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Webranking 2022-2023 summary

Our Webranking research offers rich insights into changing audience expectations and shines a light on corporate communication best practices. This is a summary of the results and learnings from the 2022-2023 research. It covers what stakeholders expect from companies regarding information about the company, investor relations, ESG, press, careers, and other areas that analysts, investors, journalists and jobseekers consider to be essential.

On this page you can get an overview of what stakeholders expect from corporate websites and learn how you can improve your website.

See the full results list for Europe 500 or read about the Webranking report.

Here are our findings in the 10 Webranking sections - scroll down or click on one of the sections:

Download the summary white paper as a PDF

Homepage

The Homepage can be thought of as a virtual front door to your business as it is often the first point of contact that potential customers or clients will have with your company, so it's important to make a good impression.

An informative homepage can help to improve the user experience for visitors to your website. By providing clear and concise information, visitors can easily find what they are looking for and navigate to other pages on your website. This can also help to increase the likelihood that visitors will spend more time on your website

The average Homepage fulfilment this year among all ranked companies was 55%.

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NCC’s homepage creates a good overview of the company, including business areas and sustainability information

About Us

The About Us section is one of the most visited sections of the corporate website, capital market professionals and jobseekers alike visit this section to gain an understanding of a company's operations, mission and vision.

By providing detailed information about your company, including your history, mission, and values, you can show potential customers that you are a legitimate and trustworthy company. The average score was 46% this year which is the same as last year.

Your stakeholders want to gain deep knowledge about your business areas, including financial results. They help give the user an understanding of how big part of your company’s business that specific business area is. Only 15% of the ranked companies provide this information, so improvement is definitely needed.

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Holmen offer a great overview of their business areas, with a short introduction and key figures (including a comparison with last year).

Press

The press section should cater to journalists and stakeholders wanting to keep updated on a company. An easy-to-find and user-friendly press section promotes transparency and shows journalists that a company is willing to work with them

The average score for the press section was 49% which is a slight improvement since last year.

As various kinds of crises are becoming more and more common in our world (for example Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine), it is important that companies show that they are prepared to handle them.

Presenting information about how you would communicate during a crisis is a good start, for example, explaining which channels you would use. Of the ranked companies, as little as 2% present this which leaves a lot of room for improvement.

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Screenshot of DHL's crisis management policy,

DHL explain how they will communicate both internally and externally in a crisis, including in which channels

Reporting

Screenshot of TietoEvry's inline XBRL viewer.

There is a lot happening in the financial reporting field, with new standards such as ESEF being implemented. The average score for the ranked companies was 54%, and it is one of the areas where the companies perform best.

As ESEF (European Single Electronic Format) is required for all listed companies in all European countries for Annual Reports covering the financial year of 2021, it should now be considered a new standard for all companies.

To comply with the new regulations, companies should provide an XBRL-package containing all necessary files. An Inline XBRL-viewer that allows the reader to open an XBRL file directly in their internet browser.

Just 15% of the companies provide an Inline XBRL-viewer and we hope to see more companies presenting this next year when they are more used to the XBRL-reporting format.

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TietoEvry offer the XBRL-tagged Annual Report in an Inline Viewer.

The Share

Providing information about your company's shares is important for a number of reasons. For one, it helps potential investors understand the ownership structure of your company and how much of it is available for investment. This information can also help potential investors make informed decisions about whether or not to invest in your company.

The companies have on average received 38% in the share section, meaning that most companies can improve in this area.

A dividend policy is a company's approach to distributing profits to its shareholders. It is important for a company to communicate its dividend policy to shareholders because it can affect the shareholders' expectations and their decisions about whether to buy, hold, or sell the company's stock Because of this, a dividend policy including an estimated pay-out sum should be presented on a corporate website. 33% of the ranked companies present this.

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Screenshot of Fresenius dividend payments

Fresenius present detailed information about their dividend payments. You can also change currency and view the graphs in colour vision deficiency mode

Investor Relations

Screenshot of Ashtead Gorup's risk management section

Investor Relations (IR) of a corporate website should facilitate clear communications between a company and its financial audience. It allows potential investors to easily access information about the company, such as its financial performance, business strategy, and leadership team. By making IR information readily available, a company can demonstrate transparency and accountability, which can build trust with investors.

Still, IR information continues to be the biggest challenge for the companies, since the average score only is at 26%. This is concerning considering the increased expectations on companies to disclose this information.

Informing about risk management and which risks apply to your business is getting increasingly important in today’s uncertain world. This is an area where the companies can improve since the average score only is at 18%.

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Asthead Group provide a detailed risk management section including impact, mitigation and change for each risk. There is also an indication if the risk is predicted to increase or decrease.

Governance

The overall objective of a corporate governance section is to provide complete transparency about your company and operations. It can also improve the company's reputation and build trust with its investors, customers, and other stakeholders.

Governance information can also help you comply with regulatory requirements.. By presenting this information on the website, companies can ensure that they are meeting these requirements.

The average score for the ranked companies this year was 47%. It is one of the better-performing areas for the companies.

An area of improvement is to present more information about the remuneration paid to the management. On a corporate website, both the remuneration policy and the numbers paid should be presented.

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Screenshot of Fortum's remuneration policy.

Fortum present the remuneration principles on the same page as the data on the remuneration paid. The numbers are presented in tables, making it easy to get an overview.

Sustainability

Screenshot of Givaudan's materiality analysis.

By providing information about the company's sustainability efforts on their website, a company can show stakeholders that they take sustainability seriously and are committed to operating in an environmentally responsible way.

Providing transparent sustainability information can also help a company to demonstrate compliance with relevant regulations and standards, such as those related to environmental protection and sustainability reporting

The companies have, on average, received 42%, and there has been no improvement since last year. Companies really need to start keeping up with increasing expectations in this area.

An area for improvement for the companies is presenting materiality analyses, clearly showing which sustainability issues are most essential to their business and stakeholders.

A materiality analysis can help to build trust with stakeholders by demonstrating that the company is committed to addressing the issues that are most important to them. 21% of the ranked companies present a materiality analysis.

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Givaudan present both how they engage with different stakeholder groups, and the material topics. The topics are also related to the SDGs and their purpose.

Careers

The Careers section needs to cater to a broad spectrum of potential candidates. In order to effectively brand your company as an employer, it's important to focus on your company's mission, values, and culture. This can include highlighting your company's commitment to diversity and inclusion, as well as the commitment to your employees' professional development and well-being.

You should also include information about the benefits of working for the company, such as compensation and flexible working opportunities.

As we have seen in previous years, Careers information remains as one of the biggest challenges for the ranked companies. The average score was 39% in this section.

The importance of having a job where you feel a sense of purpose is increasing for jobseekers, but only 50% of the ranked companies clearly state their purpose in the Careers section. This is essential information to be able to attract talent.

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A screenshot of Michelin's page explaining their company purpose

Michelin clearly explain their purpose from different perspectives, including sustainability. Key facts are also provided.

Features and functionalities

An intuitive user experience, including a logical site structure and navigation, responsive design and accessible content, plays a vital role in delivering a compelling website.

A user-friendly website is important because it provides a positive experience for users and helps them find the information they need quickly and easily. This can help to improve the reputation of the company and increase the likelihood that users will return to the site in the future. It is also for accessibility reasons, which is important from both a legal and ethical standpoint.

Features and functionalities is one of the best performing areas for the ranked companies, where they have on average received 49%.

One of the most important features is the navigation system, to help users find what they are looking for. The companies have on average received 67%, which is at a fairly good level.

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Arkema provides several indicators of where you are in the website structure, both breadcrumbs and a highlight. All available pages in the section are also shown.

Helena Wennergren

Senior consultant

helena.wennergren@comprend.com

+46 70 971 12 10

James Handslip

Agency Director London

james.handslip@comprend.com

+44 (0)20 8609 4908

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