Surfing (whether on the waves or on the web) requires a destination. The destination for normal summertime surfing is clear: the beach. The destination for web surfing is less clear. In fact, there are millions of possible destinations.
Such a saturated market means you must stand out from the crowd. Your bank or credit union website should be a “beach” for consumers – a destination that’s easy to look at and easy to experience.
Win the Beauty Contest
Whether you like it or not, consumers judge a book by its cover…and they judge a website by its visual design. It takes a potential member or customer only .05 seconds to form an opinion about your website. And 75% of people use design to judge your credibility.
So, beautiful design is vital. Some tenants of eye-catching design are:
- Empty space – Overcrowding is unattractive. Highlight the most important visual elements by leaving empty space around them.
- Professional Imagery – Whether stock imagery or the product of a photoshoot, you want pictures that comfort the consumer about the website’s credibility.
- Use of Color – Color is one of the best ways to please the eye, but you can’t just throw it around without thought. Use your brand’s colors in ways that complement each other and pop against empty space.
Check out Aurora FCU’s website to see how we implemented these principles for a credit union partner.
One more note: don’t forget mobile design. Many consumers visit your bank or credit union website with their phones, and they’ll quickly tell if you didn’t optimize the site.
Give Consumers a Break
Your work doesn’t end once you construct a beautiful site. Without proper functionality, you’re simply putting lipstick on a pig. As Steve Jobs said, “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Make sure everything on your bank or credit union website works well…and go beyond merely eliminating glitches.
For example, some sites include dropdown menus within dropdown menus. This costs the member or customer time and becomes annoying. Create menus where consumers can see what they need in one dropdown.
Another small but oft-neglected part of websites is the search bar. Does it work? If not, consumers might assume your site is broken.
Visit Tarrant County’s Credit Union website to see an example of easily accessible menus and effective search functionality.
Become a Repeat Destination
Let’s be honest: you don’t want someone to visit your bank or credit union website one time. You want them to visit it repeatedly.
To achieve that dream, you must give people a reason to return. You must up your content marketing game. Some quick tricks to draw members or customers back to the site are:
- Blog posts
- Social media promos linking to the website
- Emails linking to the website
- Videos
These methods will also keep your site “fresh” for Google’s crawlers. The more crawlers recognize site activity, the greater the SEO potential.
Are you ready to stand out? Make your website into a destination worth visiting today when you book a free consultation with On The Mark Strategies.
