Trade Unions
07 Nov 2024

Trade Union Website League Table 2024


I have conducted my annual analysis of trade union websites to refresh the league table for 2024.

Previous results are available for 2023, 2022202120202019201820172016201520142013 and 2012.

This league table evaluates the Domain Authority of TUC-affiliated trade union websites. Domain Authority is a prominent industry metric designed to assess a website's influence and authority.

The metric considers factors such as the frequency and quality of links from other websites and social media platforms, with significant weight given to high-profile backlinks, like those from a major news website article.

However, it is important to note that Domain Authority does not account for the actual quality of a website’s design, information architecture, or content. It primarily serves as a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tool, predicting a website's potential ranking in search engine results.

NoUnionDomain Authority
1 (1)BDA70
2 (15)NEU66
2 (2)Unite66
4 (3)Chartered Society of Physiotherapy63
5 (6)UCU62
5 (4)UNISON62
7 (7)NUJ61
7 (5)RCM61
9 (8)GMB60
10 (10)Equity59
10 (9)PFA59
12 (13)PCS58
12 (10)RMT58
14 (15)Musicians’ Union57
14 (10)NASUWT57
16 (14)BALPA56
16 (17)BECTU (Section of Prospect)56
18 (17)CWU55
19 (19)Prospect54
20 (20)NAHT53
20 (20)The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain53
20 (20)TSSA53
23 (23)FBU52
23 (23)Society of Radiographers52
23 (20)USDAW52
26 (26)ASLEF50
27 (32)Nautilus48
28 (27)Community47
28 (27)EIS47
28 (27)NSEAD47
28 (27)Royal College of Podiatry47
32 (27)BFAWU46
33 (34)FDA44
33 (33)NAPO44
35 (35)POA42
36 (40)AEP40
36 (37)HCSA40
36 (36)NUM40
39 (39)Artists' Union England39
39 (37)British and Irish Orthoptic Society39
41 (41)Accord31
42 (42)URTU28
43 (43)UCAC25
44 (43)NGSU21
45 (45)NARS19
46 (46)Advance15
47 (46)Aegis12

Source: Moz.com November 2024.

Once again, the British Dietetic Association (BDA), a trade union for dietitians, has clinched the top spot. This marks the sixth consecutive year they have achieved this, an impressive streak for a relatively small union.

The National Education Union (NEU) has surged into joint second place, sharing the position with Unite. This rise has resulted in the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy slipping to fourth. The University and College Union (UCU), UNISON, National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Royal College of Midwives (RCM), GMB, Equity, and the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) complete the top ten.

Biggest risers

UnionPositions moved up
NEU13
Nautilus5
AEP4

The most significant climber this year is the National Education Union (NEU), which has impressively moved up 13 places to joint second. As a relatively new union operating in a high-profile sector, its website domain, neu.org.uk, is increasingly being cited across the internet.

Other notable risers include Nautilus and the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP), which have moved up 5 and 4 places, respectively

Biggest falls

UnionPositions moved down
BFAWU5
NASUWT4
USDAW3

The most significant decline is seen with the BFAWU, which has dropped five places to 32nd. The NASUWT also experienced a notable fall, moving down four places to 14th.

While the Nationwide Group Staff Union has only dropped one place, their score has decreased from 25 to 21. This appears to be due to their domain change from ngsu.co.uk to ngsu.org.uk. Although this new domain is more appropriate for a union, the old domain should have been retained to redirect traffic using a 'permanent redirect'. Unfortunately, it has been taken over by cybersquatters and is now listed for sale at $599.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.