The journey from dated to relevant.
As a Content Designer, I played a key role in the website redesign. I created new content that aligned with the brand voice and site architecture, ensuring that the content strategy met SEO requirements.
Role
Content Designer
Discovery & Strategy by Investis Digital
The digital agency that led the Butterfield Bank website redesign was Investis Digital. They provided extensive research before launching the project. I worked closely with their team, reviewed their research, and incorporated their insights into the website's content and page layouts.
Investis Digital conducted an engagement process before the website redesign launch, including meetings with key stakeholders to assess their needs and identify how to meet internal and external goals to serve their customers better. The agency deeply understood the bank's key audiences and their current perceptions. They suggested defining a content strategy by bringing the tone of voice, vision, and narrative thread to demonstrate to users who Butterfield Bank is now and where it is going.
Users need clear direction and a strong call to action to navigate the website and follow logical next steps.
Unifying the bank from a regional and products & services across all jurisdictions, ensuring all audiences experience a consistent level of quality.
Users need an experience that meets their needs and aligns with modern UX standards.
Content will need to meet the needs of all the different regions once the stand-alone regional websites consolidate to meet SEO requirements.
Information Architecture
The information architecture (IA) is complex, as the respective jurisdictions offer curated solutions and products. The site enables geotargeting tools to redirect users to services in their region, which helps simplify repeated content and SEO issues on the old website.
Understanding the two retail banking sites at the IA level was crucial. Each jurisdiction required its own content pages because the information differed slightly. Sharing a single page for these jurisdictions would not effectively address the unique needs and regulations of each, ensuring that users receive the most relevant and accurate information.
I created a flowchart to visualize the overall content structure of Butterfield’s website. Understanding shared content and pages with unique content was critical in the content audit phase. Jurisdictions shared duplicate content and needed to share the same page to maximize SEO.
Content Strategy
My main goal was to reposition Butterfield's current perception from dated and frustrating to relevant and reliable. Investis Digital's advice was to unify the bank's mission 'To build relationships and wealth' throughout the content on the website.
The content audit found that 11 sites (approximately 100 pages) are inconsistent with the brand's mission and vision. The content contains too many facts and details, which undermines the conversational voice.
Investis discovered from the engagement sessions that users want reassurance about Butterfield's expertise and trustworthiness. The content contains too much detail and focuses on an overwhelming amount of information. The suggestion was to bring in "more narrative elements, and the content would be able to speak to relevant audiences more clearly, increasing engagement and conversion rates."
Global Home Page (Original)
Butterfield's Global home page, as part of the old site, had minimal content because it was a page customers rarely visited. The menu options were overwhelming and lacked structure, making it difficult for users to navigate the site. The following section discusses the improvements implemented in the new site.
Global Home Page (Redesigned)
Users visiting Butterfieldgroup.com from outside a jurisdiction in which Butterfieldgroup.com does not provide services will see this page. The global home page includes information that introduces the bank: who they are and what they do. Allowing users to select the service they are interested in will guide them to the appropriate jurisdiction.
Strong call-to-actions are visible and invite users to start a conversation with Butterfield Bank. This revised global home page provides clear direction and communication to all users.
Careers Page (Original)
Searching for opportunities within Butterfield Bank was not a simple task. Their careers section was disconnected between jurisdictions; each location had its own individual careers section. Users would click the jurisdiction website and its career section to view the bank's opportunities.
The CTA to 'apply now' gave the impression that you would need to hand-write your application and physically mail it in - not the most efficient way to receive applications.
Careers Page (Redesigned)
Under the new site architecture, the careers section is a shared content page that includes all jurisdictions. The content engages users to search and apply for opportunities in all jurisdictions. A visual image of the bank's locations helps users see where offices reside at a glance. This structure is efficient for internal employees who need to post opportunities.
Wealth Management & Trust Page (Original)
Private Banking is located under Wealth Management & Trust - the double title is not effective for SEO. The list of menu items under the private banking section on the left is an example of information overload for a user to navigate.
Private Banking Page (Redesigned)
The site architecture helps keep information structured and grouped logically for users to navigate the site easily - private banking is under banking; it's simple. The content and imagery convey a trustworthy bank, reflecting the bank's vision and mission.
Adding team images with their contact details will encourage users to start a conversation about the bespoke services Butterfield Bank provides in their private banking jurisdictions.
Improved SEO and Visibility
Searching for “Banks in Bermuda” places Butterfield in the second spot on Google Search.
Before the redesign, Butterfield Bank was buried in the results, and users had to scroll to the bottom to see it; it was not visible among the top banks.
