Websites Benchmark Report

Top UK Banks’ Websites Experience Benchmark Report 2023

 

Monsido analyzed the websites of the top United Kingdom (UK) Banks to determine their state, performance, and accessibility.

The following are the top performers in the areas of digital accessibility, content quality assurance, response time, performance, and search engine optimization (SEO).

 
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Top 5 Websites Overall

In the overall score category, we highlight the websites of top Banks in the UK in terms of SEO, response time, performance, and accessibility.

We scanned a sample of 500 pages from the main publicly facing websites in the financial sector websites in the United Kingdom using Monsido’s Web Governance software during a two-week period in September 2023.

The champions with overall scores ranking in the top five for 2023 are listed below.

*Overall ranking is based on the average (weighted) ranking across all categories.
Overall RankingBank Name
1stStandard Chartered
2ndHSBC Holdings
3rdLondon Stock Exchange Group
4thNatWest Group
5thInvestec
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Top 5 Websites for Web Accessibility

In the United Kingdom, 24% of the population lives with some form of disability. Many of these people depend on digital accessibility. Your website should be accessible to everyone, regardless of age, level of digital competency, or disability. This is especially important for customers, employees, and future customers.

We advise achieving an accessibility compliance score of at least 70% for organizations using the Monsido platform in order to demonstrate progress towards compliance.

The average accessibility score for the report was 66.12, just above our recommended threshold.

The following five bank websites scored highest for digital accessibility in 2023.

*Based on the number of WCAG 2.1 A & AA checks passed on the Monsido platform in a 500-page scan.
RankingBank NameAccessibility Compliance*

1st

Admiral Group100%

2nd

Schroders73%

3rd

Allfunds Group72.77%

4th

General Accident72.29%

5th

Pershing Square Holdings Ord71.42%
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Top 5 Websites for Content Quality Assurance

Monsido’s Content Quality Assurance module looks for misspellings, broken links, broken images, and readability issues. By working on quality assurance, you can decrease bounce rates, increase conversions, and improve your SEO, helping current and future customers more easily find the information they need about their accounts and your services.

The benchmark average for quality assurance in this report was just 73.37.

However, the banks’ websites listed below deserve credit for making an outstanding effort to raise the bar for content quality assurance.

*Based on the number of pages without broken links, broken images, and misspellings.
Ranking Bank NameContent Quality Assurance*
1stF&C Investment Trust100%
2ndGreencoat UK Wind100%
3rdBeazley99.2%
4thWillis Towers Watson99.2%
5thM&G98.4%
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Top 5 Websites for SEO

On-page SEO continues to have a crucial impact on search engine rankings. Neglecting essential elements, such as H1 tags, broken links, and excessive internal links, can negatively affect both your rankings and the overall experience of your visitors.

The average SEO score was 82.55.

We praise the following UK banks for taking leadership positions in the SEO category:

*Based on the number of pages that are compliant with all Monsido SEO checks.
RankingBank NameSEO Compliance*
1stBarclays94.43%
2ndInvestec91.97%
3rdLondon Stock Exchange Group91.79%
4thHargreaves Lansdown91.78%
5thStandard Life Aberdeen90.89%
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Top 5 Websites for Response Time

Ensuring a fast-loading website is essential for SEO, as it is a ranking factor utilized by Google, and enhances user experience. With the help of Monsido's Heartbeat module, you can monitor your website's performance, ensuring a positive user experience and avoiding any potential visitor frustration.

The United Kingdom top banks’ websites in this report had an average response time of 373.65 ms. Your score must be under 200 ms for you to be considered an excellent performer.

The following top five UK financial institutions can be proud of their exceptional response time results, however:

*Average response time is based on average response time (ms) over a one week period in Monsido’s Heartbeat module.
Ranking Bank NameAverage Response Time (ms)*
1stLondon Stock Exchange Group66 ms
2ndIntermediate Capital Group99 ms
3rdNatWest Group109 ms
4thHSBC Holdings111 ms
5thScottish Mortgage Investment Trust113 ms
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Top 5 Websites for Performance Score

Assessing the overall website performance score (ranging from 0 to 100) using Google LightHouse and Core Web Vitals offers a comprehensive understanding of how factors such as visitor location, network speed, and device impact your site's performance. It provides valuable insights into the overall performance of your website.

The average desktop performance rating for this benchmark report was just 50.23. Monsido we suggest you aim for a score between 90 and 100.

Below is a list of the top five banks’ websites, based on their desktop performance score in this report.

Ranking Bank NamePerformance score (0-100)
1stPershing Square Holdings Ord93
2ndGreencoat UK Wind89
3rdM&G85
4thAviva79
5thHSBC Holdings70

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