Increase in internet searches for card-related terms, finds report
But Moneysupermarket.com loses 26% visibility since April
This is according to the latest quarterly sector report by Greenlight, on retail banking in the UK market.
The report, which covers bank accounts, credit and debit cards, mortgages and loans showed that websites which achieved visibility for those keywords secured much of the overall share of voice [ a marketing term used to describe a brand’s or group of brands’ advertising weight expressed as a percentage of a defined total market or market segment in a given time].
It profiles consumer online search behavior in this sector, identifies the most popular search terms used, the total number of searches conducted for each, a ranking of the most visible websites/building societies/banks/aggregators in both natural and paid search in relation to these terms, the traffic they were visible to and that which they missed out on. The report also provides an analysis of how they performed in the social media sphere.
There were 4.9 million searches performed online in July for retail banking-related keywords, a 13% increase since Greenlight’s last report (April), when 4.3 million were made.
Mortgage-related terms were the most searched for, totaling 1.5 million in July. This was a notable increase on April when 1.2 million searches were performed
Searches for ‘credit card application’ increased notably since April whilst the terms ‘loans’ and ‘online banking’ remained relatively constant over the past 12 months
Attaining 56% share of voice through ranking at position one for 47 keywords, including the term ‘Credit cards’, MoneySupermarket was the most visible site in natural search for credit and debit card-related searches, although it lost 26% visibility since April
By contrast, Barclaycard’s visibility increased by 12% and it moved from fourth position to second. Halifax’s visibility also increased (by 19%) which saw it ascend Greenlight’s natural search league table for credit and debit cards, from 11 to third. Egg, however, did not rank having featured at sixth position in April when it achieved 34% share of voice.
Advertising
• Of the top 15 ad creatives in paid search, nine were mortgage-related, four advertised credit cards (badcreditcreditcards-123.co.uk, virginmoney.com, compareandsave.com, Halifax.co.uk), and two focused on loans.
• Compareandsave was the most visible advertiser for debit and credit and cards, attaining 85% share of voice. Virginmoney followed with 60% then moneysupermarket with 45%
• In paid search, BadCreditCreditCards-123 achieved 39% visibility and ranked in fifth position, having featured outside Greenlight’s top 20 advertisers for credit and debit cards in April. By comparison, BeatThatQuote did not feature in the league table, having ranked at fifth position in April when it achieved 41% share of voice
Social media
Overall, Greenlight found informational sites and aggregators in the retail banking sector had more established Facebook and Twitter accounts, compared to direct service providers. A number of direct providers currently do not have official UK Facebook or Twitter accounts. In addition, the high street banks NatWest, HSBC and Halifax received negative comments regarding their customer care services on unofficial Facebook and Twitter pages.
By contrast, Lloyds TSB used its Twitter account to not only generate news and product releases, but also acted as a customer service contact by directly answering consumer queries and complaints.