Services 72% 68%

IT Products 58% 79%

Niche Services 36% 22%

BPO 0% 0%

Overall 47% 47.5%

• Country-specific sites or multi-

lingual sites were offered by

companies with presence in

those markets

Unity in Diversity

Around the World…or not

12Navigation – Personalization I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Personalization

Category% of sites with call to

action links

% of sites with call to

action links in 2009

IT Services 76 % 91%

IT products 79 % 57%

Niche Services 64 % 78%

BPO 53 % 50%

Overall 70 % 71%

Call to action

“Call to action” is an invitation to website visitors to connect with the company

Call-outs such as subscribe to our newsletter, find out more, sign up now, etc. are common. In some

sites, there were blog posts that were open to comment that encouraged an interactive relationship

with the visitor

70% of the companies reviewed prompted their users to interact and communicate – an area to

watch out for and work on for the rest

Interactive session

13Navigation – Call to action I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Navigation – Call to action I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Interactive session

L&T Infotech has interaction cues such as contact us, follow us and polls

on the left side of the webpage – persuasive measures to improve

customer engagement

Content― Wide angle view

― Content style

― Value proposition

Yahoo!

Do you hear me?

• IT Services: Compared to last year’s study, IT services’ websites have become consistent

• Product Companies: Consistency of layout has been maintained. Content-wise, some

companies have slipped into deeper technology details while describing their products

• Niche players: Almost all websites are consistent in layout and structure. Some are yet to

ensure consistency of length

• BPO: These sites have concise content

Wide angle view on Content

16

Conte

nt

Ric

h

Consistency

IT

Services

IT

ProductNiche

BPO

Navigation I Content – Wide angle view I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Content Styles

9284

73

53

10086 89

21


32

58

82

67

4557

78 79


Case studies, white papers and other resources

support the content available effectively, so most

companies had them included in their site (there

is a slight dip compared to 2009 though)

Charts, table, graphs, diagrams and

graphics form an integral part of the content

for Niche Players and BPO companies.

% 2010

% 2009

Sites with contextual use of resources Use of Diagrams

17Navigation I Content – Content style I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

78

54

76

61

Contextual Resources

Diagrams

Overall Cross Segment Scores

• Accenture recovered from the Tiger

Woods debacle quite well.

Accenture retained its messaging

but revamped its campaign to and

adopted “safer icons”

Value Proposition & Messaging

18Navigation I Content – Value proposition I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

• Companies are keen on presenting

thematic websites . For example,

Mahindra Satyam uses the FIFA

theme to depict a contemporary

picture

Messaging Relevance: To the prospective employee

Hits

• An increasing trend in using social

media is noticed across most

companies - pages on Facebook and

Twitter, RSS feeds, blogs, etc. linked

to their websites

• Most of the companies projected a

global outlook and style –key to

catering to their audiences globally

• EXL Services, compared to the

previous year, has a comprehensive

careers section

19Navigation I Content – Value proposition I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0

Misses

• Tally , Yash Technologies and Sykes

Enterprises provided no real

information for job seekers, thus

losing an opportunity to

communicate to prospective

employees

• Some companies while mentioning

the positions open, however, could

have communicated more effectively

by providing employee testimonials,

details of work culture and easy

search/filter options or vacancy

categories E.g. Cranes Software,

Ramco Systems

Design Aesthetics― Hygiene Factors

― Packaging

― The ones we loved

• We have structured our review in two parts. In the first part, we grade the reviewed websites according to different hygiene parameters

– Color Impact

– Legibility

– Readability

– Consistency

• In the next part we look at a few sites, which had that “certain something”, that made us sit up and take a closer look.

Design Decisions

21Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics – Introduction I SEO I Web 2.0

• Black is a perennial favourite. A whopping 85% of the sites studied had black fonts on a white background.

– Grey was the other color commonly used

– Most companies have taken the tested route in this area

Did most sites maintain design consistency ? – Yes, 91%

Did most sites follow a consistent design theme ? – Yes, 78%

Did companies maintain page length consistency through the site? – Almost half the companies did not! Only 52% of them did so.

Did the sites stick to a consistent font ? – Yes, most stayed with Font size 11 or 12

Hygiene Habits

22Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics – Hygiene Factors I SEO I Web 2.0

Great Stuff

• Play of colors, graphics and rich media to visually enliven websites

• Abundant usage of flash without compromising on buffering speed was noticed in many

sites

HP’s homepage has a scrolling

set of dominating images that

illustrate and link to different core

businesses of the company.

Use of myriad colors by Sonata

Packaging: think outside the box, to make the box

23Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics – Packaging I SEO I Web 2.0

Informative, but..

• Honeywell’s website is heavily laden

with information, but to get it right

without interfering with the aesthetics is

something it needs to strive at

Microland gave its website a

personalized touch through a neat

virtual tour of its facility

Packaging: think outside the box, to make the box...

24Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics – Packaging I SEO I Web 2.0

Citrix gets to the heart of the matter right

on its homepage – a glimpse into its

products and services, and top

downloaded items

Getting it right the first time – homepages

which gave clutter a miss

25

• Logica makes judicious use of pictures

and flash on its homepage to create an

aesthetically pleasing look, without

hindering navigation.

• Cognizant has a homepage that

effectively furnishes the essentials in a

succinct manner

Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics – Packaging I SEO I Web 2.0

The “Certain Something” Sites

26Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics – The ones we loved I SEO I Web 2.0

Information and space constraints need not be conflicting issues – A simple,

informative website of HCL. A more energetic look can be sported by using

vibrant colors


Use of rich media to strike a chord with the viewers


Crafted to convey its value proposition explicitly on the homepage


Fitting combination of flash and text placement to provide maximum

information


Communicating through appropriate images to project a more

organized appearance


Conveying simplicity without compromising on the information

requirements


Classifies information less conventionally – sections such as popular downloads,

frequent destinations, most downloaded and ask Microsoft help users find

desired information quickly


Eye-catching visuals and apt taglines turned into productive

marketing tools


Conscious efforts to make every section interesting – news items, opinions,

special programs - which are commonly sidelined on the homepage - gain

limelight


A departure from the usual corporate color palette, a mini-menu on the

homepage gives a quick overview of contents of the website


SEO― Why SEO

― Page Titles

― Description Tags

― Structuring Content

• Doing search engine submission and just having a site isn't enough to gain visibility.

Websites need to be engineered to figure prominently in search engine results page.

Why SEO is important

What drives better SEO?

– Title Tags: A title tag is a piece of HTML code that describes a specific web page’s content

through a keyword query that a person types into a search engine. Creating a relevant title tag

is one of the most important variables in achieving high search engine positioning

– Description tags: Description tags are one of the first places where a search engine looks for

keywords and this appears in the search engine result page

– Content Structuring: The tools used to structure content and the use of graphics and flash

impact SEO

– External links: Having a large number of links to external sites drives SEO

38Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO - Why SEO I Web 2.0

• Page titles are important to search engines

– They are also the descriptions saved by the “bookmark” feature in the browser

• Such title tags should contain relevant keywords

– Most search engines use the page title as the link on search results page.

– Using generic words or just the company’s name does not help

Unique page titles for each page

How did companies studied fare?

Extremely well. However, some

niche companies and product

companies (12% and15%

respectively) missed out on this

key aspect

The importance of Page Titles

39

Note: Pages searched for SEO (if present): Home page, services page, industries page, products page, media page and investors page

Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO – Page Titles I Web 2.0

*Microsoft is not included as the data is not available in the source page

100%89% 91% 93% 93%95%

77%

100%

79%88%

IT Services

IT Products

Niche BPO Overall

2010

2009

• Meta description tags describe the page – this is what visitors see in the search results

• Such tags must include keywords and relevant phrases describing the page

– Words must not be repeated

– Complete sentences must be used.

**Note: All percentages are calculated depending on the total number of pages checked

Pages with description tag

Description Tags

40


Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO – Description Tags I Web 2.0

*Microsoft is not included as the data is not available in the source page

67%63%

75%

58%65%

61% 60%56%

61% 60%

IT Services IT Products Niche BPO Overall

2010

2009

29%

47%57%

45% 41%

25%

57%64%

44%41%

IT Services

IT Products

Niche BPO Overall

2010

2009

**Note: All percentages are calculated depending on the total number of pages we checked

What does not help

The glaring issues here are use of flash and placement of text within graphics

– In both cases, search engine crawlers will not be able to “read” content, reducing possibilities of

being listed high up in a search

Although largely avoided, both content packaging styles appeared in several websites

– Most companies used flash to supplement a home page message when SEO was already being

addressed by plain text content

Hidden content, another feature not tracked by search engines, was shunned by many

companies

Text As Graphics Use of Flash

Structuring Content

41


Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO – Structuring Content I Web 2.0

59% 60%

48%

25%

49%

30%26%

20%

34%29%

IT Services

IT Products

Niche BPO Overall

2010

2009

What helps

• Blogs can help SEO as they double the possibility that your company will be listed, as

search engine crawlers typically search blogs separately

It pays to LINK-up

• Building external links from a website always increases page ranking - this is a well

known fact now, given that all companies studied exhibited diligence in building links.

Structuring Content

42Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO – Structuring Content I Web 2.0

Websites with Logo Links

100%95%

82% 80%91%

86%

100%

67%

79% 84%

IT Services IT Product Niche BPO Overall

2010

2009

Web 2.0― RSS

― Blogs

― Communities

RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a common Web 2.0 feature that we

ran into on most sites

RSS feature is available most commonly on Home, Investors, Contacts and Press releases pages

As simple as possible

44Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0 – RSS

Sites with RSS feeds

92%84%

55%

33%

71%68%64%

22% 21%

49%


2010

2009

• Most companies offered feeds for investor information, press releases and blogs.

• Some demonstrated a more effective use by offering feeds on specific offerings, verticals etc.

A standard RSS feed setup on the

Infosys site

The Capgemini site allows visitors

to customize their feeds according

to solution area, industry and

document type

..But can be made better

45Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0 – RSS

• Blogs are gradually becoming popular on company websites

– Large IT companies were the early adopters

– Niche companies and BPOs lag behind, with few companies having adopted this medium

Many companies used blogs to address issues and redress grievances. Also, many companies used them to point out technical nitty-gritty

HP employee business blogs

Novell CMO blog (listed as one of the top

ten CMO blogs.)

Blogs

46Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0 – Blogs

Sites with Blogs

72%

53%

27%20%

49%45%

50%

22% 21%

37%


2010

2009

• Communities are still a novelty

– Product companies are early adopters

– The discussions are democratic, charged and often helpful.

Microsoft forums enable users to

get tech guidance from experts

..Also, questions and issues raised in

the forum helps developers in

developing new tools and processes

Intuit has a range of community resources. A library of articles, a

forum, and a wiki section, to name a few.

The members of the community

can upload articles, reviews, and

industry stories in the wiki

section.

In the forum, members can get

quick fix solutions to their

problems

Communities

47Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0 – Communities

Sites with communities

52% 53%

33%

18%

57%

0% 0%

20%

IT Services

IT Product Niche BPO Overall

2010 2009

• The BIG news this year is the arrival of social marketing tools

• Almost all the companies across all sectors have started using these tools

Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Technorati,

Reddit, Facebook etc. are some of the

most commonly used social marketing

tools

Social marketing: The Phenomenon

• Just a year ago, only a handful of

companies had profiles on social

networking sites. Now, almost all

companies are on these sites, vying

for virtual followers

• This gives companies direct access

to customers and instant feedback,

and acts as a round-the-clock

channel for information transmission

The rise of Twitterverse

48Navigation I Content I Design Aesthetics I SEO I Web 2.0 – Communities

Sites with social media marketing tools

84%

58%

36%

13%

54%

41%

21%11%

7%

24%

IT Services

IT Product

Niche BPO Overall

2010

2009

Thank You !

Team Prayag

Have a question? Suggestions? Feedback?

We would like to hear from you

mailto:[email protected]

Companies covered in this study


50

TCS

Infosys

Wipro

Cognizant

HCL Technologies

Mahindra Satyam

IBM

HP

Accenture

Capgemini

Logica

ACS

Patni

Keane

Quinnox

CA

L&T Infotech

Hexaware

CSC

Siemens information Syst. Ltd

Sonata Infotech

Zensar

Mastek

ITC Infotech

Mindtree

Tally

Oracle

Polaris

SAP

Microsoft

Cisco

Citrix

Ariba

Intuit

Novell

Ramco

Cranes Software

3i Infotech

Misys

Sunguard

JDA

Servion

Compulink

Dassault System

Applabs

Sasken

Bearing Point

Ciber

Persistent

Yash Technologies

Microland

IDS

QuEST Global

SQS

IBS

IBM Daksh

Aegis

EXL Services

Genpact

WNS Global Services

Sykes

First Source

24/7 Customer

Zenta

Tracmail

Sutherland

Sitel

Vcustomer

Indecomm

Intelenet Global services

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WebWatch 2010

Business