What a shock. The Web Marketing Association has concluded a a decade-long study of website development trends and ranked the industries that grok web presence the best. Guess who’s at the bottom of the list? PR agencies.

While advertising sites excelled in design and innovation, public relations sites ranked low across all categories. Notably, public relations scored lowest for copywriting, even though it is an industry known for effective communication. According to Rice, “It’s likely that PR practitioners focus more on developing their clients’ sites, while their own sites suffer from typical ‘brochure-ware.’ Another possibility is that the low scores reflect the informal nature of the Internet and the backlash over over-edited, corporate speak.”

In other words, the firms that corporations trust to advise them on their own web presence have web sites less captivating than a furry homepage. No real surprise there — when PR firms start talking about harnessing the web, it’s like listening to the sound of empty coconuts colliding.

Gaming Sites On Top, PR Sites On Bottom of Website Effectiveness Study [AdRants]

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