As a credit union leader, you understand the importance of providing members with an enjoyable and efficient online experience when they interact with you. A bad experience can drive away people and create a negative impression of your credit union quicker than a good experience will leave a positive impression.
People expect their online experiences to be easy and match the pace of their lives, so your credit union needs to deliver accordingly. You may not know what indicators point toward the need for a redesign. You can use these points to make a case to your finance department for a website redesign budget.
Your business, brand or marketing plan has changed. If you have expanded your business, added new products or services or changed logo and marketing initiatives, you need a redesign. At this point, your website's content, design and functionality don't properly reflect the essence of your company today and what you're trying to achieve.
Your site was designed several years ago: Everything is on the move – you, your company, the world. A static website with no interactive elements and dull, unchanging content is outdated and affects visitors' impression of your brand. Web standards and devices change regularly, requiring you to keep up with new versions of HTML or moving away from old concepts such as using Flash, which is not mobile-friendly. An older website also may mean there are pages you aren't using or pages you need that don't exist.
Your site works best in Internet Explorer 6. Websites built a few years ago were generally only optimized for one or two browsers. Now people have a choice of browsers. You might be surprised that Chrome is the leading browser with more than one-third of the browser market share. If your website design and code aren't optimized for the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, for instance, you are creating a poor user experience for your audience.
Your site resembles a cluttered coffee table. You've seen or maybe you own a coffee table that seems to be a catch-all for random things around the house. If you just keep adding information, pages and elements to your website without prioritizing and streamlining, you'll create an unnavigable behemoth that will drive away visitors.
Your site is difficult to update. Gone are the days when you're forced to rely on a cumbersome process to update your website's content. These days, many content management systems deliver powerful features that busy, non-technical people can utilize without wasting time or money.
Your competition is blowing your doors off in SEO rankings. Outdated websites suffer from numerous maladies, the most serious being the inability to rank high on search engines because of old, unfocused content and technological shortcomings. When visitors find your website, they may not be reading anything beyond the homepage or further engaging with your brand.
ROI from your site is down. Whether it's sales, lead generation or memberships, if your ROI is lacking then people either don't find your presentation compelling enough to inquire further or you make it too difficult for people to continue the conversation with you. Probably a little bit of both. It's time to spruce up your website.
Your audience is mobile but your site is not. The mobile and tablet market has exploded in popularity and is not slowing down, which means that people increasingly browse websites on devices other than desktops and laptops. Your credit union's website must cater to your members while attracting potential members, no matter the device they use. Investing in responsive design or a separate mobile site is a must-have for any credit union these days.
Your site's navigation is slow and clunky. People visiting your website likely are in a hurry, so you want to present your important information quickly and intuitively with enough impact to make them linger and learn more. An updated site architecture and navigation can help you achieve this.
Your site is just an online brochure. If your website is just a reiteration of your sales materials, it's simply not going to compete against other credit unions these days. Investing in blogs, social media feeds and online chat can provide you an advantage over your competition and help you connect with your audience.
Jennifer Buccini is the art director at ZAG Interactive.
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