The digital presence of a business is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. For B2B companies in the UK, a website serves as a vital gateway to customers, partners, and information. This analysis of Just under 950 B2B websites, for website carbon (homepage only), Core Web Vitals Pass/Fail, PageSpeed, Lighthouse Accessibility, Lighthouse SEO, and Lighthouse Best reveals a startling picture: a vast gulf separating the digital leaders from the laggards, with significant implications for sustainability, user experience, and business success.
This article is based on the data available in the table from the Top B2B company website analysis in the UK
Over 50% of the top UK B2B websites fall well below the global average for website carbon emissions: The Most Shocking Finding
The most alarming finding is the extreme disparity in website CO2e emissions. While the most efficient websites demonstrate that low emissions are achievable, the worst-performing website, emits a staggering 62.16g per visit, and there are 555 websites that emit over 1g on Mobile and 622 on desktop, well above the global average. There are also several other companies, (18 on mobile and 22 on desktop) with emissions exceeding 10g per visit, representing incredibly high emissions.
This massive difference highlights a critical issue: a significant subset of UK B2B companies operate extraordinarily inefficient websites, contributing disproportionately to the digital carbon footprint. The average CO2 emission across all websites is 2.10 g (mobile, 2.36 g desktop). Still, the median is a lower 1.23 g, indicating that the average is skewed upwards by these extremely high-emission outliers. This isn't just an environmental concern; it's a sign of underlying technical deficiencies that likely impact other aspects of website performance, such as user experience.
PageSpeed: A Crisis of Slow-Loading Websites
The analysis reveals a widespread problem with PageSpeed. While some companies achieve perfect scores of 100, the average PageSpeed score is a disappointing 53.51, and a shocking 95% of websites fail to achieve a score above 80. Over 600 websites score below 60, indicating significant performance issues that might mean negatively impacted user experience and search engine rankings. This widespread slowness is a significant concern, particularly in a business environment where speed, efficiency, and user experience are paramount.
Best Practices: Inconsistent Adoption
Adherence to web development best practices is also inconsistent. While the average score is 89.12, and 64% of websites meet a reasonable threshold above 90, a significant number (340) fall short of a score of 90. This suggests potential issues with website security, maintainability, and overall quality. The presence of nearly 40 websites with a score below 60 indicates a disregard for established best practices.
Accessibility: Progress, but Gaps Remain
Core Web Vitals Accessibility, ensuring websites are usable by people with disabilities, shows the most positive results, with an average score on mobile of 86.72 (desktop 86.84) but still only 41% achieving a score of 90 or above. Also, 540 websites fail to meet a reasonable accessibility score above 90, and some have extremely low scores (the worst being 13), indicating significant barriers for users with disabilities. This highlights a need for greater awareness and implementation of inclusive design principles.
Sitebeacon as a tool goes beyond the accessibility score provided by Google Lighthouse, utilising more advanced technology to identify page by page accessibility issues for your site.
The Interconnectedness of Performance Metrics
It's crucial to understand that these metrics are not independent. While there isn't a perfect correlation, the analysis reveals some key relationships:
CO2 and PageSpeed: While there's no direct one-to-one correlation, there's a general trend: faster websites tend to be more efficient. However, some websites achieve speed at the expense of efficiency, potentially through optimisations that don’t enhance usability and lower website carbon but aim to achieve scores that don’t improve performance.
Best Practices and Accessibility: There's a moderate positive correlation here. Websites that follow best practices are generally more accessible, but it's not a guarantee.
The Business Implications
This widespread digital inefficiency has implications for UK B2B companies:
Lost Business: Slow, inaccessible websites frustrate users and drive them to competitors.
Damaged Reputation: Poor website performance reflects poorly on the company's overall competence and professionalism.
Environmental Impact: High-emission websites contribute unnecessarily to climate change.
Missed Opportunities: Websites that aren't optimized for search engines will struggle to attract organic traffic.
A Call to Action: Bridging the Digital Divide
The data paints a clear picture: a significant portion of UK B2B companies need to drastically improve their websites. This isn't just about aesthetics; it's about fundamental business performance, sustainability, and inclusivity. Companies should look to act on:
Prioritise User Experience: lightweight websites, optimised for lower emissions, PageSpeed, Accessibility and other CWV factors, will lead to better UX, more visibility, and better conversion rates.
CO2 Reduction: Implement website optimization techniques to minimize carbon emissions.
PageSpeed Optimization: Focus on fast loading times to improve user experience and search engine rankings.
Best Practices Adherence: Follow established web development standards for security, maintainability, and quality.
Accessibility Compliance: Ensure websites are usable by everyone, regardless of ability.
The digital divide revealed by this analysis is a challenge but also an opportunity. Companies that embrace digital excellence will gain a competitive advantage, attract top talent, and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive online world. The laggards risk being left behind.