98.5% of asset management companies' websites don't meet basic
readability levels, according to VisibleThread's 2018 Website
Clarity Index.
BALTIMORE, June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- VisibleThread,
the content optimization vendor, has released the results of its
global clear language study of 69 asset management firms. This
follows from the 2016 survey, which showed dismal readability
scores across the industry. This year's results improved little in
an industry where clarity in communication breeds trust.
Language clarity directly affects business efficiency. If
visitors cannot understand a website or information documents, what
does it say about an organization's transparency? And what
assurance do clients have that internal helpline staff understand
them either?
Research shows that the effort required to simplify content is
minimal. Improving just one or two key metrics affects overall
readability. The ripple effect of that is much-needed trust.
Trust in the financial services industry has stalled
The financial services sector took a knock on trust, says
Edelman's 2018 Trust Barometer. Financial services organizations
hold people's investments, their future, their possibilities, in
the palm of their hands. It is therefore little wonder that people
want to have faith in the guardians of their assets.
Increasingly, pressure to communicate simply and transparently
is mounting from legislative bodies (MIFIIDII & KIID are two
such examples).
Meanwhile, investors are consolidating their assets. Asset
management firms are fighting harder for fewer clients.
Website Clarity Index metrics
VisibleThread analyzed up to 100 pages on each of the 69
websites for the following key metrics:
- Readability – How clear is the content?
- Passive Language – Active language speaks clearly. How
many sentences are passive?
- Long Sentences – How many sentences are too long?
- Word Complexity Density – How many complex,
hard-to-understand words are in the content?
Key findings
- Only one of the 69 firms surveyed in 2018 had acceptable
reading levels for web content. 98.5% of all firms didn't meet
basic readability levels
- Approximately 85% of those surveyed had unacceptable levels of
passive voice. Of those that did do well in this regard, four firms
had scores of 0%
- Not one firm met recommended levels for long sentence use. 97%
of the firms sampled used long-sentences at least 3x greater than
recommended
levels
-
- 66% were at 4x
- 48.5% were at 5x
- 10% of all firms achieved complex language density levels of
less than 1 per 100. (These would typically be good scores compared
to other industry samples. But financial jargon/terms may not be
flagged by the plain language dictionary in the system.)
About VisibleThread
VisibleThread helps organizations govern content quality, embed
plain language and simplify the user journey for their
customers.