This presentation outlines the four challenges global services company websites face and provides seven solutions, with best practice examples, to help marketers address these common problems.

1. Author: Philip Morton, Principal Consultant
A UX review of 100 global
services company websites
www.foolproof.co.uk

2. Our review of the websites of
100 services companies shows
that these websites pose a
difficult design challenge.

3. Global services companies often have a wide range of
products and services, so their websites tend to have
large quantities of diverse content.
Buyers of digital services are informed critics of web
design and will notice any areas of weakness.
Some industry terminology is standard, but others
vary from provider to provider.
Websites of this kind tend to accumulate content
rapidly, so need a structure that scales and processes
to support content creation.
Wide ranging products & services Rapid accumulation of content
Inconsistent terminology Buyers are informed critics

4. There are 7 areas where websites
of this kind could be improved
1. Explaining what you do
2. Showing your work
3. Site navigation
4. Consistency of content
5. Getting in touch with you
6. Choice of imagery
7. Sharing a point-of-view

5. 1. Explaining what you do
— Potential clients and customers may be unsure
of the services that they offer.
— Companies with a wide range of products and
services can find it difficult to summarise
everything they do.
— Not understanding the company makes it difficult
to understand other content on their website.
Services companies don’t always clearly
explain what they do.
Wicresoft
DC Holdings

6. Best practice examples: explaining what the company does
Ellucian
Rolls-Royce
G4S
ustwo

7. 2. Showing your work
— Visitors will be looking to understand who the
company has worked with, the types of projects
undertaken and the measurable impact they
made on their client’s business.
— Showcasing work is the best way to get potential
clients and jobseekers excited about working with
a company.
— Case studies can also be hard to find, are hidden
in PDFs or are primarily text-based.
— Showing work is the best way for the visitor to
understand what the company does.
Companies don’t always provide enough
evidence that they have successfully
delivered projects for big brands.
Getronics
CenturyLink

8. Best practice examples: showcasing work
Siemens - https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home/company/topic-
areas/ingenuity-for-life/gotthard-base-tunnel.html
SapientNitro - http://www.sapientnitro.com/en-us.html#work/featured/tourism-
queensland/best-job-in-the-world

9. Best practice examples: showcasing work
Arup - http://www.arup.com/markets/sport Rolls-Royce - http://www.rolls-royce.com/products-and-services/marine/ship-
design.aspx#section-overview

10. 3. Site navigation and structure
— Companies find it hard to categorise their
products and services, especially if there is overlap
between them.
— Finding the information you need often means
going deep into the site to get what you want.
— Some have no way to navigate to other sections of
a category once a few levels deep within the site.
BT
With so many products and services,
many companies find it hard to
organise their websites in a way that
makes it easy to navigate.
BT
IBM

11. Best practice examples: site navigation
Harbinger Systems
itransition
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Rolls-Royce

12. 4. Consistency of content
— Some pages have generic content while others
have more detail.
— The tone-of-voice often varies from one area of
the website to another.
— Some websites contain too much jargon or
buzzwords that can be found on their
competitors’ websites.
With so much content, some websites
struggle to maintain a level of quality
and consistency.
Getronics

13. Best practice examples: content
Harbinger Systems
Hewlett Packard Enterprises – HPE Datacenter Care.
Explains the service category and its benefits in a
simple way, ensuring the reader has context for the
rest of the page.
Evidence of results that clients have experienced.
A written and visual explanation in detail.
Straightforward outline of the sub-categories within
this category of services.
Testimonial with a video link.
Relevant case studies to show further evidence that
they can deliver.
http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/business-services/it-services/datacenter-care-services.html

14. Best practice examples: content
— Despite being a page about business software,
the copy here is straightforward and easy to
understand.
— There’s a consistent writing style: economical,
precise and accessible to anyone.
http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/business/work-with-apple/ibm/
Apple – iPad and Business

15. 5. Getting in touch with you
— These contact details appear on every page, but
other companies have a more personal and
informal approach which is probably more effective.
If visitors go to a website and want to
make contact with the company,
there are often only generic contact
details for getting in touch.
Getronics
Hitachi

16. Best practice examples: contact us
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce
Arup
IBM
Capgemini

17. 6. Choice of imagery
— Imagery used on the websites is often generic
stock photography.
— Using stereotypical or poor stock photography
risks being seen as inauthentic.
— Some images have little to do with the content
they are associated with.
— The best sites we reviewed used real people in
real life contexts, with few abstract photos.
It’s hard for services-based
companies to find good imagery
to use.
Teletech
DC Holdings

18. Best practice examples: imagery
Rolls-Royce: real people and real-life context, with no
models or abstract imagery.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise: relevant, consistent
photography.

19. 7. Sharing a point-of-view
— Sometimes companies don’t provide their opinion
on the trends and perspectives on the markets they
compete in.
— Blogs and white papers are available on most
websites, but they can be hard to find and are not
integrated with the rest of the site’s content.
Some websites have a large amount
of content making the site feel like
simply a catalogue for their products.
Iron Mountain
Serco

20. Best practice examples: point-of-view
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Rolls-Royce
SAP
Rolls-Royce
Accenture
General Electric

21. Thanks for reading
For more content like this visit:
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e. info@foolproof.co.uk
t. 020 7539 3840
Philip Morton,
Principal Consultant