The annual corporate website analysis of Webranking by Comprend has shown that Dutch corporate sites are ranked in the middle …
The annual corporate website analysis of Webranking by Comprend has shown that Dutch corporate sites are ranked in the middle of the pack, finishing 7th out of the 13 European countries included in the survey.
There are some very strong corporate websites in the region, including the top ranked VimpelCom, which is particularly strong in Investor Relations and Share information.
IR, career and share – areas for improvement
We surveyed the 25 largest companies in the Netherlands, and found that the share section of Dutch corporate websites ranked 12th out of 13 countries surveyed. Key areas missing from the share section include dividend policy and history; information on major shareholders; key share figures and history; and share capital development.
Increase share information, increase transparency
It is important for companies to offer in-depth share information as it enables investors to achieve better financial planning and helps a company attract long-term investors. Transparency is increasingly important to stakeholders of all varieties. Therefore, divulging a dividend policy improves both investor opinions and also the corporation’s transparency. Finland scored the highest in this area. Out of the 50 companies surveyed in Finland, the average score was 73%.
Financial targets & achievements: a gap for Dutch companies
Dutch websites also performed low in the area of investor relations. 92% of stakeholders require information on financial targets and achievements. However, only 8% of Dutch websites provide a presentation of financial target achievements and only 12% provide numerical values about financial goals. This indicates that Dutch companies fail to meet the demands of the capital market regarding goals and achievements. Low performance in this area also makes it difficult for the capital market to judge whether a company is in control of their success.
Want to recruit the best talent? Start with the career section
Stakeholders were also missing information in the career section, where the Netherlands scored 8th out of the 13 countries. Areas for improvement within the career section, which would help increase Webranking scores and also meeting the requirements from job seekers, include providing more information on diversity and development, career opportunities and a detailed HR strategy. Increasing career information would give potential employees a better picture of the corporate work environment, in order to decide if they want to work there. Companies that present this information, and provide an attractive career section are more likely to recruit top talent than their peers.
The good news: social media and annual reports
On the positive side, Dutch corporate websites scored well above their European counterparts in the areas of social media and annual reports.
Not your average annual report
54% of Dutch corporate websites offer a HTML version of their annual report, where only 35% of Europe 500 companies have this element. Digital annual reports offer an opportunity to showcase the company’s culture, vision and business achievements. HTML versions are becoming increasingly popular options as they provide a responsive and immersive viewing experience, something static PDFs can’t compete with.
Social media feeds, one place for all the corporate news
Similarly, 50% of Dutch sites have a social media feed compared to 26% of Europe 500 companies. The needs of media stakeholders, as well as how the general population consumes news, have changed immensely over the past 5 years. In the current fast paced news cycle, it is vital to have your news and social media content in one place, in order to meet the demands of today’s media and PR industry.
VimpelCom wins Dutch Webranking
The VimpelCom corporate site has received the highest score, with 66.4 points and DSM came in 2nd place with 59.5. Fugro is this year’s climber, which increased its score by 10.4 points, climbing from 21st to 15th place.
Full results of the Dutch Webranking are available here.
For more information about Webranking by Comprend please contact:
Helena Wennergren, Head of Marketing
+46 709 71 12 10, helena.wennergren@comprend.com
