Getting it Right: Catholic Federal Credit Union

Name: Catholic Federal Credit Union
Assets: $309,275,805
Members:  26,631
Website: www.cathfcu.com
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With Google and a new microsite on their side, Catholic Federal Credit Union’s latest inspiring campaign is helping them grow wallet share. CU Love Thy Neighbor is using a microsite to ask people how they’d help their neighbors with $5 from Catholic Federal. Everyone who participated was entered into a $1,000 drawing. In the first three weeks more than one hundred participants submitted stories, videos or photographs in response.

Successfully working in tandem with this campaign is a Google AdWords program that CU Solutions Group is heading. It targets people searching for checking accounts and directs them to the campaign’s microsite. The leads generated from this campaign are growing daily and the AdWords cost per conversion rate is lowering each day as well.

Catholic Federal factored in current member and potential member behavior when creating their campaign – the fact that more and more people hit the Web first to check rates and apply for membership or loans. They have also worked with CU Solutions Group to review their website’s SEO and usability. The credit union is using all of these online tools and information to tweak their marketing and website as they go. As far as future plans, they’re going to continue monitoring and adjusting their efforts to garner the best results.

Is Your Credit Union’s Website Easy to Use? Top 5 Things to Consider

When redesigning or even just tweaking your credit union’s website you need to think beyond the bells and whistles and focus on website usability. There are four tests to assess your website’s usability:

• Design Test – This test consists of showing respondents an image, be it a wireframe, design or mock-up, for five seconds. After the respondents have viewed the design they are then asked a series of questions. It’s used to evaluate and determine if a site’s design is meeting its goals.
• Navigation Test – Respondents are given a task to complete on your site and test results show the success or fail rate in addition to a click analysis as well as if the navigation makes sense.
• Click Test – Click testing gauges how users engage with the site’s overall design. It also evaluates the key area of focus of the design and can determine user preference between two designs.
• Eye Tracking Study – A specialized test that tracks where on the computer screen the test subject is looking and in what order.

Website Usability at its Best

If you think you know your website, you might want to think again after undergoing any of the above tests. No matter how good looking and content-rich your website may be, there’s always room for improvement. 

Here are the top five website usability factors that often get overlooked:

1. Strong calls to action
   Having text that proclaims “click here” isn’t enough for Web users anymore. You need eye catching graphic designed buttons with strong calls to action like “apply here,” “contact us” or “rates” to get the responses you’re looking for on your credit union’s website.
2. Think F-shaped
   Most eye tracking studies done on websites, especially by the pioneer of website usability Dr. Jakob Nielsen, reveal a consistent pattern. Most users’ eyes tend to follow an F-shaped pattern when looking at websites for the first time. They start at the top left, work their way down and then briefly look to the right. You might want to consider laying out your website accordingly, putting important content on the left side of the page.
3. Ignore the fold
   Well, not completely … but the idea that all your important content needs to be “above the fold.” This means the part of your website you first see without scrolling down. Studies show that if your viewer is interested, they’ll scroll down for more information. And with so many varying screen sizes these days – from gigantic flat screen monitors down to tablets and smartphones, everyone’s fold is different!
4. Speed matters
   Do you have any idea how long it takes a slower computer to access your credit union’s website? It’s worth finding out. Too many images or other website performance issues can determine the click speed. And in this fast-paced world, people don’t like waiting. If they have to wait too long, chances are they’ll find another credit union’s website that’s faster.
5. Keep it clean
   We’re not talking about having G-rated content (although it never hurts). We’re talking about layout. Were you so concerned about getting every speck of information on your site you didn’t think about how attractive or readable that content is? Consider how much white space you have and how your content is formatted. A good amount of white space, easy-to-read fonts, headings, bulleted lists and concise copy are all your website’s friends and improve its usability.

Test it Out

If you don’t believe our tips, test it out for yourself. Have new members, family and friends visit your site, their feedback may be enlightening. If you’re looking for a more thorough analysis of your website’s usability, CU Solutions Group can help.

We utilize the design, navigation and click tests to get a good understanding of your site’s strengths and weaknesses, compile and present the data and offer useful suggestions. We also offer Web design and development, custom copywriting and more to help make your credit union’s website the best it can be.

CU Solutions Group - The Birth of a Website

Some of you might already know, but for those who don’t – we at CU Solutions Group just redesigned and launched our website. After hours upon hours of work between several of our departments, I paused to reflect on our accomplishment. Not that creating, developing and launching a website is anything unusual for our company, it’s something we do for credit unions every day, but it’s different when it’s yours.

This made me further reflect on the similarities between creating and launching a site to being a parent. (Note, I’m not discriminating between mothers and fathers …) First there’s the discussion, is this the right time for us? Do we have the time and resources to support this new endeavor? Who do we have around us to help accomplish this to the best of our abilities?

So, instead of reading “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and finding the best baby doctor, we put together a solid internal team of project managers, designers, writers, developers and tech help to make it all possible. Instead of purchasing the latest strollers and high chairs or fashionable baby clothes, we strove the show the best of what we could do including the most cutting edge trends and design elements, usability and SEO best practices as well as the perfect mix of all our content management system has to offer. 

Like pregnancy, the last few days are the hardest. Everyone scrambling (in a prepared, professional way of course) to get everything accomplished by the (due) launch date. And if you’re lucky, you launch without any major complications and end up with a happy, healthy website to show off to family, friends and anyone else who’ll look. 

Speaking of which, have you seen our new website? We’re very proud of it and are happy to help your credit union deliver one of its own.