Why is your credit union website so ugly?
You know who you are. You had your site designed 5, 6 or 7 years ago. It was designed for an 800 pixel wide screen, or even worse, 640×480.You may not even know that your “drop-down” menu systems (if you even have one) don’t work on the new browsers because your IT department won’t let you upgrade your browser past Internet Explorer 6.0.
Now IE is on the way out as the primary browser platform. With the popularity of Apple, Safari and Firefox have new life as prominent web browsers (Internet Explorer makes up less than 40% of my site visitors). Do you even know what your site looks like in different browsers?I am not going to point out any particular credit union as having a bad web site – but here is a checklist to find out how bad your site may be and if you need a redesign:
- You do not have drop down or a hierarchical menu system.
- Your NCUA logo is big enough for you to read the small type in the logo – or – the NCUA logo is almost as big as your credit union logo.
- 25% of the text on your home page is disclosures or disclaimers.
- Your home page content is comprised of only graphics or banners
- You have a flash animated “Intro Page”
- Your site has “Frames”
- If the main window of your credit union’s home page is a few bullet points of copy with no real message, valuable information or marketing purpose.
- You have a “What’s Hot” button in your primary navigation.
- You have less than 3 designated marketing areas on your web site.
- You have a “Portal” site
- You have a clock, weather conditions or hit counter on your site.
- You have animated dancing animals on your credit union website.
- Your site has no analytic software running to capture user activity.
- Your design is more than 7 years old.
- Your web site graphics consists of “Bright and Shiny People” (Thanks Denise)
- You have to scroll (vertically or horizontally) - (Thanks Denise)
- You do not show up on a Google search, anywhere, even under your for your credit union name! (Thanks Denise)
- Your Site is not achieving its objectives (or you have none to begin with - Thanks Ron)
If you have more than 2 of these things, you need to bring it up to the CEO or board at the next meeting. If you have 4 or more, then you need to get your site into emergency care STAT!
But why is this important? A website is a website right?
The short answer is “Nope”. Good designs can increase conversions. A good site can increase product awareness. A good site creates legitimacy, especially to those who will never visit your branches. To them, your site IS their branch. Would you have a branch with old rickety furniture, peeling wallpaper with one teller wicket? No, probably not unless you were going for a “Haunted Credit Union” theme.Too often, the credit union website becomes the red-headed stepchild of the marketing budget. Too often and almost always, the first impression a member gets of a credit union IS their website.Do you shop online? Are you going to give your credit card to a site that looks shady and half put together? No you wouldn’t. Why would you expect your members to do it? They need to trust you, your technology and your solvency. A website that screams “Fire Sale” is not going to help you out much.
But my site isn’t that bad!
It’s likely worse than you think. When I was a kid my mom had an emerald green Lincoln Towncar. She thought that car was the coolest. It had all kinds of electrical doo-dads, sensors, a leather top and big comfy adjustable seats. I hated that car. I felt like a dork in it when I would get dropped off at school. It looked like a “Grandma Car” to me. I would have rather walked and not used the car at all. I never said anything to my mom about it – I just started to volunteer to walk to school.Chances are you don’t know your site is a dorky, emerald green 1985 Lincoln Towncar. All you can do is watch the kids walk on by pretending they don’t see you.
But our members are older and they can’t figure out a big complex or redesigned site.
Chances are your members’ didn’t buy a computer to only visit your site. They are going to other sites. Other, more sophisticated sites. Or maybe they are using AOL, or an email program, that is more sophisticated than your site. Chances are they are smarter than you give them credit for.But even if that is not the case, how many of your old, Internet challenged members are using your site? How many youth members are running away screaming because your site is antiquated by their standards. Understand that if your site is 5 years old, those “Youth Members” you have been trying to capture were 10 years old then. They were using the Internet then. It would be like grandma who buys a 15 year old a Barney the Purple Dinosaur t-shirt because “You loved her just last year”. How many 15 year olds rock a “Barney” t-shirt? Riiiight.
But our CEO, Board Member, CIO, CTO or some other super important person that we don’t want to offend designed our site!
What is offensive about saying “It is about time to redo our website. It has had a good 5-year run and it is time for a facelift”? Does that person eat food after it has expired? Are they still wearing the same suit they bought in the 50s? Is changing the site negating their contribution? No! Give them a shot at the redesign. Hire a few people to just do a design layout (no programming). Offer it up to a blind vote to the whole credit union (not just the board) to see what design wins. If their new design gets voted down then so be it. Not everyone can do this. They will get over it. They have to get over it - it’s business. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about how you can use your site to make the credit union more profitable and better serve your members?The benefit of the Internet is that a nice website can make any small business look like a huge operation. But the inverse also applies. A fully functioning, capable and great credit union can have it’s credibility completely demolished by an outdated website.
But how much is this going to cost me?
Sites are getting more affordable. You might not need a big fancy site. I have seen credit unions sites rage from $2,500 to $25,000. There are a million options out there and one of them will fit your budget. I promise. If you cant find one, then call me and I will find one for you!
Note: Since publishing this article, we have launched our CMS based Credit Union Web Design product that is a quick easy and affordable solution for credit union internet marketing.
Websites are like milk. When they are fresh, they are great. After a while they begin to smell a little funny. A little while later they are kind of clunky then they are just gross and unpalatable. Then the only thing you can do is get new milk.
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Comments
Ron, You are right. In my experience, most credit unions see a website as a brochure. If asked how often they check their analytics data to see what content is most accessed or what keywords are being used - you get blank stares.
Web sites are living breathing marketing tools that provide you with a huge amount of data that can be used in product development, marketing strategy development and creating member profiles.
It is sad that so few get it.
Tony,
15. Your website has pictures of shiny happy people.
16. I have to scroll.
17. I can’t find you easily on a google search.
God - I LOVE this post.
Most credit union websites SUCK! There. I said it too…..I feel better.
Great post, websites were just a brochure (in 1998), but now they need to be an interactive “branch”. It needs to be another access point for your institution. We’re working on getting a new website together right now and its been difficult to really nail down the things that need to change, thanks for making it a bit easier to narrow down with this post.
This is the post I think about writing every day. The criteria you’ve listed above is all good food for thought, as is the point by the Shev. Without defined business objectives, how do you know if your website is successful? Without tracking and analytics, how can you tell where people are going on your site?
For the most part, all of these things have been addressed in other industries, especially for those companies who conduct business online. As Andy said, CU websites now have to function as an extension of your branch online. The best in-branch customer service won’t do anything for a poorly designed or structured website.
Do your members a favor and take the step to strengthen your online presence.
Awesome link sent to me from a friend on Twitter. How marketing dictate perception all wrapped around this awesome picture:
And you can view the post here here.
That is…if they even have a web site. My favorite websites are the ones that are all center aligned.
Fantastic post, Tony. When I first got into CU web design, the glut of flash intros and animated gifs (often a waving American flag) caused me to say “seriously…seriously?” and rub my temples at least once a day. Usually more.
I really enjoyed reading your points in this post.
The ONLY point I’d disagree on is the size of the NCUA logo text. I think it’s important information that needs to be communicated. Locally, it’s still a common attack that local bankers make, that “credit unions are not insured by FDIC and therefore are unsafe places to keep your money.” Of course we all know that’s a tricky little twist on facts, but many people who don’t live in credit union land actually fall for it. I thought about making my NCUA logo smaller, but after all, you have to scroll down to see it anyway! So I guess I’m breaking at least two rules! 
About menus: I personally don’t like drop-down menus. Mine has so much stuff crammed into it. I keep thinking that there must be a simpler way. But my menus do work much better in Firefox/Safari/Netscape/Opera than they do in IE.
About tinkering with the status quo: When face-lifting our site last year I really wanted to make a more dramatic shift, but as I felt others out about the new ideas, I decided not to go for an all-out makeover. I like the idea of trying samples out for member thumbs up or thumbs down. Or maybe the idea of a member contest to design it. I seem to remember someone else in the All-Powerful CU Blogos talking about that.
Good analogy about the milk. Have you ever had Kefir? It’s what happens to milk a few days after the clunky stuff. It’s quite healthy for the digestive system and my kids actually love it. But me, I can’t even stand to look at it much less put it into my mouth. Aaaaccckk!
Dan, you are killing me with the milk stuff. I have a borderline mental condition when it comes to milk. I will never drink it if it is within 3 days of expiration or if it has been “unsealed” for more than 7 days. I have had too many “accidents” with milk 
As for the NCUA logo issue. My point is that if people dont know what NCUA is then the logo isnt going to do much anyway. Instead I would have a FAQs box on the home page (if this is an issue for you) with items like “Why is a Credit Union Better Than a Bank?” and “Is My Money Secure at a Credit Union?” where you hit NCUA several times in each response.
Dropdown menus can be a complete mess or incredibly helpful in organizing your content. You can also partner those up with a “Secondary” navigation in a column with links to content for just that area. For example, in the Savings area a small box of menu links to Certificates, IRAs and MMAs.
Be careful with “Contests”. Some inexperienced web developers will design for looks but not for purpose (not effective marketing tools). They also sometimes over-deliver on design making visual promises that are not reasonable in coding the site.
You rock and thanks for the comment!
Excellent post. While your list of criteria to determine if a redesign is needed is excellent (and funny), I’d like to propose a simpler test. Simply answer this question:
Is our web site achieving its objectives?
Betcha anything 8 of 10 CUs haven’t defined the business objectives in the first place. If you can’t answer this question, you need a redesign.