Governisation

Most of us now use finance websites regularly to check on the state of our bank balances, loans and credit cards, and even comparatively minor online problems can affect our user experience.

UK financial services companies risk falling foul of the new industry regulators because of outdated web content.

Most police forces now see the web as a vital way to interact with their local communities to help prevent criminal activity and to report crime as it happens.

Gone are the days when would-be university and college students relied on the “milk round” as the sole way of finding their higher education needs.

An organisation’s website is now the vital centre of its communications and particularly so for companies involved in the complex life science sector, so it’s good to see some well-known pharmaceutical names are improving their websites.

Wolverhampton-based brewer and pub chain Marston’s holds on to its number one place as best FTSE website – bar none -in our third benchmark of the FTSE All Share company websites in 2013.

The London borough of Hounslow has repeated its success of the spring and remains the leader in the Sitemorse Index of local government websites, with Cornwall and the Scottish Border councils close contenders for the top spot.

Websites that provide an excellent, error free customer experience to ensure visitors find what they are looking for and want to come back are vital for any organisation that wants to be out in front of its peers today.

A website that works well is often a very good indicator of a well-performing business, and the UK’s retail sector is no exception.

Just as Swiss watches have a well-deserved reputation for precision, the top Swiss banking websites in our quarterly review have maintained an excellent performance.