Keeping Control of Your Web Site
by Mary Ann Koelzer
Maintaining your Web site and keeping the content fresh is key to successfully servicing your members. Inactive links, broken images, and outdated information not only make your site look unprofessional, but also can irritate visitors and turn away your members.
Too often, a great amount of time is devoted to developing the Web site initially, but the site quickly becomes outdated by simply assuming “the IS department will take care of it.”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.
Other Content – If you post consumer articles, it is a good idea to update them periodically. Members' Marketplace content streaming can enhance your Web site by frequently updating your pages with several new consumer articles– place the code on your page once, and the articles update automatically.
Current, relevant content helps your members make important decisions. When that content is on your site, your site becomes the first place your members turn to for information—and you become their trusted resource.
