Developing a strategic website plan
The first step was to identify Whitefish’s goals for the new website, which were revealed in an interactive discovery session held between the project team at ZAG and the credit union. Key objectives were to create an updated, responsive and customizable website, simplify the user experience for members, and better represent the distinct Whitefish brand and local area. As part of the initial planning for the website, ZAG performed competitive benchmarking, reviewing other financial institution websites to identify opportunities to offer a better experience. With this valuable background and collectively defined direction, ZAG sought out to develop a new site strategy that streamlines the navigation, surfaces important pages, includes convenient features, and highlights helpful resources to create a cohesive website experience. This included devising a new site architecture that intuitively organized all pages of the website, making it easy and convenient for visitors to find the best banking solutions.
Designing a modern, local experience
Based on this strategic plan, ZAG’s team collaborated on a custom responsive design for the website. The contemporary, banded page structure calls attention to key offerings with an easy-to-follow, scrolling user experience and unique aesthetic styling. Bringing out distinct elements of the brand and local Montana area, the colors and textures are intentionally incorporated to make the website feel familiar, honest and welcoming to members. Using regional imagery, the site offers an authentic experience while showcasing the credit union’s commitment to the community. Further illustrating this, the site includes an immersive community section that provides upcoming events, volunteer work and sponsorship information, featuring an interactive tool that allows the user to select opportunities to get involved by location and event. All design components were carefully considered and tested to ensure conformance with current website ADA guidelines.
Marketing with strategic content
To align with the design, new copy was developed for the Whitefish Credit Union website. Copywriting was essential to support the targeted SEO strategy, which infuses keyword-rich terms into the website page content and meta data. It was also critical to tell the Whitefish story, from the interactive historical timeline and proof points to important competitive differentiators.
Building a sophisticated but easy-to-use website
The website is built on the powerful Kentico Content Management System. With robust, flexible out-of-the-box options, the CMS allows for the development of custom widgets and modules, such as a rates management tool and locations management tool with CO-OP ATM integration. It also seamlessly integrates with custom calculators and other third-party solutions. These capabilities, along with an intuitive interface, makes ongoing website management and maintenance easy and efficient.