Property brands lagging on web presence - claim

The property and construction sector is falling behind most other industries in website performance, analysis suggests.

CMS provider Zengenti analysed the performance of all FTSE 100 and 250 homepages to determine which industries and organisations have the best online presence and which currently lag behind.

With an average performance score of 73, an average accessibility score of 85 and an average homepage speed of 410 milliseconds, the property and construction industry, including brands such as Rightmove and Bellway, came in eleventh place out of a total of 17 industries.

While the property and construction industry saw no change in ranking, other industries saw a larger shift.

The utilities sector was crowned as the industry with the best overall website performance in 2023, climbing 12 places from 2022’s ranking.

Meanwhile, last year’s winner, the media and publishing industry, fell 14 places to the bottom three in this year’s ranking.

Richard Chivers, chief executive of Zengenti, said “This research shows how important it is to pay attention to and maintain your business’ website performance. Last year, media and publishing topped the list, yet the industry has fallen a staggering 14 places to the bottom three in this year’s ranking.

“If your business’ website doesn't load quickly or is inaccessible, you will inevitably lose engagement and sales and can risk damaging your reputation in the process. For FTSE 100 and 250 companies, the impact of this could be critical.

“Yet, getting things right is not just important for a business’s performance. At Zengenti, we’ve always been a big advocate for improving online accessibility. We work closely with the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) to ensure our clients’ sites meet and go beyond accessibility requirements.

“Unfortunately, as this research shows, many industries still have significant room for improvement here - with the travel, hospitality and leisure industries, in particular, falling short. With the DAC revealing that 90% of disabled users click away from a website rather than report accessibility issues in 2023, there is no excuse not to improve.

“As leaders in their sectors, FTSE 100 and 250 companies have a real opportunity to lead the conversation and ensure online accessibility becomes an integral part of website performance in every industry.”