Benchmarking and best practice identification

Benchmarking is our core tool. Like all such devices, it provides a realistic comparison with peer companies. This is often valuable in itself. However, our benchmarks are far more than a measurement tool: they are devices to highlight best practice across the sector and beyond. For that reason, we group benchmarking with another tool with the same aim, best practice identification.

Benchmarking

Bowen Craggs has developed its own methodology to benchmark websites, which our clients tell us is far more detailed, practical and relevant than other offerings. The set of metrics we use has been defined and refined by our work with global leaders across all sectors: ‘universal’ metrics measure sites as a whole, while ‘specific’ metrics looking at particular areas. We have two main services:

• The major corporate website benchmarking club, which uses a standardised set of metrics to compare a web presence with two sites chosen by the client (typically from competitors) and three best practice sites drawn from our existing database.

• Tailored benchmarking, for any organisation with a substantial web presence. This shares universal metrics such as design, navigation and use of language, but has specially created metrics that are relevant to the client site and the comparators. We often recommend that one or more of the comparators comes from outside the obvious peer group.

In addition, we have carried out tailored benchmarks on particular areas of a web presence, including investor relations and specific marketing sites.

Benchmarking technique

Bowen Craggs’ benchmarking technique is unlike any other:

• It takes a ‘user-based’ approach to consider how well the site works for different stakeholder groups.

• It considers always the profile and needs of the companies being examined: it is not objective, nor should it be. For the same reason, it is not ‘tick box’: every metric is judged by its existence, its quality and its utility to the client, rather than ‘Is it there or is it not?’.

• It is far more detailed than other benchmarks, but uses top-line scores, summaries and icons to make it usable at different levels, from skimming to a working document.

• We have a substantial database of benchmarks already carried out, which allows us to make accurate judgements as to the relative quality of the client site, and also acts as an invaluable pool of best practice.

Bespoke approaches

We recommend different approaches depending on the whether the client’s site is to be relaunched or simply improved. For a relaunch there is little advantage in providing detailed recommendations to improve the existing site. It is, however, worthwhile examining the current site in detail to:

• gain further understanding of the client’s activities and needs

• identify content that should be migrated or discarded.

A benchmark against a combination of competitors and best practice sites from other sectors allows us to highlight

• sections where the existing site is strong

• useful practice across the comparator sites.

The deliverable is a closely detailed benchmarking report. It is designed to be used at different levels. A summary and score sheet gives a quick overview, and is ideal for briefing senior managers, while detailed bullet point information is aimed at the website managers. Icons indicating good and poor practice on the site, and also best practice from elsewhere, aim to make the document as usable as possible. Many clients find the most useful element of our document is the recommendations summary, which is often turned into a ready-to-go worksheet.

Best practice identification

In contrast to the structured benchmark, best practice identification is used to scan a much broader set of sites for inspiration and information on particular areas. Depending on the scope, we can look at anything from 12 to 60 sites, using our existing knowledge as a starting point but invariably identifying new features that are particularly relevant to the client. As well as helping point to useful practice, these studies can offer a form of market research – for example, when we examined use of webcasts on investor relations sites, we were able to show clear patterns in the form they took around the world.

The client has a high degree of control over the cost on these studies, by specifying the number of days we should take on the project. The degree of exclusivity it wishes to retain also affects the cost – for example, can we use the results after a certain time or can they be shared with other non-competing clients?

Both benchmarking and best practice are often used to help inform strategy development.