Copyright Bank Marketing Association Jun 2003| [Headnote] |
| What makes a great website? The short answer is 'one that achieves your goals.' It should also be useful and easy to navigate. |
Although most hank products and services are alike, there are no two bank wehsites that are quite the same. Each has a personality, format and content unique to the bank. So how do you rate wehsites? And what makes an outstanding one?
To analyze and evaluate your bank's site, you must first determine what the primary goal is, says Joe Sullivan, CFMP, president and founder of Market Insights Inc., Chicago, and an instructor of online banking at the ADA School of Dank Marketing & Management in Boulder, Colo. For example, do you want the site simply to deliver information? Promote and encourage online banking? Allow customers to sign up for products online? Once the goal is clear, identify what your target market is.
Your site must be relevant and valuable to the user, according to Stephen Thompson, vice president of creative at Agency.Com, in his recent Web seminar ("webinar") "Analyze That," which dealt with websites. If your site is useful, the customer may come back, but to improve those chances, your site must also be usable. If your site is too difficult to navigate, or if it is too hard to find answers, customers will leave. If your pages take too long to load, that will affect users' perception of your site's usability. They are always just one click away from a competitor's site, says Thompson.
Your site should also clearly reflect your brand, provide added value to visitors and get them as close to a sale as possible. The following is a discussion of four important suggestions for good website quality.
1. Make it both useful and usable
To make the most impact with today's tech-savvy Web surfers, choose an easy and efficient format. Too many bank websites are crowded with data, making it difficult to pick out your most important messages, says Sullivan. "People are drowning in information, but are thirsty for knowledge." Weather information and the latest press releases take up a lot of space on some sites, which may detract from moving visitors quickly to your bank products and services, or to their accounts. Your site should be clean and easy to navigate. Also, be sure every function works smoothly, says Sullivan. One of the top complaints he's heard is that users can't easily print out pages in their entirety. Usability also means removing obstacles to information, such as requiring registration and passwords to access calculators.
2. Reflect your bank's brand
Your site is an extension of your branch network, your marketing materials and your media placements. Therefore, your site should reflect the company's brand with the right choice of colors (ideally no more than three), graphics and type, says Sullivan. If there is an image that your bank uses that is easily recognizable, incorporating that into graphics helps reinforce the connection between your physical locations, your printed materials and your online site.
Keep your site efficient. Focus on doing a few things well, says Sullivan. The downfall of some websites is offering too many choices and graphics, which can detract from branding and confuse the visitor. Thompson points to one site that had over 30 choices on the first page. One trend in site design is to incoiporate moving graphics that flip from one message to another or continuously rotate as you scroll down the page. Sullivan cautions that studies have shown customers find moving graphics distracting.
Keep your pages simple with easy pull-down menus and clear messages and offers. If your pages are organized and your brand is on each page, you shouldn't need flowing graphics.
3. Engage visitors in a sale
Most likely one of your goals is to capture new customers as well as to satisfy current customers by presenting a valuable, efficient site. To grab customers' attention ancl get them to sign up, you must give them the information they are looking for-and follow that with a "call to action." A link to "apply now," is critical, says Sullivan, ancl should be included after every product and service description and offer. Many community bank sites don't include these types of links as consistently as larger banks, he says. ABA Bank Marketing reviewed dozens of bank sites and many offered lots of information about savings and checking account features, interest rates and minimum balances, but few included a bold, obvious link to "apply now." (Some of the "apply" buttons were quietly included in the menu at the bottom of the page along with a "return to the home page" link.) Even a "request for more information" link was lacking at many sites.
4. Offer added value
A website should offer something that makes visitors want to come back. Many banks have started newsletters on financial topics. Some sites provide customers die opportunity to sign up to receive the newsletter via e-mail (a great way to capture new leads). Other banks offer archives of articles on financial services or links to relevant financial services sites.
On the other hand, it is possible to go too far. In the interest of being all things to all people, some banks offer the weather, the news, greetings, local highlights, links to movie theatres and stores, and a list of community resources-all on their home page. It's hard to find the financial seivices links. Since most local Internet providers offer many of those elements when a customer logs on, it may be a waste to duplicate that information.
Sullivan encourages banks to keep their sites simple and focused. Muddying the site with too much nonbank information may detract from your goals of capturing, educating and satisfying customers.
How are bank websites rated?
Most bank sites are rated using die four criteria listed above. Some rating services add customer feedback or experience. Thompson, of Agency. Com, says sites are tested for usability using real users. Part of these tests is tracking where the users' eyes focus. It's important to create an easy eye flow, and that means designing die pages to move from left to right-which follows the standard reading pattern. Many sites "anchor" the screen's left side with a column of links and use the rest of die page for descriptions and text. There are also ethnographic studies, stakeholder interviews, focus groups and preference surveys. Some rating companies also use online customer surveys.
Gomez (see www.Gomez.com) is a rating company that specifically reviews the websites of banks with more dian $3.5 billion in FDIC-insurecl assets ($100 million and more for Internet banks). Before Gomez will review the site, banks must also pass several other criteria. Gomez also rates banks against each other and in several categories in addition to the four above to produce one overall rating. In addition to rating bank websites, Gomez offers banks in its financial categories specific site analysis and recommendations (brimpmvement.Agency.com and Market Insights Inc. also provide site analysis for banks of all sizes.
Below is a description of three sample bank websites, representing best practices in a large, regional and community bank.
Citibank, New York (assets: $262 billion)
Citibank consistently wins honors from Gomez as well as others, such as Business to Business magazine, PC magazine, and more. 
Agency.com and Market Insights Inc. also cited Citibank as an example of a well-put-together, efficient and effective bank website. It is worth a visit to Citibank.com to see the four principles listed above in action.
The home page offers three bold choices "Look," "Learn," and "Find," plus there is an immediate entry to users' accounts. There are three to four calls-to-action with "click here" to move you directly to further information or to sign up. Every product and service on the site has an "apply now" link following it. There are repeated links and listings of phone numbers and e-mail addresses encouraging prospects and customers to contact Citibank with questions. The site actively works to connect users with information and sign them up-for a credit card, an account or a loan. The bank also offers an archive of articles on financial services for any visitor. Even if your website budget is a fraction of Citibank's, you can learn and benefit from the same principles.
| Citibank's website wins high marks for its user-friendly organization. From the home page, the user is prompted to either look for a product or service, to learn about a financial topic or find a branch location. |
| Nevada State Bank, Las Vegas, tried to incorporate customer service in its website by making it clear and easy-to-use. Note the options in oversize type along the screen 's left side. |
Nevada State Bank, Las Vegas (assets: $2.4 billion)
The bold graphics at www.nsbank.com capture your attention, and die left side of the screen offers eight one-click options in oversized type. Under each option is a detailed pull-down menu. On the personal banking page, for example, there is clear, concise information about different accounts and the opportunity to "apply now" at the end of each product description. There is no hunting for a "contact us" link or a phone number. This site is designed to make signing up for products and services as easy as possible. There is a link to useful community websites featured on the home page, but it is up to the customer to select that link; they don't have to read past a lot of additional information to find the financial services.
The website was cited as "best of the best" in the ABA Marketing Network 2002 Advertising Awards Competition in the category of website/e-commerce. According to the Ad Awards winner's summary, the website designer Rose/Glenn Group of Reno, Nev., was tasked with a redesign that would "be consistent with the bank's brand positioning, which is centered on customer service. In addition, the site was re-purposed to serve more effectively as a complete banking channel for retail and business customers." To achieve these goals, the Web designer focused on the features customers used most. For added convenience, links to account access, customer service, branch locations and online help -were added to every page and now customers can access any feature from anywhere on the site with just one click. The list of options on the left side of the screen that is presented first on the home page is present on each page of the website. The options are always right there for customers to choose from. Upgrading features like online account access, and both personal and business services made the bank's site competitive with other banks.
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| Emporia State Bank, Emporia, Kan., achieves website personalization by including caricatures of staff members who can be contacted in reference to specific bank products. |
Emporia State Bank, Emporia, Kan. (assets: $113 million)
Emporia State Bank www.esbank.com also earned honors at the 2002 ABA Ad Awards. This 102-year-old bank included a personal touch with its website while still maintaining an efficient format. The left side of the home page has a column of eight options that remains present on most other pages, which allows die customer to move to another page easily and without returning to home or searching for a main menu. The unique personalization is achieved through caricatures of staff members with their first names anti phone numbers on specific product pages. Each page offers a link to apply-although it is at the very bottom of each page (not positioned as strongly as some experts recommend).
Websites are as varied and diverse as the banks that create them. Most clearly reflect the personalities, brands and goals of the banks they represent. Emporia State Bank's site lends more of a local community bank feeling-a bank that is available to help local customers with all their financial needs. Nevada State offers a clean approach to all their product information with a colorful graphic of community activities on every page, which blends the community feeling with efficiency. The Citibank site, while highly usable (you can get through a lot of information quickly; they offer lots of opportunity for education on products), is not as warm, perhaps, as Emporia State or Nevada State. Knowing your target market will make all the difference in how you forge your website personality.
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| The Tow 10 Checklist for Great Bank Websites |
| The following advice is offered by Joe Sullivan, president and founder, Market Insights Inc., Chicago. Identify your goals. Are you trying to convert customers to online hanking? Attract new customers? Enhance current products and services by adding online convenience? Reduce costs by moving customers to online banking and away from branches and call centers? |
| * Include your bank's name, full address and zip code. Surprisingly, some banks leave off their logo or what state they are in. |
| * Include area codes with your phone numbers. Don't assume everyone knows what your area code is. Also, some locales may have more than one area code. |
| * Add value to your site as appropriate for your target audience. That may mean adding articles on managing finances or links to sites that have additional information. It may mean having a variety of calculators available on your site. If your target market includes children, having educational pages on saving money and how the bank works may be important. If you want to encourage senior citizens to visit, you might include tours, trips, special products and services that appeal to them. |
| * Register your site with major search engines! This way you can be found even if users don't know your web address. |
| * Update your site (including your rates and products) often. Old information can cause confusion and frustration for new and existing customers. |
| * Add a "sign up now" or "apply now" link after every pitch. Make it very easy to take advantage of your offers. You don't want to lose a customer by making them think they can't sign up online-especially if they can and you want them to! |
| * Less is more-do a few things very well. Don't try to be all things to all customers. |
| * Include contact names and phone numbers for specific products and services, and for press contacts. And include an easy "click here" to send e-mail questions" for customers who need an answer but can wait for a reply. |
| * Choose a few complementary colors and distinctive graphics-don't use bright colored backgrounds with bold colored type, or pale backgrounds with faint colored type. Make it easy to read and leave out the elaborate graphics. |
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| If your site is useful, the customer may come back, but to improve those chances, your site must also be usable. |
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| Websites: Who's on First? |
| A number of companies offer ratings of financial services websites. The compilation below, produced by Speer & Associates Inc., Atlanta, ranks 109 financial institutions in the Western Hemisphere based on "business development and transactional capabilities of retail Internet offerings." The evaluation was done in December 2002. The top 10: |
| 1. Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco vmw.wellsfargo.com |
| 2. U.S. Bankcorp, Minneapolis ymw.usbank.com |
| 3. FleetBoston Financial Corp., Boston www.fleet.com |
| 4. Banco de Galida, Buenos Aires, Argentina www.bancogalida.com |
| 5. Citigroup, New York www.dtigroup.com |
| 6. Associated Banc-Corp, Green Bay, Wise. wym.assodqtedbqnk.com |
| 7. Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico www.bangmex.com |
| 8. Zions Bank, Salt Lake City, Utah www.zionsbank.com |
| 9. Comerica Bank, Detroit, Mich.www.comerica.com |
| 10. Bank of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii ynm.boh.cqm |
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| HOW USEFUL WAS THIS ARTICLE? |
| Please use the postage-free Reader Opinion Card provided in this issue or leave a message at (202) 663-5075. You can also send comments by e-mail to walbro@aba.com. |
| [Author Affiliation] |
| Tanja Lian Sablosky is a former editor of ABA Bank Marketing magazine. She writes from Herndon, Va. |
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