Creating a Financial Website that Connects with Customers

Banks pride themselves on providing strong service that leaves a positive experience every time a customer walks through the doors at a branch. But, do you put the same level of focus into your customers’ online experiences? Too often, banks treat their website as an afterthought, rather than a tool that can help them connect with their customers without talking to them in person. So, how can you evaluate?

Site Architecture

Creating an easy-to-use website starts with making sure you understand how you want to group your products and services you offer. Your site’s main navigation should clearly outline your top products and services and make it easy for customers to get to any page in as few clicks as possible.

Most banks choose to organize their main navigation in two ways:

Audience Focused: This is the most common style when it comes to organizing products and services. The pages are structured based on customer groupings such as personal/consumer and business/commercial.
Products & Service Focused: Rather than organizing all personal and business products in their own sections, this style places the emphasis on the service groupings like deposit products and loans.

Either of these styles can be effective in connecting with customers, but a hybrid style can also be effective. For example, most banks find the strongest ROI in their loan products. So, having sections dedicated to personal and business clients, while creating a separate section for loan products allows you to get the best of both worlds while still providing clear organization.

User Experience Focused Design

You focus on making sure your customers have a positive experience every time they come into one of your branch offices. You offer them cookies, coffee and service with a smile. Your website should also focus on providing a positive experience, and the way to do that is by focusing your site’s design on user experience (UX). So, what are some key elements that create a strong user experience for clients?

Navigation that allows customers to get to key pages in as few clicks as possible, and a single click if possible
Product pages integrated with strong calls to action that give the users something to do, including completing applications or contacting the bank for more information
Third-party integrations that allow users to complete as many tasks through the website as possible, including completing account and loan applications
Content that is easy to consume and utilizes separate headers, bulleted list and comparison charts
Online Banking logins that are easy to identify and can be used on any page

Technical Details

As with anything, the little things that go on behind the scenes can make the biggest difference in separating your bank’s website apart from your competitors. Some little details that bring huge results include:

Utilizing a mobile-first or mobile-optimized design so your website displays correctly on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones
Integrating title tags and meta descriptions on each page to aid in search engine optimization so the page appears in organic searches
Compressing images and focusing on mobile page speed to ensure the website loads quickly on any device

If your website doesn’t incorporate these strategies, VGM Forbin is ready to help. We’re ready to help you with anything from aiding in focused marketing campaigns to creating a brand-new website. If you’re interested in learning more about our services, complete the form below to connect with one of our account executives.