Five reasons your website is a fright
In honor of spooky season, let’s talk about a few of the ways your credit union website might be causing horrible moaning and groaning, or even frightening members away.
And, more importantly, what you can do about it.
1) It’s mummified and lifeless
Does your website just sit there, creepily staring into space, with no interactivity, no data, no lead generation, no flexibility, and no way to experiment or add new things?
If your website is a graveyard of boring, bone-dry brochure text and frightful stock photos, it’s past time to update. Credit union websites should be active and interesting, the hub of your online and offline marketing, with active and interactive content, multiple ways to generate leads and growth, and analytics that give you information and insights you can use.
And most importantly, your website should be a living thing, able to grow and adapt easily to your members’ changing needs and interests.
2) Dusty, musty old content
If your website has become the Crypt of Ancient Memory, it’s making you look out of touch. Worse, the fading memory of last summer’s loan promo and that dusty old newsletter from 2013 are affecting your credibility, slaughtering SEO, and scaring off new members.
If updates are a struggle and your site is screaming for attention, it’s time to update to a modern Content Management System pronto. If you can’t find the time, work with an expert partner who can help you keep things fresh.
And the same applies to your social media; if you can’t keep up with regular new content on every platform, kill off the ghost towns and concentrate on the ones where you have the most engagement, like Facebook and Instagram.
3) The horrible undead zombie brand
If your website’s turning into a zombie, your brand is also starting to shuffle and lose essential parts.
That’s because your website and your brand are inseparable, permanently intertwined. A website is a shining, 24/7/365 always-on outpost. More members will see and interact with your website far more often than any physical branch.
Does your website represent your brand, the best of your credit union, in action? Are things simple, slick, and sleek? Can people find what they need instantly, and help themselves?
4) The Many-Tentacled Muddle of Multiple Mixed Messages
Quick, what’s the main thing people should understand and remember if they look at your home page for two seconds on their way to log in to online banking?
Keep your site design, content, and interface simple and focused, and clean. Slash excess navigation and focus ruthlessly on only the most-needed and highest-value info and options.
You only have a few seconds to make an impression and get across a message. The more clutter, the less communication.
5) The Franken-interface
Does your online banking look, feel, and function anything like your website? What about bill pay, P2P payments, online loan apps, online account opening, and all those other online services?
Even if everything functions fine, it can all end up looking like a homemade stitched-together monster mess – not a good place to be for any brand. Worse, the jumble of interfaces can create confusion, generate lots of calls, and even lead to mistakes.
Work with your website developers and your vendors to help bring all your online touchpoints into alignment as much as possible. The more everything feels seamless, the more trust your members will have, and the more willing they’ll be to make use of these services.
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