webwatch 2011

WebWatch 2011

Prayag’s Annual Website Benchmark

Analysis Report

January 2012

• The annual Prayag Website study benchmarks

websites of companies operating in the Indian IT and

BPO sector against global best practices for website

design, navigation and online marketing

• The study showcases websites that stand out for their

innovative design, navigation and content strategies

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

highlighted

Study Overview

2

Corporate websites searched

3

22

14

9

14

IT Services IT Products Niche BPO

Number of corporate websites analyzed The study this year examined the

corporate websites of 59

companies.

The companies studied were

organized into four categories

representing the typical mix of

technology companies.

The study tracks both Indian

companies as well as MNCs

operating in India

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 a major portion of their revenues

from software products

Niche: Companies targeting one specific vertical or horizontal

BPO: Companies deriving a major portion 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

– Hall of Fame

Web 2.0

– RSS

– Social Networking

– Blogs & Communities

Study Parameters

The simpler the navigation, the more

people will read and the deeper they

will delve into the site

– Karen Templar, Salon Magazine

Navigation ― Flexibility

― Sitemap and search

― Contextual Navigation

― Personalization

― Call to action

Standing out in the crowd

Interactive cues and appealing visuals will impress peers, customers and potential

customers. A user-friendly interface makes it appealing as well as simple for the user

to reach out to your company and helps your website stand out from the rest.

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

In a Nutshell

Sufficient interactive elements

Clear and user-friendly

Consistent and concise information

Attractive visual effects

Flexibility

The site should let the user access the information

he wants with ease. Complex navigation is an

absolute no-no.

Many sites have breadcrumb trails and dynamic

menus for this very purpose.

Case In Point The Hexaware site has a dynamic menu for

categories and subcategories and a breadcrumb

trail for easy navigation. Sectional navigation on the

left and contextual navigation on the right makes

the site more organized.

Navigational

features

% using

this

feature

% not

using this

feature

Breadcrumb trail 69 31

Breadcrumb trail

with backward

navigation 64 36

Dynamic menus/

Tab Metaphor 79 21

Easy navigation and flexibility

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

72% of the service company sites have dynamic menus

or tab metaphors

A majority of the IT service sites have a sitemap

Search

Overall Percentages

With sitemap 76 Detailed Sitemap 39

Without sitemap 24 Basic Sitemap 61

Sitemap

Search option has become a common feature

The Treasure Hunt

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

Overall Percentages

With Search 90 Advance Search 14

Without Search 10 Basic Search 86

Sitemap data (%)

Services Products Niche BPO

With

sitemap 86 71 56 79

Without

sitemap 14 29 44 21

However, only 39% have a detailed sitemap. The

remaining 61% give a bird‟s eye view of the site.

Sitemap data (%)

Services Products Niche BPO

With

search 95 100 89 71

Without

search 5 0 11 29

Though a staggering 90% of the sites have a

search engine option, only a meagre 14% have

an advanced search option.

% IT Services IT Products Niche BPO Overall

Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No

1-2 clicks 5 95 29 71 11 89 43 57 20 80

2-3 clicks 73 27 57 43 67 33 29 71 58 42

3-4 clicks 5 95 7 93 0 100 7 93 5 95

Inconsistent 17 83 7 93 22 78 21 79 17 83

Information at the Click of your fingers

• Fewer clicks = quick availability of information

• On most websites surveyed, the site visitor managed to get to the desired page in 2 to 3 clicks

• None of the websites required more than 3 clicks to get to the desired level in the site

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 Navigation Contextual navigation bars are placed beside or

embedded in the body copy to entice the user to

go deeper into the site. They are situational and

insightful.

There was a marked increase in the number of

Niche company sites with contextual navigation

Case in Point The GlobalLogic website places contextual

navigation at the right hand side of the body

copy in the relevant industry pages. The related

links support the information available on the

page making it more interesting and well-

explained. The FAQs section also gives quicker

access to common questions.

Category Websites with

contextual

navigation(%)

Websites without

contextual

navigation(%)

IT Services 100 0

IT Products 86 14

Niche Services 89 11

BPO 64 36

Overall 86 14

The Related Zone


Category % of sites with

personalization

% of sites without

personalization

IT Services 73 27

IT Products 78 22

Niche Services 33 67

BPO 35 65

Overall 59 41

• Personalization through country and

language links seems to depend on

the respective company‟s

geographical reach and target

markets

Unity in Diversity

Around the World…or not

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

Personalization

There has been an overall

increase in site personalization

from last year

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

Call to action

Quinnox has interaction cues like

„Request for information‟ and

“Search Current Openings‟

Tally has Chat, Demo and

Webinar options for registered

users

12

Content ―Wide angle view

―Content style

―Value proposition

Technology creates the context for

persuasion, but content persuades

– Colleen Jones

Quick review

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

IT Product Companies

Though the basic format of the site

is followed throughout, there is a

lack of consistency in style and

length across the different products

IT Services Companies

Consistency of information across

the site has been maintained, and

there has been an increase in the

usage of charts and diagrams

BPO Companies

The sites have clear, concise and

easy to understand content with

limited use of jargon

Niche Players

Though the site follows a basic

format throughout, there is a lack in

consistency in style and length

across the different offering pages

Content Style

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

Most sites contain case studies, whitepapers,

and other resources. Some sites have resources

created as a result of academic or other

collaborations.

71

88 86

29

12 14

Products Niche BPO

Diagrams, charts and animations are

increasingly being used for greater clarity of

content. Even IT services companies are

jumping on to the bandwagon.

All IT services companies sites provided

resources in some fashion.

28

43

78

65 72

57

22

35


A majority of the niche companies rely on tables

and charts for more attractive content

Contextual

Resources

Diagram

Usage

Technical content is limited

23

36 44

14

77

64 56

86


Technical

style of

content

86

48

27

14

52

73

ContextualResources

DiagramUsage

TechnicalContent

Over all

Cross

Segment

Analysis

% Yes

% No

• Company sites have begun using

an „Expert Speak‟ column for their

services.

• Some companies, such as Wipro,

have used academic collaborations

to develop content such as

research reports and case studies

Value Proposition Messaging

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

A good word from clients and employees


Mastek‟s career page

has employee and

alumni quotes and

videos

Companies are adding employee testimonials in the form of quotes and even videos to

showcase their work environment

Some companies have client testimonials in video or quote form for some or all of their

product offerings

Tech Mahindra has a

client speak section with

audio and video bites

What stood out and what did not

Hits

• All companies studied make good use of social media with a presence on

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Delicious, RSS, etc. Quite a few of them have active

blogs.

• Companies have also provided the options of bookmarking, printing and e-

mailing web pages.


Misses

• The websites of L&T Infotech, Tech Mahindra and Hexaware have content that

gets a little technical when they talk about their products or services, and some

visitors to the sites may find this difficult to understand.

• The websites of some companies like IBM and Mastek have a text-heavy style

without diagrams or tables, making the content a difficult read.

Design Aesthetics ― Hygiene Factors

― Packaging

― Hall of Fame

• Judging website designs can be extremely tricky, because one person‟s purple is another‟s pink. We have structured our review in two parts. In the first part, we grade the reviewed websites according to different hygiene parameters

– Colour Impact

– Legibility

– Readability

– Consistency

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

Design Decisions

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

• The winner yet again – Nearly 97% of the websites

combine a white backdrop with either white or grey font

Hygiene Habits

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

65% of the surveyed sites maintained design consistency

60% of the sites maintained page length consistency

63% of the surveyed sites maintained a clutter-free homepage

53% of the surveyed sites had a

white-grey combination

43% of the surveyed sites had a

white-black combination

Packaging

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

Great Stuff

Most sites used plenty of visuals and colours to keep readers engaged. Long texts and

explanations were broken with tables and images to prevent monotony.

The iGATE– Patni site keeps readers

engaged by breaking down explanations

into tables

The Accenture site has images on almost

all pages

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


Cognizant paints a pretty picture with its

innovative images on mobility

The TCS industry overview page with

sectional navigation on the left shows good

usage of an image.

Home, sweet home: Pages you don‟t want to

leave…


Wipro Technologies welcomes you with a clean

and neat page that sparks interest through videos

and animation

Accenture is another winner with its bright colours

and image roll.

The Hall of Fame

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

How to make a non-flash home page interesting


ARIBA

Covers all aspects of the website without cluttering the home page


Capgemini

Stands out from the crowd with a revolving resource showcase

and a simple, yet prominent call-to-action


BearingPoint

Simple visual, yet loaded with information


1

2 3

4

5

More

Cognizant

Smart thinking – Embedding the core message in the website through

vibrant colours and eye-catching logos


Connecting Smarter

Planet to IT

solutions

Marketing messaging extends to web design at a granular lever

IBM

A catchy line can grab attention only when combined with the right colours,

visuals and placement – Novell hits the bull‟s eye!


Half the job done!

Novell

Business meets art at NetApp to create a visually appealing and

information-friendly website


NetApp

The right mix of corporate colours produces a crisp home page


Ciber

Almost every website has a flash these days. It‟s what you do with it that

matters. An interesting and informative use of flash by Persistent


Persistent Systems

Web 2.0 ― RSS

― Facebook, Twitter

― Blogs

― Document Sharing

― Communities

RSS feeds

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

RSS feeds

91% 86%

56%

36%

71%

ITServices

ITProducts

Niche BPO Overall

RSS or Really Simple Syndication has become the norm in most sites

surveyed

71% of the total sites surveyed had an RSS feature. This is a huge increase from the

previous WebWatch report where only 41% of the total sites surveyed had the RSS

feature.

Facebook

Facebook usage

77% 79% 78%

29%

66%

ITServices

ITProducts

Niche BPO Overall

• Facebook is an increasingly

popular mode to connect with

customers

• 66% of the surveyed

companies have Facebook

pages

• BPO companies are still

exploring the Facebook

trend. Only 29% of the

surveyed sites have

Facebook pages.

37

Document sharing

SlideShare/Scribd/Other usage

32%

21%

0% 0%

17%

ITServices

ITProducts

Niche BPO Overall

• Sharing content over

Slideshare, Scribd and other

platforms is a new and

emerging trend

• The trend is still in the

exploratory stages and

only 17% of the surveyed

companies have this

feature.

• Niche and BPO companies

are yet to experiment with

this trend.

38

Twitter

Twitter usage

86% 86% 78%

50%

76%

ITServices

ITProducts

Niche BPO Overall

• Twitter is a mass

communication channel – used

for news dissemination, content

promotion, event coverage and

careers

• About 42% of the

companies have dedicated

Twitter pages with well-

defined purposes

• All niche companies and

nearly all BPO companies

have a single Twitter

handle

Twitter is the top social media channel for

all companies

39

Blogs

Sites with Blogs

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

59%

79%

56%

14%

53%

ITServices

ITProducts

Niche BPO Overall

• Blogs are slowly becoming popular on company websites

– There has been a steep increase in the number of IT product companies with employee blogs

– Niche companies have caught on to the trend while BPOs still lag behind.

• Companies like Infosys & Wipro have blog channels, sharing employees‟ and management‟s views on whitepapers, other content and current industry trends.

• Communities are still a novelty

– Product companies are early adopters

– The discussions are democratic, lively, and often helpful

Microsoft forums enable users to

get tech guidance from experts

..Also, questions and issues raised in the

forum helps developers create new tools and

processes

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, or can simply crib

about them!

Communities

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

Communities

18%

71%

24%

ITServices

ITProducts

Niche BPO Overall

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

forum, a wiki section to name a few.

Summing up

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

• Increased focus on simplicity

• Targeting better engagement with visitors by increasing

interactivity of the site through contextual links, videos and

images

• More efforts to convey message to the audience more

clearly

• Social media tools well integrated to the website

Thank You !

Team Prayag

Have a question? Suggestions? Feedback?

We would like to hear from you

mailto:[email protected]

Aditi Technologies

Applabs

Ciber

GlobalLogic

IDS- Now Software AG

Microland

Persistent Systems

Sasken Communication

Technologies

Yash Technologies

24/7 Customer

Aegis

EXL Services

First Source

Genpact

IBM Daksh

Indecomm Global

Services

Sitel

Sutherland Global

Services

Sykes Enterprises

TracMail

vCustomer

WNS Global Services

Zenta

Companies covered in this study

IT Services (22) IT Products (14) Niche (9) BPO (14)

Accenture

ACS

Bearing Point

Capgemini

Cognizant Technologies

HCL Technologies

Hexaware Technologies

HP

IBM

Infosys Technologies

Keane

L & T Infotech

Logica CMG

Mastek

MindTree

Patni Computer Systems

Polaris Software Lab

Quinnox

TCS

Tech Mahindra

Wipro Technologies

Zensar

Ariba

Cisco Systems

Citrix Systems

Cranes Software

Honeywell

Intuit

McAfee

Microsoft Corporation

NetApp

Novell

Oracle

Ramco Systems

SAP AG

Tally Solutions

44

webwatch 2011

Business

easy navigation

complex navigation

sectional navigation

navigation dynamic menus

sitemap search option

indian companies

technology companies

website design