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Featured Site

CU Village built the LoveMyCreditUnion site in our CMS. Since its launch we have met the client’s needs for timely updates, design revisions, adding password-protected areas, and a variety of reports.Take a look by clicking on the image above!

Web Site Planning Process: Maintenance and Growth

CU Village uses a web site planning model that includes six phases: 1) Goal Setting , 2) Strategy Development, 3) Decision Making, 4) Site Development, 5) Site Launch and 6) Maintenance and Growth.

Because your Web site should be ever evolving and improving, the sixth and final phase is to maintain and grow your site. This phase focuses on the constant measurement, assessment and improvement of your site. In this phase you will:

• Talk to the people who use your site. Find out what they think about it, how they use it and how they might like to use it. Incorporate your findings into your planning for future development.
• Review statistics: commit to reviewing your usage statistics monthly. You don't need to look at every stat available, but at least be aware of where your members are going most frequently and where they are not. Alter your strategies, content development and marketing accordingly.
• Maintain and update your site on an ongoing basis. If you want your members to visit often and repeatedly, give them a reason to: give them products, services, resources and tools that are timely and relevant to their needs!

Maintaining Your Site - Basics

When reviewing your Web site for routine maintenance, there are several things to consider. Although these suggestions are probably things you already know you should be doing, we often let the basics slide until we are reminded.

Traffic - How much or little does your site get? Where do your visitors go most? Least? What time do they visit your site and what tasks do they perform. (Your hosting company should be able to provide you with these statistics if you can't access them yourself from the administration area of your site.) Is your credit union placing the most important information where your members visit most? What is on the least visited pages? Is there important information that your members may be missing? Are some pages really necessary? If so, then what can you add to them to attract more attention? Is the information on those site pages current and fresh or has it been out there since the site was originally created? Can the information be included in other pages?

Updates - What is happening at the credit union that you can put on the site to make sure there is always current and new information for frequent visitors? Do you have a new promotion or a new product to present? Have you hired a new employee you would like to introduce or is there a special anniversary to celebrate? Has the latest newsletter come out? What about a community activity the credit union is participating in or sponsoring? These are all things that can add interest to the site and help gain repeat visitors. In addition to your rates pages, there are many things at the credit union that change regularly. You should use that information to keep your site interesting because your members can't get that information anywhere else.

Links & Resources - How often do you check the links on your site to make sure they go where they are supposed to and provide the information intended? How often do you add new links and resources to your site so your members find new information and resources to suit their needs every time they visit?

Content - Regular maintenance of your Web site also includes updating content. Most members will go to your Web site when they want to check out rates, apply for a loan or perform home banking tasks. What you want to do is give them a reason to visit your site on a regular basis in order to sell more products and services. The best way to do this is to provide a variety of consumer articles, financial information, tools and resources they can use on a daily basis to help them manage their finances. This information needs to be varied and updated regularly to keep them interested. If no one on staff has the time to regularly generate relevant information you have many options to purchase content for your Web site to help keep it fresh. The CU Village Financial Resource Center offers content and resources that are very affordable and easy.

Feedback - When was the last time you asked your members for feedback about your site? Do you have a survey they can respond to when they visit? Maybe it is time to put one out there. Ask questions such as:

• Do you find it easy to navigate through our Web site?
• Do you find what you are looking for with ease?
• What additional information would you like to see on our site?
• What additional functions/tasks would you like to be able to perform on our site?
• What suggestions do you have to improve our site?

Getting answers to these questions and others will give you a good idea of where your site's strengths and weaknesses are. There are a variety of online surveys and polling tools that can make gathering feedback easier for you.

Growing Your Site

To grow your site, the focus should lean more toward your strategic objectives than the daily operations of the credit union. As your objectives change you will need to reevaluate your site to determine if it is still doing what you need it to do. This will take you back to the first step: Investigate and Analyze. You can regularly evaluate your site by asking a few key questions: Is this Web site in line with where I want my credit union to go? Am I focusing on the right audience? Am I sending a consistent message? If there are any discrepancies between your Web site and your strategic goals, it's time to make some changes.

For instance, let’s say the main objective of the credit union was once to attract new members and your site design achieved that. But now the objective is to get more loans. Your site most likely is not set up to accomplish that in its current layout. You will want to look at what is available in the market to help you attract members who need loans. Perhaps you need a secure loan application that members can use to apply online. Or, maybe you want to go a step further and incorporate a loan decision system into your site so your members can be approved automatically, based on preset criteria. Whatever the objective of the credit union, even if it has not changed, it is important to consistently look for new enhancements to add to your site to keep it a tool your members will find useful and allow the credit union to accomplish its goals at the same time.

A commitment to maintaining your Web site is just as important as the decision to have one. Your members depend on your credit union to provide them with the resources they need to manage their accounts, get financial information and make financial decisions. It is imperative that someone at the credit union is committed to keeping your site updated and evolving to making sure it meets the goals of both the credit union and its members.
 

Contact CU Village for your custom web site needs.

 Keeping Control of your Web Site

Too often, a great amount of time is devoted to developing the Web site initially, but the site quickly becomes outdated by simply assuming “the IS department will take care of it.” It is important to have defined quality control procedures in place, and to assign responsibility for periodically verifying the information and images on the site. This can be internal, or a combination of internal and outsourced services.

The Basics

Contact Information – This includes name, phone number and e-mail address for critical staff that members may need to reach. At a minimum, the credit union’s main branch information and a customer service contact should be listed on the site, and this information should be verified monthly. You might also want to include a map and directions to your main and branch locations.

Rate Information – It is critical that all posted rate information is reviewed and updated as often as rates change at your credit union. All special offers and incentives with expiration dates should have those dates clearly labeled, and should be removed as soon as the offer expires.

Newsletters – The most current issue of your newsletter should be posted on your Web site as soon as it is released to your members. If your newsletter is published quarterly, label it as such so members don’t wonder if the current month’s issue was inadvertently forgotten.

What’s New – If you feature a “What’s New” section on your site, keep the information fresh and relevant. Your members don’t want to return to the site in February to see the same Member Appreciation Day pictures that have been posted since last June. This area should be reviewed monthly.

Links and Images –All links should be periodically tested to make sure they go to the correct site. This includes links to other areas of your own site. A quick click on each link will verify if the link works and if it goes to the proper page. Also, images can become broken and can no longer be seen on the site. Again, a quick scan of each page can verify the images.

As your content provider, CU Village will gather, write, and organize fresh content, information, products and services for your Web site. So you can spend your time doing what you do best—providing excellent service to your members.

For information about our products and services, contact your CU Village.com business consultant.