Engaged Web Report 2012 - New Zealand

BENCHMARK REPORT

THIS REPORT PROVIDES A SNAPSHOT OF THE
ENGAGEMENT LEVELS OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOST
POPULAR (HIGHLY TRAFFICKED) WEBSITES.

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. . . . . . . . . . . 6

ONLINE COMMUNITIES
AND SOCIAL MEDIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Results overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Who’s doing it well?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The rapidly changing world
of social media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

MULTIMEDIA CONTENT. . . . . . . . . 12
Results overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

PERSONALISATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Intergen is proud to present The Engaged Web in New Zealand Report, STICKY CONTENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
a benchmark survey of New Zealand’s most highly trafficked websites. Results overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
© Copyright 2012 Intergen Limited. Who’s doing it well?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

BLOGGING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

MOBILITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Results overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Mobility, mobility, mobility. . . . . . . . . 21

THE BASICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Who’s doing it well?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

DESIGN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Who’s doing it well?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

ABOUT US. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
About Intergen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
About Experian Hitwise. . . . . . . . . . . 27
About EPiServer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

BENCHMARK REPORT | THE ENGAGED WEB IN NEW ZEALAND | 2012 3

Introduction
But how well are we doing? Everyone knows
that there is more and more digital content
than ever before; there are more devices
than ever to consume media and create
content; and the speed with which we are
able to share digital information continues
to increase.
The digital haze that now sits over our
non-digital lives is becoming increasingly
pervasive; and the lines between working
and socialising – and what used to be
regarded as private information and private
lives – seem to be blurring all the time.
But are we actually more engaged? Are
those brands, organisations and businesses
that are the most popular in New Zealand,
getting better at connecting with their users,
their customers, their followers, their fans
and their connections? The short answer is
yes. They are doing a significantly better job
than last year. But there’s still plenty of
room for improvement. And with the speed
at which the web moves, there’s no time to
rest: engagement of your users requires
Increasingly, New Zealanders are using the web everywhere we go. So the challenge for many
constant focus.
organisations is to create an engaging and consistent experience across multiple platforms.
We’ve taken a very subjective concept –
engagement – and endeavoured to provide
a benchmarked snapshot of how our most
Just how engaging are New The 2011 New Zealand World Internet popular websites rate.
Zealand websites? Project (AUT University) cited the following
Is it possible to measure engagement? Why
statistics:
New Zealanders are some of the most seek to quantify what is a very subjective
enthusiastic web users in the world, and the »» Use of the Internet in New Zealand has term? Everybody understands the
results of this year’s Engaged Web Report continued to rise reaching 86 per cent in importance of making something really
strongly attest to this. In measuring New 2011, up from 79 per cent in 2007 and engaging, but when you try and break this
Zealand’s most trafficked sites two years in a 83 per cent in 2009. into singular components, things can
row, within the space of a year we’ve seen »» 69% of respondents rated the Internet as become tricky. Nevertheless, this report
significant change and greatly increased an important source of information seeks to do just this.
engagement levels amongst nearly all of ahead of television, newspapers, radio This report outlines the results of a recent
New Zealand’s 50 most trafficked sites and other people. study that attempts to measure online
across ten industries.
»» 58% of New Zealanders feel the Internet engagement in New Zealand across 10
The web has come to touch every part of our is important or very important in their different industry sectors.
lives. Our appetite for all things web is everyday lives.
Engagement requires continuous effort, and
voracious, and research shows us that we’re »» Almost half (48%) say they use the in the conclusion to the report we have
only getting hungrier, more demanding and Internet to sell things.1 made some suggestions about how best to
less accepting of sub-par online experiences.
In addition, a study published in September engage. Again, every organisation will be
2011 found that New Zealanders spent quite different, but we consider there are
longer on Facebook (per session) than any simple steps that you can take right now to
other country (excluding Singapore).2 help assist in how you use the web to
And smartphone penetration in New engage with your customers.
Zealand is the ninth highest in the world,
between Norway and Denmark.3

4 BENCHMARK REPORT | THE ENGAGED WEB IN NEW ZEALAND | 2012

Methodology
In order to obtain an insight into how some As a result, the website examples used The engaged web categories
of New Zealand’s leading brands and larger throughout this document are not we measured the websites
organisations are making their websites and necessarily taken from the list of top 50 against included:
overall online experience more engaging, we most trafficked websites. In order for us to
sourced a list of the top five most highly show relevant examples in each area, we 1. Social media ANd online
have selected best of breed New Zealand communities 4
trafficked sites in ten industry sectors, as
»» Does the organisation use social media
calculated by leading online measurement websites, irrespective of whether or not
to share and distribute their content?
services company, Experian Hitwise. these feature in the list of New Zealand’s
most trafficked sites. »» Does the organisation actively initiate,
A sample of only five websites for each participate and respond to discussions
sector was taken and, for this reason, results Each website was analysed between April 8 within their community?
should not be generalised or considered to and April 20, 2012. Each organisation was »» Do they have a unique voice?
be exhaustive in relation to ‘New Zealand scored against a matrix of Engaged Web »» How often does the company upload
websites’ or specific sectors on the whole. categories in order to create an overall information and news to share with
In places where sector results were assessment of their engagement levels, to their community?
dominated by overseas websites, we selected provide an overall score out of 100. The 5
five New Zealand websites from the top 20 percentages in this document do not 2. Multimedia
»» Does the organisation use a range
sites in that industry in order to keep our include a decimal place and have been
of rich and interactive media to
commentary local. The data is based purely rounded down. Please note that communicate effectively?
on how many visitors visit each site, and not organisations analysed in this report may
»» Is the website copy engaging and
any other subjective basis. have changed their websites since the
easy to read?
assessment.
The rankings data is based on market share 6
3. Personalisation
of visits, which is the percentage of online We added a new category, Mobility, and we
»» Is there any evidence of personalisation
traffic to the website during the period merged some of the previous year’s on the website (allowing users to
surveyed. Each day, Hitwise provides insights categories because they are now so similar personalise their experience)?
on how 460,000 New Zealand Internet it’s hard to meaningfully distinguish
7
users interact with more than 1 million between them. For example, we removed 4. Sticky content
websites, across 165+ industries. Online Communities, Social Media and »» Does the website’s content compel
Dialogue and replaced them with Social the user to engage for longer than
The ten sectors examined were: Automotive, anticipated, and does the user want
Media/Online Communities.
Banking & Finance, Education, to return?
Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Because of notable changes in the web 8
5. Blogging
Government, Health & Medical, Lifestyle, since last year’s study in early 2011, the
»» Does the company have an official blog
News & Media, and Shopping & Classifieds. 2012 criteria against which websites are
and is it updated regularly?
analysed has been altered in certain places
For two of the ten industry categories – »» Is the blog’s content of a consistent and
to better reflect current web directions and
Health & Medical, and Lifestyle – the five high quality?
trends. Specifically, we have recognised the
websites were selected from a wider range
increased adoption of social networks and 6. Mobility 9
of data, as the top five most visited sites in
mobile technologies and we have »» Are mobile-optimised versions of the
these categories were all international site and/or native mobile applications
incorporated these into our survey and
brands. available on devices running:
subsequent reporting.
• Android (Google)
• iOS (Apple)
• Windows Phone (Microsoft)
»» Are users made aware of the mobile
version on the organisation’s website?
»» Where mobile/tablet applications are
available, what is the quality of the
user experience?

7. The basics
»» Is the website easy to use, with clean
and consistent navigation?
10
8. Design
»» What is the overall quality of the
website’s visual design?


Executive Summary
In the past 12 months, websites in New Zealand have invested significantly in making their
sites more engaging, while also embracing the opportunities created by the adoption of
social media and mobile devices.

2011 2012

#1 Entertainment #1 News & Media

#2 News & Media #2 Shopping & Classifieds

#3 Shopping & Classifieds; Health & Medicine; Automotive #3 Entertainment

In 2011, we conducted our first Engaged Web
study based on previous studies carried out by
EPiServer in the United Kingdom and
Australia. This year we have done the same,
benchmarking the concept of engagement
across New Zealand’s 50 most trafficked sites
in 10 industries.

What did this year’s results
show us?
When it comes to the web, we’re more
engaged than ever. New Zealand websites are
continuing to embrace the web as a channel,
with many industries (in fact, nine out of ten)
significantly increasing their levels of
engagement.
It’s not just about the Mothership. We’re
coming to expect brands to engage with us
wherever we are, on multiple devices, in
numerous ways. It’s no longer enough to think
only about your ‘Mothership’ website.
Internet-via-mobile is New Zealand’s greatest
web growth area. As a result, the web
landscape has become increasingly fractured
– the web isn’t just about websites – and
website owners will need to stay mindful of
their users’ changing needs (and devices) in
order to stay engaged.
It’s mobile. New Zealanders are embracing
mobile technologies and utilising smartphone
and tablet devices in increasingly larger
numbers. By virtue of their personal,
one-on-one nature, these devices invite
engagement, and many of the organisations
assessed are investing heavily in this area.
The 2012 engagement levels are summarised above, across the ten vertical sectors we analysed.


While some sites and services are simply be waning: within a 12-month period a 24% It’s getter harder to
rendering their websites in a suitable mobile decline in blogging activity was noted across be excellent
format, others are investing in the our most trafficked sites.
development of targeted mobile With the bar continually raising, with web
Overall, the best are doing better; the less trends evolving at pace, and with so much
applications, designed for a particular
engaged are (for the most part) doing more. online noise, it’s increasingly hard to stand
audience or a specific function or capability
(for example paying a bill or checking a out from the crowd. And with so many
Nearly all sectors that we surveyed
bank balance). As mobile devices become devices to consider these days, too,
demonstrated an increased level of
more prevalent, investment in these organisations are often forced to stretch
engagement. Some sectors – such as News &
solutions are likely to significantly increase themselves thinly, hedging their bets across
Media, Shopping & Classifieds and Banking
in the near future, and for many years the myriad channels in which their target
& Finance – demonstrated a greater level of
to come. audiences participate. The trick for
engagement despite already demonstrating
organisations with limited resources will be
a reasonable level of engagement last year.
Social is the norm. In many areas of our to do fewer things, and to do them well.
While Government is the sector with the
online activity we’ve come to expect social
lowest overall level of engagement, it Our digital footprints are growing and
interaction. 90% of the websites assessed in
actually had the greatest growth in digital content is becoming increasingly
this year’s report have embraced social
engagement: our figures show it grew 75% ubiquitous. We consume all sorts of content,
media, showing us that social media is now
in terms of how we measure engagement, on various devices, wrapped in and around
the rule, not the exception. Social networks
potentially highlighting a greater desire to our lives. We expect to see an increasing
such as Facebook have captured the hearts
interact with its constituency and/or utilise number of quality applications that do a few
and minds of New Zealanders, and New
online channels to reduce operational costs. things really well. But the fundamental
Zealand organisations are following suit.
The Health & Medicine sector, surprisingly, tenets of engagement will still apply: make
And where, in the recent past, organisations
we believe, was the only sector that showed it professional, relevant, timely, accessible,
might have looked to build their own
a reduced level of engagement. We found usable and interesting.
stand-alone community solution, now they’re
this surprising given the many opportunities
embracing existing social network platforms It’s not getting any easier – but those that
there are to liaise with an interested
for their own ends instead. rise to the challenge and remain restless will
community, although there could also be
It was interesting to note, on the other regulatory considerations that come into survive, and those that think they are ‘done’
hand, that blogging for business appears to play here. are in trouble. SHOPPING & CL ASSIFIEDS
BANKING & FINANCE

HEALTH & MEDICINE
FOOD & BEVERAGES
ENTERTAINMENT

NEWS & MEDIA
GOVERNMENT
AUTOMOTIVE

EDUC ATION

LIFEST YLE

51% 61% 45% 71% 48% 57% 67% 72% 48% 53% 27% 47% 51% 45% 42% 57% 53% 82% 51% 78%

2011 2012 The chart above shows the overall performance of each sector, comparing 2011 to 2012.


Online Communities
and Social Media
With more than a million New Zealanders on Facebook, and in excess of 400,000 using LinkedIn, social media
has become a core part of how businesses communicate with their customers. The conversation has moved on
from whether the organisation wants to use social media to which channels are most effective and how the
business can use them in new and different ways to stand out from the crowd.

Like any other form of communication, it’s Half of the websites assessed scored over
about delivering the right message, to the 75% for social media and online
right people, at the right time. The key word communities with nine sites scoring 100%.
is engagement and social media provides These sites use a wide range of social media
real-time feedback on whether your channels and actively grow their
company is getting it right. Of course, part communities by sharing relevant information
of tailoring your communication to your on a regular basis, engaging their followers
customers is making sure that you’re with interesting content and actively
adopting the right tone of voice and initiating and participating in discussions.
interacting in a way that resonates with your
Of the websites that had an online
audience. As a channel, social media will be

45%
community, nearly all (98%) regularly
more appropriate for some organisations
uploaded content, up from 83% last year,
than others, and you will need to consider
and 80% asked questions or ran surveys
which social media vehicles – if any – suit
(72% in 2011). Organisations are beginning
the purposes of your organisation, rather
to understand that social media channels
than adopt a blanket approach to social 45% OF New Zealand INTERNET
require a different type of communication to
media. USERS VISIT SOCIAL NETWORKING
traditional channels, such as the company
SITES WEEKLY, 28% DAILY.
website or newsletter. They are moving away
Results Overview from providing an ongoing stream of news
about products and services – a
Last year 73% of the 50 organisations company-centric focus – to offering more
studied featured a community on their engaging updates with an entertainment
website, and this year that figure has risen factor. Whether these are competitions,
to 90%. Facebook and Twitter remain the interesting news articles, funny or inspiring
most common platforms for creating a photos or a simple ‘how was your long
community, although a small number of weekend?’ people are joining the
organisations choose to maintain their own conversation and sharing content with
online forum or message boards. friends.
The sectors that stood out as excellent when Businesses are recognising that they need to
it came to the use of online communities embrace social media. It’s not about
and social media were Shopping & jumping on the latest social media
Classifieds, News & Media, Banking & bandwagon; it’s about considering each
Finance, and Education. medium strategically and finding a way to
make it work for their company or risk
getting left behind. Twitter usage jumped
from 55% last year to 70% this year, and
Facebook presence grew from 61% to 76%.
Of the sites assessed, 34% included links to
another social media channel such as
YouTube, LinkedIn or Flickr.
Increasingly, organisations are recognising
the benefits of allowing people to share

9/10
content via social media (2012: 62%; 2011:
42%), although there is still some hesitation
around allowing people to rate and tag
content (2012: 24%; 2011: 12%).

OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOST TRAFFICKED
SITES FEATURED A COMMUNITY.


Air New Zealand does a fantastic job of engaging with their customers, no matter where they are.


It’s easy to gauge whether the communities The rapidly changing world
you’ve created are working for you. If they of social media
are growing, and you are receiving
comments or interaction from followers, Five years ago many people were still
you’re likely doing the right thing. But don’t figuring out whether they wanted to accept
expect everyone to talk to you. Even if an invitation to this thing called Facebook,
people join your community or follow you and marketing professionals started
on Facebook or Twitter, they are less likely to considering the potential for communicating
interact with you than with their friends. through this new channel. Initially there was
Just because they don’t comment on or like debate over whether it was just a fad or
your posts, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t something that would change the way we
seeing your messages or don’t feel part of do business, but time has shown that social
the community. media has very much become a part of

1/3
our lives.
The term ‘social media strategy’ may sound
Who’s doing it well? like corporate jargon, but whatever you call
Air New Zealand is one of the best it, your organisation does need to think
practitioners of community building through about social media from a strategic New Zealand SOCIAL
the use of social media. perspective. For example, it was interesting to NETWORK SITE MEMBERSHIP
note that some organisations advertise that IS UP BY A THIRD SINCE 2009
They have always sought to provide an their Twitter feed is only supported during TO 64% OF INTERNET USERS
integrated experience for their customers office hours. Others, particularly news and (ALMOST ALL ON FACEBOOK).
– online or offline – and their digital media outlets, choose to maintain their
execution ensures a consistent experience. objectivity by not participating in the
Users can interact with Air New Zealand via conversations that their news posts generate
any number of social channels and this only online. It’s not about whether these
serves to spread and grow the airline’s approaches are right or wrong, it’s about
digital footprint. what’s right for your organisation.

Air New Zealand regularly innovates, now allowing customers to book flights via Facebook.


Here are some tips:

1. Develop a policy
Make sure everyone is clear who
maintains social media channels,
how negative comments are dealt
with, has guidelines for taking part
in conversations, understands the
desired tone and how social media
integrates with your other
communication channels.

2. Tell people
You wouldn’t dream of leaving your
company’s contact details off the
website. Advertise your social
media sites and make it easy to
join. It’s amazing how many brands
hide their social channels.

3. It’s a conversation
Create a dialogue. Ask questions
and reply to comments. Be
As the web becomes increasingly distributed, organisations need to carefully consider the
genuinely interested in each
unique needs of each platform, while still accurately reflecting their brand.
member of the community.

4. Good customer service
Recognise that social media is a
Social media ROI and very public customer service
measuring sentiment channel. Getting the right people
to deal with complaints quickly
An area that continues to grow is social
and efficiently both online and
media analytics. Measuring the impact of
offline will go a long way to
communications and mapping the return on
protecting your brand.
investment (ROI) is now fundamental for
many companies, and increasingly we are 5. One size doesn’t fit all
seeing tools that quantify and track social Tailor content for the channel and
media engagement. Facebook provides the audience. Don’t always put the
insights into followers and their interactions, same post on your blog, Facebook
Klout.com promises to discover your page and Twitter feed – the same

96%
influence and compare it with others, and a customer might follow all of them
number of more sophisticated products are and they’ll quickly get bored.
making their way into organisations, and are
becoming key success metrics at the 6. Choose your voice
executive level. 64% OF New Zealand
Is your tone corporate or personal?
INTERNET USERS BELONG TO Are posts anonymous or do you
There’s no disputing that most organisations identify the person or people
A SOCIAL NETWORK SITE; OF
now have some sort of social media customers are talking to? Have a
THOSE, 96% SAY THEY USE
presence, but not all of them are engaging clear, consistent point of view and
FACEBOOK THE MOST.
their followers, and this is where there is stick to it.
room for improvement.
7. Do it well
It’s better to focus on one or two
social media channels and be
exceptional, than to spread
yourself too thinly.


Multimedia
Content
Many people spend a large part of Results Overview less multimedia content than they did in
their working day in front of a 2011. The fact remains that New Zealand’s
While almost all websites assessed included
broadband coverage is limited and falls well
screen and much of their leisure some rich media content, the use of
behind international broadband standards,
multimedia really varied between sites.
time online. Multimedia content and this is most likely a contributor to New
However, almost half of the organisations
makes your site interesting and Zealand organisations’ hesitation to rely too
reviewed scored over 75% for multimedia
heavily on or experiment too greatly with
engaging, and presenting content showing that they are really
multimedia content.
thinking about different ways to engage
information via ways other than
their web audience. Still, 18% of websites It is expected that the government’s
text can make it easier to digest scored 10 out of 15 or less in this area, Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and Rural
and understand. leaving room for improvement when it Broadband Initiative (RBI) will go some way
comes to providing their audience with to improving this situation – and with it the
Although producing multimedia a variety of rich and interactive ability for multimedia content to be widely
content can be costly and require experiences online. accessed – in the next few years.

specialist resources, incorporating The News & Media and Entertainment Communicating a large amount of diverse
sectors scored particularly well at above information on the web remains a challenge
it into your website can add
80% for multimedia. Given the amount of for many organisations who still share large
tremendous value to the user video and photographic content this type of chunks of text for the reader to delve into
experience, giving users alternative organisation produces in their day-to-day and decipher. Organisations need to take a
business, this finding is not surprising. step back and look for new and interesting
ways of interacting with
However, a number of organisations across ways to convey their message to make it
information, while giving all of the other sectors stood out as easy for users to come away from the site
organisations new opportunities to exceptional in their use of a wide range of with the information they need.
interactive content.
attract and inform their audience. A number of the sites assessed used
It’s interesting to note that, overall, New multimedia well in certain areas of the site,
Zealand’s 50 most trafficked websites used but completely lacked any multimedia
content in others. There is room to think
about peppering video and multimedia
content across other parts of the site to
create more consistent engagement.

New Zealand’s most visited
sites used less multimedia
content in 2012 than they
did in 2011.

MetService uses a growing range of media types, content and channels to share information.


The number of New
Zealand households able
to access a broadband
connection is expected to
reach over 1.3 million by
2015 (just over a quarter
of New Zealand’s current
population).

Who’s doing it well?
MetService engages its website visitors
with a wide range of multimedia content.
Interactive weather maps, scrollable
day-by-day forecasts, three-hourly moving
rain maps and satellite imagery help
people to understand and interpret the
weather forecast.
MetService TV offers a weekly roundup of
the weekend’s weather forecast, delivered
in a traditional news-style video delivered
by the MetService weather reporter.
Each week visitors are encouraged to
submit their weather photographs to vie
for photo of the week, and these are
displayed in a gallery of spectacular Like an increasing number of organisations,
weather images from around MetService continues to tweak and enhance its
New Zealand. online experience – adding new interactive
features and functions that allow users to go
For those trying to make their way by deeper into high-value content areas.
road, an interactive map displays images
from traffic cams across five of the
country’s main cities.


Personalisation
What is personalisation? In short, personalisation is about tailoring your site to the person who is visiting.
Why are they visiting today? What content are they most interested in? What’s relevant to them? And how
do they want to view the information?

It’s common for organisations to offer some personalisation, allowing their customer to
form of log in and greet their visitors by choose what information they most want to
name when they sign in. It’s less common receive or even how they would like the site
for companies to deliver a customised to be presented on screen.
experience to each user based on their
The sectors that scored best when it comes
interests, location and preferences. This
to personalisation include Lifestyle,
can be for a number of reasons:
Shopping & Classifieds, and Entertainment,
Cost: Making a unique experience for every with visitors signing in to make purchases or
user can be very expensive to do. It can interact with other members.
require a lot effort from a design and
development perspective to make sure that
the site can be personalised without it
breaking.
ROI: In addition, some ‘personalised
experiences’ are hard to justify from a ROI
point of view. This is especially true where
the personalisation is based on a customer’s
profile that is not accurately defined to
begin with.
Logic: Personalisation is a feature or
aspiration of a website that is often talked
about, and yet the execution can be poor.
This can be because it’s hard to know how
all the permutations and combinations will
actually display themselves on screen.

Results Overview
The 2012 analysis showed that the same
number of websites offered some form of
personalisation on their site as in 2011, with
86% giving visitors the option to sign in or
choose targeted content. Yet the results also
showed that these websites are doing more
with personalisation than they were 12
months ago.
While this is a positive finding, we noticed
that often signing in is about enabling the
visitor to transact or buy online, rather than
about creating a personalised experience for Trade Me’s standard of personalisation remains high – yet this is not
them. Only a handful of sites offered true at the expense of a clean, uncluttered interface.


Most good e-commerce sites provide a
high-level of personalisation based on
your login credentials and will
personalise the online experience based
on your unique preferences and history.
Fishpond is one of New Zealand’s
leading online retailers and provides a
good example of a personalised
shopping experience.

86%
of websites measured
Fishpond personalises your online experience once you’re logged in.

personalise the user
experience, giving visitors
the option to sign in or
choose targeted content.


Sticky
Content
Sticky content is a key component of the engagement puzzle, and it’s an area that’s very hard to define
because it remains incredibly subjective. That said, for the purposes of this study, we’ve defined sticky
content as: content that holds a visitor’s attention longer than anticipated, resulting in visitors spending
longer time periods on a website and encouraging them to return to the site.

Think of it as a logical and relevant Results Overview
extension of the content that you already
Around three quarters of websites had some
have on offer. Could your existing content
form of sticky content. News & Media sites
be augmented and enhanced with the
scored the highest, with each site analysed
addition of news feeds/social media feeds,
achieving 100%. Of the sites surveyed, 18
quizzes and polls, competitions, calculators,
scored 100% for providing content that
expert opinions, online seminars from guest
keeps their users engaged.
speakers or subject matter experts, or other
equally compelling content? If you’re not Often providing multimedia content such as
providing sticky content that draws users videos makes a site more engaging and
deeper into your site and makes them want encourages people to stay. Sticky sites
to stay longer or return later, you’re going to include an array of content like real-time
lose them to a competitor. news, social media feeds, quizzes and polls,
competitions, tutorials and testmonials,
Users expect more interaction online to keep
discussions and debates, business resources
them engaged, and sticky content is a
and tools, and lifestyle content such as
pleasant distraction that demonstrates a
weather updates or guest contributors.
depth of expertise, and an amount of
credible content that goes above and
beyond what is expected. A clear benefit to
you is that customers spend longer on your
site and discover things they may not have
come to find, but are pleased they did. The
impression you should create with your users
is that your site/app is actually a trusted
and ‘go-to’ destination of expertise – if you
invest in your content, your users will come
to expect and embrace change. They will
know that your site will constantly evolve,
adapt and grow; and your reputation will
become increasingly trusted.

85 artworks from Auckland Art Gallery’s collection are viewable on the Google
Art Project website. The quality of presentation, level of detail and interaction
design makes the experience incredibly compelling and ‘sticky’.


TV3 provides a range of sticky content
on its site, such as news feeds, the latest
weather and the evening’s schedule,
which helps to create a more engaging
experience for visitors.
TV3 essentially builds a microsite within
its website around each of the featured
shows and fans can spend time exploring
more about their favourite programme.
Visitors get drawn in with OnDemand
episodes, previous plot information,
quizzes on current shows, cast profiles,
photo galleries, message boards,
upcoming episode summaries and links
to additional content via social media.
In creating this sticky content, TV3 goes
above and beyond the expected with a
well-executed, logical and creative
extension of relevant content.

Major media brands build experiences around their core content – TV shows,
for example – and extend user engagement as far as possible.


Blogging
A few years ago business blogging was the latest ‘next big thing’ but the initial levels of enthusiasm
seem to have waned recently. Organisations are increasingly building their communities around
other social media channels, and the blog appears to be losing favour.

Conversely, in the personal sphere, blogging
is enjoying exponential growth, as evidenced
in the growing popularity of blog tools such
as Tumblr. Many organisations have
recognised that keeping a blog going
requires the inspiration to regularly come up
with new ideas and viewpoints and the time
and skill to write engaging posts. Customers
still enjoy reading a well-constructed blog
entry, so don’t discount blogging as an
important part of the communication mix
and a way of attracting repeat visits to
your website.

X3
TUMBLR.com NEARLY TRIPLED
ITS UNIQUE US AUDIENCE OVER
THE LAST YEAR.

Successful New Zealand blog, ReadWriteWeb (RWW), founded by Richard MacManus,
proves there’s no substitute for hard work.


Results Overview Who’s doing it well?
Blogging seems to be dropping in Blogging is hard work. In 2011, one of New
popularity with only 30% of sites featuring Zealand’s hardest working tech blogs was
a blog compared to 54% last year. Many acquired by a major US organisation.
organisations are choosing to focus on Started in 2003, the ReadWriteWeb (RWW) Is blogging for business
building communities through other social blog was and still is a testament to the yesterday’s news?
channels like Facebook and Twitter. effort of its founder and contributors.
Only 30% of the sites
Blogging still has a valid place as a Likewise, Public Address – which is a analysed featured a
strategic communication channel. A blog community of blogs – is another great local blog (down from 54%
can be less formal and more conversational example. Again, the team at Public Address last year).
than some of the more traditional news have demonstrated there’s no substitute for
channels, but at the same time offers a quality and having a collective of great
platform that is a step up from other social writers who continue to produce
media due to depth and coverage with well-written, well-researched, frequent and
subject matter expertise. A blog post can topical content.
present the company viewpoint in a
well-written and longer form than a typical
social media status update, which should
provide a level of credibility and adds to
your organisation’s brand. The
thought-leadership, opinion-led style of a
blog post also encourages a deeper level of
discussion and commentary.
Where organisations are choosing to blog,
they appear to be doing it well, with 93%
of companies with a blog updating it
regularly and 87% of them ensuring that
their blog is clearly advertised on the
website to encourage readers to visit.
Almost all News & Media sections featured
a blog and the Automotive, Education,
Lifestyle, and Shopping & Classifieds
sections also performed well.

Another excellent New Zealand website, Public Address, presents a
community of blogs and a aconsistently high standard of writing.


Mobility
People want content and the ability to take action wherever they are on a variety of devices from smartphones to
tablets. They want information, transactions, entertainment and personal connections, and they want it on the go.
At the most basic level, this means that organisations need to ensure that their website can be comfortably viewed
and navigated on multiple devices from the smallest of screens to the biggest. More forward-thinking companies are
developing specialised applications to make interacting with them via mobile device a great customer experience.

In particular, News & Media organisations,
Shopping and Entertainment brands, and, Designing for mobile
more recently, financial institutions, have
»» Quicker interaction
been leading the charge. They are tailoring
content for time-poor, on-the-go customers. »» Task-based behaviour
And they are providing value-added features »» Users even less tolerant of bad design
such as location-based services, for example »» Design for interrupted (on-the-go) browsing
highlighting where the nearest store is or
»» Make the interface simple (for touch-based interaction)
making recommendations on things to do
based on where the users are at the time. »» Offer location-based services where relevant

Results Overview
Of the websites assessed, 62% made some
attempt to provide a user-friendly experience
on mobile devices. This ranged from sites
that were optimised for viewing on a small
screen, to sites where the most popular site
content was selected for display on mobile,
depending on what a mobile user is most
likely to be looking for, through to
organisations that have developed a range
of specialised mobile applications available
for download.
The sectors that rated more highly for
The explosion in mobile content consumption will
engaging mobile experiences were: News &
continue to increase dramatically in the years ahead. Media, Banking & Finance, followed by
Source: Zero Shopping & Classifieds, Entertainment and
Automotive.
Where companies have developed mobile
applications, the vast majority have focused
on Apple iPhone and iPad users with fewer
applications being developed for platforms

27%
such as Android or Windows Phone.
As the concept of ‘online everywhere’
becomes the reality for more people, there is
an opportunity to consider how your website
is presenting on mobile devices and to OF NZ INTERNET USERS ACCESS
invest in custom-built mobile applications THE INTERNET VIA THEIR SMARTPHONES
across all platforms that make it easier for (UP FROM 18% IN 2009 AND 7% IN 2007).
your customers to engage with you. It’s
important to consider that it’s not simply
about (re)creating a cut-down version of
your ‘website on mobile’ but creating a
‘unique experience on a device.’


Westpac offers its customers the chance to do
their banking when they are out and about on
its mobile-optimised website. Customers can
check their account balances, transfer money
between accounts and view account activity
and upcoming payments.
The bank has also developed three
applications that can be downloaded to
mobile. Cash Tank (iPhone and Android) lets
you check the balance of your account
anytime at the touch of a button. Impulse
Saver (iPhone) lets you save a pre-selected
amount from your transaction account to your
savings account. And with Real Estate for
iPhone (developed in conjunction with
realestate.co.nz) you can view properties for
sale in your area, to see which are having
open homes while you’re on the road, rank the
features of the properties you view and add
notes or photos to the listing. The Banking & Finance sector was a big mover in this year’s report. Many institutions have
relaunched their public sites and a range of mobile apps in the past 12-18 months.

Mobility, mobility, mobility
While it’s obvious that the mobile experience is
not new, the golden opportunity lies in extending
your web presence to engage customers no
matter where they are and what device they are
Here are some key considerations:
accessing your brand from. Customers expect
that they will be able to view your website from 1. know which devices your customers use
a smartphone or tablet, but many organisations People use a number of devices. Many companies only focus on apps
aren’t even providing the basic hygiene factor for smartphones. Don’t alienate your customers by excluding them.
which allows their website to be viewed across
platforms within a mobile browser. 2. Be useful, Be creative
There is a lot of choice when it comes to apps. If your app is not really
What’s more, we found that even where
mobile-specific versions of a site existed, this was
useful, there’s not much incentive to download it.
not always the default option displayed, and the 3. Be selective
mobile-friendly version of the site, where Your mobile site doesn’t need to have all the features and functionality
available, required manual intervention (to select of your company website. In fact, to be easy to use, it probably
to view the mobile version of the site). However,
shouldn’t. Figure out what’s most important to on-the-go customers.
this can also (depending on your smartphone
device) be a preference in the browser settings of 4. Remember it’s mobile
a mobile device. Integrate with the in-built smartphone or tablet features of each device.
But using mobility to your advantage is about so How can you use location-based services? How can you create an app
much more than just developing a mobile version that uses the device’s camera? Not for the sake of it, but to add value.
of your website. Mobile applications open up a
5. Don’t forget the basics
world of possibility for new ways to engage your
Mobile sites should still be well branded and easy to navigate.
customers by providing services that make their
Designing for mobile is more challenging. Find a way to make it work
life easier when they are out and about. It’s
for each platform.
about putting yourself in your customer’s shoes
and identifying what their needs are on-the-go so 6. Listen to feedback
you can develop a customised tool that fits in Many of the mobile app marketplaces offer users the chance to review
their pocket. Applications offer the opportunity your app. Check in and see what your users are saying. Have you
to focus on ‘high-value, high-demand’ tasks and
factored these considerations into the next release of your software?
provide an experience that does a few things
exceptionally well.


The Basics
With so much focus and attention on the next big thing (mobile, social, location, apps, augmented reality etc), it’s
easy to forget the basics. While the basics of making sure your site is easy to use with clear navigation are now
hygiene factors, if you get them wrong your visitors will notice and this will be reflected in their level of engagement.
You’ll soon find that your customers will be going elsewhere.

There is an opportunity for organisations to It’s generally quite easy to add more and
take a stronger lead on helping people to more content to your website – and adding
navigate their website. All too often, a new features and functions to an
plethora of navigation bars and menus are application can also be relatively
provided for the user to sift through. Smart straightforward. However, many
companies are considering what information organisations forget to ask basic questions
they most want their customers to access like: What can we take out? What content
and presenting it in the most elegant, clear can be retired? How can we simplify this
and concise way. Plus, they continue to process? Is this still relevant? These are
review and improve the experience – they questions you need to ask yourself on an
are not content to consider that their ongoing basis. Challenge yourself to remove
website is ‘finished.’ superfluous content and tasks, and if you’re
not sure, run sessions with key users groups
– they won’t tell what you want to hear,
they’ll tell what you need to hear.

Large websites with lots of content, multiple audiences and product offerings (such as the AA)
are doing well when they still provide a clear and simple user interface.


White space is not something that needs to be ‘filled up’ with content. Give your content room to breathe,
and your users time to think. The New Zealand International Arts Festival website is a great example.

Most websites are getting the basics right. The AA delivers a lot of content to visitors Each page offers a very short introductory
They are easy to use, with clear and under a range of different topics but still paragraph at the top, and visitors can scroll
consistent navigation. manages to make it easy for visitors to down and click through to find the
pinpoint what they’re after. information they are after. Overall, the site is
Three in four websites assessed scored 80% fresh, uncluttered and easy to use.
or above on the basics and many scored The site navigation is very clear with a
100% in this section. global navigation bar and a scrolling The website presents a lot of information
navigation selector at the footer of each and it is elegantly executed. What’s more,
Sectors that came out tops include Shopping the overall user experience doesn’t degrade
page with relevant imagery to help guide
& Classifieds and News & Media with several as you drill down through the site – from top
user interaction. Each navigation menu has
other sectors also scoring well. to bottom and end to end, the standard is
a ‘Hot picks’ section, that highlights the
Many websites in this study contain a most important content. Pointers, such as generally high.
significant amount of content relevant to a the ‘In this section’ menu, are provided as
wide variety of visitors with different needs you explore the site to help with navigation.
and interests. However, most organisations we Navigation items that require and
analysed have carefully considered their site encourage you to take action are clear and
navigation and layout to make sure that consistently designed.
regardless of where visitors arrive on their
website they know where to go and can easily
pinpoint the information they are after.


Design
As soon as people arrive at your site (remembering that many users will come in below the homepage due to
varying search engine results), your site’s design makes an instant impression. An attractive, professional and
well-designed site reinforces your organisation’s brand and adds credibility to the information you provide. High
quality design is not an option – it should be mandatory.
Even if you have limited resources at your disposal, remember that if your site’s design is cluttered,
unprofessional and unintuitive, your visitors will leave and probably won’t return. Even at the most basic level,
you should ensure that your design provides a consistent experience, your layouts are clear and easy to follow,
and that every small detail looks polished.

Less than half of the websites assessed (23) How do you make accounting software
scored over 80% for design, with only four beautiful and a pleasure to use? Xero is
scoring 100% in this section. one of the stand-outs of the New Zealand
web scene, a successful exporter and a
While there is merit in keeping a web format
consistently great example of how to do
that users intuitively understand with
things well. They have focused on the
traditional navigation tabs and panels and
quality of their design coupled with an
information where they expect to find it,
engaging user experience from day one,
very few organisations innovate when it
and their business continues to thrive.
comes to web design. A strong design can
help your website to stand out above its
competitors and leave a lasting brand
impression on your customers. The proviso
here is to make sure that your design
decisions are appropriate for your users and
your sector. For example, if you are an online
gaming portal and your user base expects
rich media, animation, interaction and video
– then your design should reflect this.
Once again, it’s vital that the social
experience is connected to your overall
brand. In some cases, brands are investing
more heavily in social channels and mobile
apps above and beyond the ‘Mothership’
website. This is because this is where their
audience is. Even simple details like ensuring
your Twitter background has been designed
to reflect who you are can show how
seriously you treat design.

Xero’s commitment to world-class design from day one makes their website a pleasure to use.


The standard of digital design in New Zealand is high as evidenced by two recent Best
Design Awards Winners, Icebreaker (above) and Powershop (below).


Conclusion
At stated in our Methodology, measuring for engagement is a subjective challenge. That said, based on the
criteria used, and the most trafficked sites across the same ten sectors as last year, we have seen an overall
improvement in the way brands and organisations are engaging with their audiences – and indeed,
facilitating engagement between visitors.

The only sector that did not perform better Attend conferences and seminars Step away from the noise
in 2012 than in the previous report was It sounds obvious, but we all need to step It’s easy to get lost in the sea of hysteria
Health & Medicine, although the drop was back from our day-to-day projects and around digital proliferation. Many of us
not dramatic. And it was not surprising to refresh ourselves by listening to others and would do well to actually simplify our lives
note that those sectors that provide a lot of hearing from people who have had similar and our projects by doing fewer things,
rich media, video, high interaction, deep experiences. The annual conference better. Look at the next 10 features or
content, social engagement and solid Webstock is a great place to start if you’ve functions that you are adding to your site or
mobile support, lead the way. The ‘most never been before and is generally regarded app – what’s wrong with doing the first
improved’ sector was Banking & Finance as a world-class event with an eclectic three first? Try and get into a cycle where
(moving up from 4th to 8th). Again, this was line-up of speakers and hands-on workshops. you can release updates in an ongoing
not surprising, as many financial services manner – big projects are hard to do well.
providers really delivered in the past year – Be user-centered and business-driven Do less, and focus on the things that matter.
especially in the level of sophistication in Yes, it’s important to provide a user-centred
how they are using mobile to engage with experience – but this has to be tempered Apps, apps, and apps
their customers. with reality and the specific goals and Despite everything above, it’s hard get away
objectives of your organisation or business. from the fact that the number of
Your users may demand something that has applications (especially on mobile devices)
How to engage? no relevance to your brand, it may be costly will only continue to grow. The on-device
Where do I start? to create, or it may simply offer no real ROI mobile experience is so different to the ‘old
(now, or in the future). So, listen to your ways’ of desktop/laptop browsing that you
Based on some of the trends and themes
users – engage with them regularly on a need to treat it as such.
that emerged in this report, here are simple
face-to-face level – but you still need to be
things you can do to help make your online It’s not easy – get used to it
clear about who you are and what your
experience more engaging. The business of the web, applications, social
reason for being online is all about.
media and the continued explosion of
Follow your peers
Your brand is only as relevant devices and form factors is making life hard
Keep a close eye on what’s happening in as your next post for those in the business of creating the
your sector. New software, services, tools Stale content is poison. Inappropriate engaged web. Especially in New Zealand,
and devices are being released constantly. content, no matter how small or innocuous, where, typically, many organisations have
You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel, can undo years of hard work in minutes. You limited resources yet their users will continue
and if you’re actually a user of related need to make sure that people at the to expect an experience on a par with major
products and services, you’ll start to get a coal-face of your social channels actually online brands such as Facebook, Amazon,
feel for what works and what doesn’t – and understand your organisation and are Google and so on. This is just reality. If you
you’ll start to understand where empowered to respond and interact on your can’t do it all, you need to focus on what
communities of interest want to head next. behalf. If you’re not prepared to properly provides the greatest value for your business,
resource, support and train the people who and your users.
are your social experience, are you actually
doing more harm than good?


Engaged Web Report 2012 - New Zealand

Engaged Web Report 2012 - New Zealand

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (16)

Similar to Engaged Web Report 2012 - New Zealand

Similar to Engaged Web Report 2012 - New Zealand (20)

More from Intergen

More from Intergen (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Engaged Web Report 2012 - New Zealand