In 2020, our long-term client at Community Resource Bank (CRB) came to us seeking an entire revamp of their website and brand identity. The old website had become outdated and needed a new look to represent the brand in a modern way and add in features to meet the needs of their customers. We had built their original WordPress site back in 2013 so we were excited at the opportunity to bring this website into its second phase of life.
Working with our design partners at Malley Design, the new website revamp combines a clean new brand identity with a modern user experience. Let’s dive into how we were able to accomplish what the team was looking for and explore the new, modern WordPress site.
Matching the Visual Identity with Quality of Services Offered
Community Resource Bank’s team, with four branch locations throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding areas, was looking to retain the essence of its personal approach to banking, while elevating their visual identity to match the quality of services offered.
With the help of a few local partners, we coordinated branded photoshoots and revised CRB's brand messaging strategy. From there, we redesigned every aspect of the bank's visual identity to align with the new strategy. The team developed a refreshed brand identity that is clean, simple, and represents the high-quality services that CRB offers to their customers. We also helped write new copy for the website to support the new brand identity.
Creating a Better User Experience to Satisfy Online Customers
The new website aims to streamline the customer experience and provide modern features for both users and CRB employees to enjoy. Here’s what we did:
New domain name: the domain of the website was changed from .com to .bank, which is more secure for site users. The site URL was also shortened so customers can easily find the site without misspellings.
Financial calculation tools: the new site hosts a variety of calculation tools for visitors to use to understand their finances when it comes to home loans, personal finance, investments, and retirement plans. The calculators are hosted by TimeValue Software and integrated into the site.
Clean, responsive design: the new site features a much cleaner layout and design and is fully responsive to the device that each user is browsing from. The new
Dynamic website components for easy content creation: the WordPress site uses dynamic components and sections, which makes it easy for the marketing team to build new webpages without needing any backend development.
Change-tracking plugin installed for compliance: a change-tracking plugin was installed so the team can have a log of content changes and CRB users' login/out attempts. This is to protect the website incase any compliance issues arise.
The new website launched in mid-February 2021 and has been well-received by the entire CRB team. The clean, modern design along with responsive elements on the website reflect the updated and high-quality that Community Resource Bank embodies. Christina Jerome, SVP, Chief Operating Officer at Community Resource Bank said this about our partnership and the project:
“Our design and development process throughout 2020 and a pandemic gave us a new perspective on what makes up a website. We were walked through the process of determining the archetype personalities to decide how we wanted our customers to feel when they looked at our site. It was important to Community Resource Bank to instill a sense of security, community, and strength in our website. The three words in our name “Community-Resource-Bank” really define who we are and the team was able to focus on those three words and write copy to address the importance of these words in our brand. Looking at the website today and our new logo, we are grateful to the entire team of people who worked together to create this new brand for Community Resource Bank.”
Both teams are working on more updates to the site to continue to provide the most value for customers. Take a look at the brand-new site here!
Technologies Used
