Maxymiser Best Practices Finance Homepage Optimization

4 ESSENTIALSOF A WINNING HOMEPAGE

Best Practices in Finance Website Testing and OptimizationPART 1

4 Essentials of a Winning Homepage : : Best Practices in Finance Website Testing and Optimization, Part 1

Table of Contents4 Essentials of the Finance Homepage

5 **** Essential #1: Logins

6 Essential #2: Navigation for Personal Accounts

7 Essential #3: Navigation for Business Accounts

8 Essential #4: Search

9 Real-Life Finance Homepage Enhancements

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Think about it: when was the last time you actually waited in line at a physical bank?

It was probably a while ago, and it was probably for a very unique purpose — like picking up foreign currency for your next big adventure.

But you aren’t alone. The world of commercial banking has gone digital and it’s here to stay.

Consumers have become more trusting of online banking, and therefore more demanding. It’s no longer enough to just have a “secure site.” Your financial site has to be top-notch — engaging, easy to use and loyalty-driving.

And the homepage can make — or break — your bank.

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So, let’s talk about the

essentials to getting

a money-making

homepage…

Provide Intuitive NavigationWe know, you have a lot of products, services and account types. Allowing visitors to find what they want in the least amount of time is crucial to keeping those homepage bounce rates at an acceptable level.

Let Them Login or Sign UpOne of the No. 1 reasons most visitors come to your site is to access their account(s) or getone going. If you do anything right on your homepage, it’s this.

Get PersonalBanking is ever-so-personal. When possible, you should be providing targeted content and calls-to-action (CTAs) based on the user’s behavior and desired actions.

Essentials of the Finance HomepageYour homepage is NOT the place to display all available products and services. It’s where visitors come to do their business, and should be used as a means to drive those visitors to their desired content.

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Customers are shown promptly where to sign in.

Login facilitates ease for current customers to achieve their

banking goals.

Clear and pronounced login

allows current customers to sign

in with ease.

****


Essential #1

Logins

With more and more consumers moving from the branch to the web, it’s important that every user can get to his or her account with ease and security. Because more often than not, it’s probably the reason they’re there — to bank. Ensuring your logins are prominently displayed, quick and easy to login, and, of course, secure, is a staple of any well-performing financial site.

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Interactive drop-down menu when hovering over helps visitors get to products and services quicker and more

efficiently.

If users are lost within the site, the drop-down menu-style

navigation helps redirect them to where they want to go.

Main navigation arrows cue visitors on how to use the navigation effectively to achieve the easiest journey

to find what they need.

Intuitive icons in the navigation engage and direct visitors to desired products and services.


Essential #2

Navigation for Personal Accounts

You’ve got more to offer your customers than just a checking account, so it’s important to make sure they can easily digest all the options. Guiding language and interactive drop-down menus can help you simplify the presentation of all the products, while creatively guiding users on the path to purchase.

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Products and services are tailored to meet

visitors’ needs, decreasing the time

for users to get to the end of the funnel.

Main navigation and hero images tailored to specific needs of people and small businesses, respectively,

increases user engagement and helps visitors get to where they

want to go quicker.

Hero image targets prospective customers and their goals, whether it

be personal or small business banking.

Targeting also allows the bank to make a personal connection with visitors.


Essential #3

Navigation for Business Accounts

Just because you sell business products doesn’t mean you can’t get personal and targeted. Providing engaging navigation, imagery and messaging that speaks to the needs of business owners dramatically decreases the time for users to get through the funnel — while increasing the likelihood that you’ll become their finance partner.

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Pre-populated “Search” text shows visitors that they need to type in the desired content

to start a search process.

Intuitive magnifying glass icon illustrates what the search function does.

Placement of a search box is common, as visitors will likely

look there first.

Once visitors have found the search box, the green “GO” CTA

will show them intuitively that, once clicked on, they will be redirected to search results.


Essential #4

Search

Whether a current customer or not, allowing visitors to seek and find their desired products or information is crucial to easing site frustration. Clear CTAs, along with prominent and familiar search boxes, will help get visitors on the right path.

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DEFAULT

WINNER

The winning page increased conversions on click-through rates up to 21.3%.


Case Study

Real-Life Finance Homepage Enhancements

When a major bank wanted to find out what made its customers more likely to expand their product portfolio and engagement, it turned to multivariate testing with Maxymiser.

To enhance the site's navigation and homepage structures, the test looked at restructuring the product offerings within the homepage and navigation to allow for increased engagement on the site.

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Now on to optimizing those product pages….


With A/B and multivariate testing, you’ll be able to see if your logins, navigation and search is up to snuff — with your actual site visitors.

With such little product differentiation, finance customers can be fickle. But by testing and personalizing your site, as well as your other marketing channels, they’ll have less of a reason to stray from the comfort and ease you’re providing.

Now that you know what your homepage essentials are, it’s time to test.

If you are interested in speaking with someone at Maxymiser, please email [email protected].

Ok. Pause. Step one is done.

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Economy & Finance

Maxymiser Best Practices Finance Homepage Optimization