Top UK Council Websites 2021
Monsido analysed the websites of the Top 50 UK Councils. See who ranked the highest for Web Accessibility, Content Quality Assurance, Response Time, and SEO.
Top 5 Websites Overall
The Overall category highlights the best performing council websites for Web Accessibility, Content Quality Assurance, Response Time, and SEO. Congratulations to the following councils for their high rankings overall.
| Overall Ranking* | Council Name |
|---|---|
| 1st | Worcestershire County Council |
| 2nd | Cambridgeshire County Council |
| 3rd | Essex County Council |
| 4th | Buckinghamshire County Council |
| 5th | Leicester City Council |
Top 3 Websites for Web Accessibility
An accessible website ensures all visitors are able to use your website and understand the content regardless of age, digital skills, or disabilities. Monsido scans your site to find any possible issues that may hinder web accessibility, giving you an overview of how your website is doing, as well as recommendations on how to address these issues. With the Monsido platform, we recommend organisations get an Accessibility Compliance score over 72% to prove a path to compliance.
These Top 3 councils are well on their way.
| Ranking | Council Name | Accessibility Compliance* |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Leicester City Council | 75.21% |
| 2nd | Cambridgeshire County Council | 74.65% |
| 3rd | Essex County Council | 74.61% |
Top 3 Websites for Content Quality Assurance
| Ranking | Council Name | Quality Assurance Compliance* |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Derbyshire County Council | 99.60% |
| 2nd | Worcestershire County Council | 99.40% |
| 3rd | Manchester City Council | 99.00% |
Top 3 Websites for SEO
On-page SEO is still a major factor in helping search engines properly identify common errors like missing H1 tags, broken links, and too many internal links that can harm your SEO ranking and visitor experience. We applaud the following councils in leading the pack in the SEO category.
| Ranking | Council Name | SEO Compliance* |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | West Sussex County Council | 98.34% |
| 2nd | Derbyshire County Council | 97.91% |
| 3rd | Surrey County Council | 97.79% |
Top 3 Websites for Response Time
Good site performance is critical not only for user experience but also for SEO as it is a Google ranking metric. Monsido’s Heartbeat module allows you to monitor your site’s performance to ensure a smooth user experience for your visitors and avoid any potential loss in business. These Top 3 councils should be proud of their impressive response time results.
| Ranking | Council Name | Average response time (ms)* |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Leeds City Council | 60ms |
| 2nd | Bradford Metropolitan District Council | 71ms |
| 3rd | Devon County Council | 95ms |
All 50 UK Councils We Tested
We tested all County Councils and the 25 largest (by population) District Councils in the UK. See your name in the list below but not as a winner above?
Let us discuss your results!
- Barnet London Borough Council
- BCP Council
- Birmingham City Council
- Bradford Metropolitan District Council
- Bristol City Council
- Buckinghamshire County Council
- Cambridgeshire County Council
- Cheshire East Council
- Cheshire West and Chester Council
- Cornwall Council
- Coventry City Council
- Croydon Council
- Cumbria County Council
- Derbyshire County Council
- Devon County Council
- Dorset County Council
- Durham County Council
- Ealing Council
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council
- East Sussex County Council
- Enfield Council
- Essex County Council
- Gloucestershire County Council
- Hampshire County Council
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Kent County Council
- Kirklees Council
- Lancashire County Council
- Leeds City Council
- Leicester City Council
- Leicestershire County Council
- Lincolnshire County Council
- Liverpool City Council
- Manchester City Council
- Newham London Borough Council
- Norfolk County Council
- North Yorkshire County Council
- Northamptonshire County Council
- Nottinghamshire County Council
- Oxfordshire County Council
- Sheffield City Council
- Somerset County Council
- Staffordshire County Council
- Suffolk County Council
- Surrey County Council
- Wakefield Council
- Warwickshire County Council
- West Sussex County Council
- Wiltshire Council
- Worcestershire County Council
Not on the list at all? We work with 1000s of organizations across many different sectors. We’d love the opportunity to scan your website and see how Monsido could help your organisation. Book a demo with us!
See How Your Council Scored
See your website's scan results and how your council performed in this report.
How the rankings work
Monsido:
- Scanned a sample of 500 pages from the main publicly facing websites of all County Councils and the 25 largest (by population) District Councils using Monsido’s Web Governance software during a one-week period in February 2021.
- Ranked the 50 Councils based on their scores in Web Accessibility, Content Quality Assurance, SEO, and Response Time.
- Calculated the overall champions based on the average (weighted) ranking in all categories, prioritising Web Accessibility and Content Quality Assurance, then Response Time, and SEO.
Improve Your Accessibility Rankings
Benefits of improving accessibility:
Increased Audience
By building an accessible website, you open yourself up to a much larger audience as 1/5 of the world’s population is living with a disability that could prevent them from using your site.
Improved SEO
Many web accessibility standards overlap with good SEO practices like ensuring descriptive alt and title attributes, checking for correct HTML, and offering a site map to users.
Enhanced User Experience and Quality Assurance
Accessibility means creating a website which provides a good experience for everyone, so when you ensure a good experience for users with disabilities, you can rest assured that your overall website experience and quality will improve.
Strengthen Brand Image and Reputation
Committing to accessibility is not just good for your users, but shows you take your social responsibility seriously and can benefit your brand. So make sure to promote your accessibility efforts.
