Independent, detailed and constantly evolving
Our methodology is tailored to the needs of corporate digital channels. Unlike most brand or news sites, corporate online estates are complex, deep and multi-functional. We put great emphasis on usability, but we also look carefully at messaging, and put ourselves into the heads of different groups of visitors to see how well they are served.
The methodology was created in 2007 but constantly evolves based on relevant new trends, insights from extensive audience research and our own expertise.
Audience research that we draw on is unparalleled – more than half a million visitor surveys conducted since 2011 exclusively on corporate websites; in addition to insights from our Google Analytics benchmarking group.
It is immune to fashion. Our reviewers look for the hard business case behind the latest trends and ask whether they are appropriate for large organizations.
There are no perfect scores, and criteria for ‘best’ gets better every year. This reflects the fact that standards continue to rise and the leading companies are moving forward all the time. For example, a score of 11 out of 12 for visual effectiveness in 2015 is completely different from an 11 out of 12 in 2020. The same is true of all other metrics (see FAQ, below, for more detail about the metrics).
The methodology is rigorous but not automated or a ‘check box’ exercise. We offer detailed editorial judgments on the quality and appropriateness of text and video content. Every metric is judged by its relevance to the client, rather than ‘is it there or is it not?’ We are as much experts on how large organizations are run and managed as we are on digital channels.