The annual Prayag Website study benchmarks websites of companies operating in the Indian IT and BPO sectors against global best practices for website design, navigation, content strategies and online marketing

1. WebWatch 2014
Prayag’s Annual Website
Benchmark Analysis Report

2. From the Principal‟s desk
The annual Prayag Website study benchmarks
websites of companies operating in the Indian
IT and BPO sectors against global best
practices for website design, navigation, content
strategies 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
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 2

3. Corporate websites in the study
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 3
• The study examined 54 corporate websites.
• The companies studied represented the typical mix of
technology companies.
• The study included both domestic companies and
multinationals operating in India
• List of companies studied is available at the end of the
report
10 10
13
10
11
Integrated
Service Providers
IT Products Emerging and
Mid-size players
BPO Other
Number of corporate websites analyzed
• Integrated Service Providers (IT
Services): Companies with
revenues flowing from diverse
vertical and horizontal services.
• IT Products: Companies with
revenue attributable mainly to
software product sales.
• Emerging and Midsize Players
(E&M): IT companies with
increasing presence in the IT
market.
• BPO: Companies deriving a
major portion of their revenues
from BPO services
• Others: Miscellaneous
technology companies

4. Assessment criteria
Navigation
Interaction cues
Flexibility and search
Sitemap
Contextual Navigation
Mobile responsiveness
Personalization
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Content
Highs and lows
Content style
Value proposition marketing
Employee and client speak
Design Aesthetics
Hygiene habits
Packaging
Hall of Fame
SEO
Page Title
Meta Description Tags
Content & Structure

5. Navigation
• Interaction Cues
• Flexibility
• Sitemap and Search
• Contextual Navigation
• Personalization
• Mobile Responsiveness
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Forrester Research estimates that
approximately 50% of potential sales
are lost because users can't find
information and that 40% of users do
not return to a site when their first visit
is a negative experience.

6. Attention deficit
syndrome
Interaction cues feature in the
websites studied and their
purpose is to capture the
attention of the users and
provide them with ways to
engage with the company.
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7. No more wild goose chases
Flexibility
• Flexible navigation features allow the visitor
to steer through the site effortlessly.
• Breadcrumbs afford one-click access to
higher site levels allowing for easier and
quicker navigation.
Case In Point
• The Aegis site with dynamic menus,
breadcrumbs, sectional and contextual
navigation makes it easy to use the site.
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Navigational features % using this feature
Breadcrumb trail 65
Breadcrumb trail with
backward navigation
63
Dynamic menus/ Tab
Metaphor
94
A combination of Breadcrumb trails and dynamic
tabs are key to a good website

8. A blueprint of the website
Who has included sitemaps? Zensar’s detailed sitemap
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Other than IT product and E&M players, most others had them thus organizing information in a structured manner
80
54 58
70 73
20
46 42
30 27
IT Services IT Products Emerging and
Mid-sized
players
BPOs Others
Without sitemap
With sitemap
A combination of Breadcrumb trails and dynamic
tabs are key to a good website

9. Different strokes for different people
An example of a site with a mobile responsive website:
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B2B sites reported that between 8% to 15% of visitors, accessed their site from mobile devices and this is bound to
increase.
Given this statistic, it is surprising that almost 70% of companies studied in this report had NOT enabled their site for
multiple devices.
DESKTOP
VIEW
TABLET
VIEW

10. Information – no further than a click or two away
The majority of websites surveyed were structured for optimal navigation and
provided critical information within 2-3 clicks
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How many clicks to your critical information?
%
ISPs IT Products E&M Players BPOs Others
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
1-2 clicks 40 60 0 100 46 54 20 80 9 91
2-3 clicks 50 50 50 50 54 46 80 20 55 55
3-4 clicks 0 100 40 60 0 100 0 100 18 82
Inconsistent 10 90 10 90 0 100 0 100 18 82
Note: Critical information represents web pages that provide important information on the company and do not include any
downloadable material

11. The Related Zone
Contextual Navigation
• Contextual navigation bars encourage users
to visit more pages. It promises improved
user experience as it provides relevant
content. A win-win for all!
• Niche company sites displayed increased
contextual navigation as they need to present
relevant content owing to the specialized
nature of their business
Case in Point
• All things related to business are available a
click away – encouraging the user to learn
more about that offering.
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 11
Category
Websites with contextual
navigation(%)
IT Services 70
IT Products 100
E&M Players 85
BPOs 90
Others 100

12. Appealing to the global user
Site localization which was seen more prominently in the websites of larger
companies is now featuring in the websites of emerging and medium-sized
companies as well.
Unity in Diversity
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Category
% of sites with
personalization
ISPs 70
IT Products 90
E&M Players 46
BPOs 80
Others 100

13. 





CONTENT
 The highs and lows
 Content style
 Value proposition marketing
 Employee and client speak
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 13
Technology creates the
context for persuasion, but
content persuades
– Colleen Jones

14. The highs and the lows
Hits
• Acknowledgment and acceptance that
content is key to an effective website
• Use of multiple ways to communicate a
message and going beyond text to attract a
reader and retain their attention
Misses
• The content on some websites were
overloaded with technical details, making it
hard to read.
• A text-heavy style without diagrams or tables
was another reason making the content a
difficult read.
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 14

15. Content is King
Use of Diagrams
Wipro‟s array of
collaterals have images
and illustrations that go
with each of them
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Most sites contained case studies, whitepapers, and articles. Some included reports that were results of academic or
other collaborations.
Diagrams, charts and animations were used extensively, for greater visual impact, especially among IT services
companies.
30
60
30
14
30
60
20
10
72
30
10
20
60
14
40
Integrated
Service
Providers
Product Emerging
and Mid-
sized
Players
BPO Others
% of Limited % of No % of Yes
IBM has showcased
its significant
collection of case
studies effectively

16. A potpourri of content
Content Mix
• All company sites in the survey provided
content through a mix of technical and non-
technical topics.
• Technical content was limited while
contextual and diagrammatic representations
were popular.
Case in Point
• Accenture illustrates its solutions with
illustrations and graphics that captivates the
reader.
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18.4
32.8
25.8
18.4
38.4
60.263.2
28.8
14
Contextual Use of
Resources
Use of Diagrams Technical Style of
Contents
Content presentation across segments
% of Partly/Limited % of No % of Yes

17. What they said and
What I heard
Case in Point
It is essential to convey your value
proposition clearly.
Adobe‟s site announces its
message in a simple and clear
manner along with key information
required for the site visitor.
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 17
All the basic details needed to inform and attract
customers

18. Your brand ambassadors
Brand promotion
Companies used employee quotes and even
videos to showcase their work environment
Case in Point
Product offerings and solutions too were
introduced through client testimonials videos or
quotes by some companies like SAP.
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For
professionals
seeking jobs
For jobs in
customer
service
For interns
and
freshers
Link to customer specific solution
details and testimonial

19. 






DESIGN AESTHETICS
 Hygiene Factors
 Packaging
 Hall of Fame
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20. A tricky affair
• Judging website designs can
be highly subjective. We
structured our review into two
parts. In the first part, we
graded the reviewed websites
according to different hygiene
parameters
• Color Impact
• Legibility
• Readability
• Consistency
• In the next part we looked at a
few sites, which had that
“certain something”, that
warranted a second look.
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 20

21. Just the basics
The winning design attribute once
again was
• A white backdrop with either black or grey
font. An overwhelming 97% of the websites
surveyed had used this background.
Other observations
• Use of the company‟s brand colors in all
websites.
• A shift to brevity in content.
• Only 19% of the sites maintained page length
consistency.
• Three out of four surveyed sites maintained a
clutter-free homepage
• Shifting trend towards increased content in the
menu.
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22. Thinking outside the box...
• Running TATA logo in the background
reinforces the brand association
• Marketing the cloud with creative design
enhances the appeal
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TCS
Engaging the user
• More use of visuals and colors
• Tables and images to break monotony of long explanations
Adobe

23. Home sweet home: Pages that are easy on the eye
Sitel
• Uncluttered homepage with bright image
sliders that highlight what they do
Intel
• Site has all the right elements- from a simple
design to use of brand colors to introduce their
key services
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24. Beauty in simplicity
Mindtree
Pleasant mix of brand colors makes the site
appealing
Capgemini
Provides all information creatively despite the
absence of a slider
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25. ZenSar and Global
Logic
A catchy caption combined with the
right colors, visuals and placement
hit the bull‟s eye
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26. THE HALL OF FAME
 And the winners are…
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27. Aegis
Crisp copy, effective use of brand
colors, and well spaced out – the
Aegis homepage has it all.
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28. Cognizant
Content flow has been designed to
sustain reader interest.
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29. NetApp
Clever use of illustrations without
compromising on business context
to add appeal in the NetApp
website
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30. Search Engine
Optimization

31. Hygiene Factors
• Bigger companies appeared
unhindered by rules on search
engine optimization.
• A surprise observation was the
absence of blogs in over 70%
of the sites studies. Blogs are a
„must have‟ feature for SEO as
they enrich the content on your
site.
• Whitepapers and case studies
which play the same role, were
however, used more commonly.
Prayag‟s Annual Website Benchmark Analysis Report 31

32. Have a question?
Suggestions? Feedback?
We would like to hear from you
Thank You
Team Prayag

33. Companies covered in this study
Integrated Service
Providers
• TCS
• Infosys
• Wipro
• Cognizant
• HCL technologies
• IBM
• HP
• Accenture
• Capgemini
• CSC
IT Products
• Tally
• SAP
• Oracle
• Microsoft
• Cisco
• Citrix
• Intuit
• McAfee
• Adobe
• NetApp
Emerging & mid-size
players
• InMobi
• Zensar
• Mindtree
• 3i Infotech
• Aditya Birla Minacs
• KPIT Cummins
• Persistent
• ITC Infotech India
• Aditi
• Global Logic
• L&T Infotech
• Tech Mahindra
• Hexaware Technologies
BPO
• Aegis
• EXL Services
• Genpact
• WNS
• First Source
• 24/7 Customer
• Sitel
• Convergys
• Hinduja global
• Serco
Other
• Dell
• Honeywell
• Symantec
• Quest
• Qualcomm
• Lenovo
• Avaya
• Nokia
• Intel
• Samsung
• Nvidia
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