November 30, 2007
Three Areas Where Metrics Are
Vital To Improve Your Financial
Services eBusiness Strategy
by Brad Strothkamp
for eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
Making Leaders Successful Every Day

For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
November 30, 2007
Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your
Financial Services eBusiness Strategy
by Brad Strothkamp
with Carrie Johnson and Sarah Glass
EXECUT I V E S U M MA RY
While the interest in metrics is growing, eBusiness managers struggle to understand what to measure
and how to use those metrics. Effective use of metrics can help in dozens of key areas, including search
marketing, home page navigation and design, and feature and functionality decisions. To make their
metrics actionable, eBusiness managers must obsess over the basics like conversion rates and then fill in
the gaps using customer feedback surveys and search data.
TABLE O F CO N T E N TS N OT E S & R E S O U R C E S
2 Few Firms Understand The Power Of Metrics Forrester interviewed five vendor and user
2 1. Improve The Effectiveness Of Search companies on best practice usage of metrics,
Marketing Buys including Compete, comScore, Coremetrics, and
Wells Fargo..
3 2. Make Smarter Navigation And Presentation
Decisions
Related Research Documents
Survey And Search Metrics Help Optimize The “The Forrester Wave™: Web Analytics, Q3 2007”
Home Page September 11, 2007
Internal And External Search Data Can Guide
“Why Financial Shoppers Abandon Online
Navigational Structure
Product Applications”
7 3. Implement Features And Functions That August 22, 2007
Directly Drive Site Conversion
“Case Study: Metrics Drive Wells Fargo’s Home
WHAT IT MEANS
Page”
10 Effective Use Of Metrics Is The Basis For A
May 23, 2007
Successful eBusiness Strategy
“Online Mortgage Shoppers’ Paths To Purchase”
June 7, 2006
© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Forrester, Forrester Wave, RoleView, Technographics, and Total Economic Impact are
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2 Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
FEW FIRMS UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF METRICS
One of the most important skills for today’s eBusiness groups is the ability to understand, track,
analyze, and develop a strategy based on site metrics. And “metrics” includes more than just
standard Web analytics — although that is a very important piece. Based on conversations with
best-practice sales leaders and analytic providers, as well as annual surveys of thousands of online
shoppers, Forrester has determined three areas in which eBusiness executives should use metrics to
improve their business.
1. IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SEARCH MARKETING BUYS
Firms that make keyword purchasing decisions based just on which search terms have the most hits
are wasting precious marketing dollars. To make smarter decisions, eBusiness executives need to
challenge their marketing teams to tie search marketing spend directly to revenue drivers —
whether those are sales, enrollments, or leads. To do this, firms must:
· Have reliable conversion metrics. The ability to accurately and reliably measure conversion
metrics is the backbone of running an effective business. First, a firm must decide on the best
metrics to run its business (e.g., completed applications). Then, it must spend the money and the
time to put a strong Web analytics package in place. Forrester recently evaluated eight different
Web analytic software providers.1 In that evaluation, Coremetrics came out as a Leader —
especially in retail, travel, financial services, and media. Keep in mind that the easy part of this
task is selecting a vendor; the hard part is validating that the information coming out of the tool
is accurate and reliable.
· Use those metrics to improve search engine marketing efforts. Measuring conversion can
be a challenge, but the benefits are clear. In a study that Forrester conducted with Compete
in 2006 on mortgage shoppers, we tied keyword search terms entered in on search sites like
Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com to completed mortgage applications and lead forms (i.e.,
our conversion metric).2 Our goal was to determine which search terms led directly to our
sales metrics, and the results were insightful. Terms with the highest number of hits did not
necessarily deliver the highest percentage of applicants and leads. For example, “mortgage
calculator” was the most frequently searched term for mortgage shoppers, but it was eighth in
terms of conversion. On the flip side, “home loan” was fourth highest in terms of searches, but it
was first in conversion (see Figure 1).
November 30, 2007 © 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy 3
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
Figure 1 Terms Like “Home Loan” Deliver The Highest Percentage Of Applicants
Top 10 mortgage search terms
Researcher Percentage of overall
Applicant* mortgage searches
Mortgage calculator 43%
Mortgage rates 8%
Mortgage 6%
Home loan 5%
Mortgage payment calculator 2%
Current mortgage loans 2%
Mortgage loans 2%
Home mortgage calculator 1%
Mortgage companies 1%
Mortgage interest rates 1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Base: Compete panelists who used search for mortgage information
Source: Compete Panel Study, Q2 2006
*Includes both submitted applications and lead forms
43987 Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
2. MAKE SMARTER NAVIGATION AND PRESENTATION DECISIONS
One of the hardest decisions that eBusiness site managers make is what goes on the site, what does
not go on the site, and how best to represent available products. Metrics can help here by providing
hard data to make these tough decisions.
Survey And Search Metrics Help Optimize The Home Page
As an example, survey and search metrics can help eBusiness managers make better decisions for
the home page, which is often the most politically charged page on eBusiness sites: Various lines of
business along with various segment managers vie for the all-important “link” on the home page.
There are two key ways in which eBusiness mangers can gather customer intelligence and metrics to
justify their decisions and build the most effective home page:
© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited November 30, 2007

4 Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
· Ongoing site surveys. eBusiness mangers need to ensure that there is a continuous dialogue
with site visitors to determine what they come to the site for, the specific tasks they want to
accomplish, and how successful they are at completing those tasks. Surveys that run off the
Web site can be an effective and low-cost way to do this. Forrester recently published a list of
site survey providers.3 Initially, this site survey can be a simple three-question survey. First,
what are you here to do today? This question gets to purpose. Is the customer here to check her
accounts, research a product, or find a branch location? Second, how helpful was the site in
accomplishing your task? This question gets to expectations and outcomes. Was the customer
able to answer the question she had or find the function she wanted? And third, what could be
done to improve your experience? This question gets to unmet needs. What content, functions,
or services would help better meet her needs?
· Internal search data and metrics. A second effective way to inform home page decisions is
to explore internal search data and metrics. This can take two forms. The first is tracking top
search terms. Measuring these terms can help determine what consumers are trying to do or
trying to find but cannot. Wells Fargo realized that one of its top search items was “branch
locations.” The data helped make the decision to provide the locator directly on the home
page. Secondly, search usage should be a key performance indicator (KPI) to understand the
effectiveness of the site or a given page. When Wells Fargo put the branch locator on its home
page, the number of searches decreased — a clear indication that the site was better meeting
users’ goals (see Figure 2).4
Internal And External Search Data Can Guide Navigational Structure
Metrics can also help eBusiness managers make better Web site categorization and nomenclature
decisions. Far too many financial services sites are developed by product people instead of
salespeople. The result? Sites categorized by product brand name or sites that fail to use language
that consumers understand. It does not need to be that way. There are several external sources
of customer information that can help answer questions about how consumers want to use your
site. For example, both Google and Yahoo! offer tools for search buyers to bid on search terms, but
these tools serve another purpose — they can help eBusiness managers understand the mindset of
researching customers. Here are a couple of examples:
· Using external search data to determine site categories. A search on Google AdWords for
the term “credit cards” reveals that credit card customers search by card category and goal, not
product brand names.5 Categories like “secured,” “prepaid,” “business,” and “reward” are tops
among categories. On the goal side, searchers use terms like “best credit cards,” “compare credit
cards,” and “credit card comparisons” (see Figure 3-1). TD Canada Trust understands this
mindset and offers navigation categories and options that match user goals. Category examples
include “low rate cards” and “rewards cards,” and navigation examples include “compare
rewards cards” (see Figure 3-2).
November 30, 2007 © 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy 5
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
· Using search data to determine Web site language. Developing effective content is difficult
when firms are too close to the product or fail to fully understand the language of the customer.
Again, search data can help here — both internal and external. When shopping for mortgages,
what terms do consumers use? Search data from Yahoo! shows that the term “mortgage” is
searched five times as often as the term “home loans,” making it a far better term to use when
referring to that product category.6
Figure 2 Wells Fargo Put The Branch Locator On Its Home Page As A Result Of Mining Search Data
43987 Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited November 30, 2007

6 Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
Figure 3 External Search Data Helps Businesses Better Understand The Consumer
3-1 Google AdWords tools show credit card terms and tasks that users are looking to accomplish
Example task terms:
best credit card, credit card
offers
Example category terms:
secured, business, low
interest, prepaid, student
credit cards
43987 Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
November 30, 2007 © 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy 7
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
Figure 3 External Search Data Helps Businesses Better Understand The Consumer (Cont.)
3-2 TD Canada Trust uses category terms and goal oriented navigation to structure their site
TD Canada Trust navigation
mirrors search data results
both in terms of product
categorization and user tasks.
43987 Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
3. IMPLEMENT FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS THAT DIRECTLY DRIVE SITE CONVERSION
eBusiness managers have to wade through a litany of tools and content that they can put on their
site. Too many tools and too much content can lead to a confused Web shopper; too little can fail to
meet the shopper’s goals. Metrics can help to answer some of these questions. Specifically, metrics
can help firms decide:
· Which tools and content to offer on the site. Decisions on what tools and content to offer
should be based on the degree to which that tool or that content leads to conversion. To do this,
eBusiness managers need to ensure that content categories (i.e., rate pages, education material),
© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited November 30, 2007

8 Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
tools, and other Web site elements are tied to conversation metrics. Forrester did this in a study
conducted with Compete around mortgage shoppers. The results were astounding. While there
are dozens of mortgage calculators and tools available, our study showed that just a few are used
by applicants. Even more important, our study was able to show that while payment calculators
are the most often used tool, product selection tools are more likely to be used by applicants
(see Figure 4). These types of insights can be used to simplify a site, better target interactive help
options like online chat, and surface key tools that have the highest usage.
· Strategies to reduce application abandonment. Application abandonment is a big issue facing
eBusiness managers, but few understand the extent of the problem. Detailed metrics around
abandonment are needed to answer the question. Forrester recently published a report with
comScore that showed that 54% of applicants abandon applications.7 A key finding of the report
was that just 51% of abandoners intended to complete the application when they started. A key
indicator of whether a customer intends to complete the application is where he drops out in
the application. Firms need to be able to measure application dropout by page so that they can
differentiate between abandoners and non-intenders. They can then target these intenders with
incentives to return and complete the applications, along with functions like save and retrieve,
to discourage abandonment.
Figure 4 Overlaying Conversion Metrics Highlights The Importance Of Product Selection Tools
Tool usage among mortgage researchers and applicants by tool type
Payment calculator 21%
20%
Product selection tool 8%
13%
Affordability calculator 8%
9%
Researcher
Refinance (”Should I refinance?”) 5% Applicant*
7%
Amortization 2%
2%
Refinance (rent versus buy) 1%
1%
1%
Loan comparison tool
1%
Base: Compete panelists who accessed mortgage pages at a target Web site
Source: Compete Panel Study, Q2 2006
*Includes both submitted applications and lead forms
43987 Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
November 30, 2007 © 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy 9
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
· Ways to increase self-service usage. Forrester’s surveys show that the top online banking
functions are viewing account balances, viewing transactions, and transferring funds, but
self-service generally has low utilization. Why? Most consumers don’t change their address
or reorder checks very often. But in addition, most consumers cannot find these functions
in online banking, even when they need to change their address. How do we know this? By
viewing internal search data. In work that we did with Compete, we reviewed internal search
data for a select group of banks and credit card companies. The results showed that among top
20 search terms, there were many self-service items, including “order checks,” “change address,”
and “pay bill” (see Figure 5). Fidelity helps surface sporadically used self-service functions by
linking secured site functions to the internal search engine. A Fidelity customer searching on
“change address” is given a direct link to her online session where she can log in and be taken
directly to the address-change screen.
Figure 5 Many Of The Top Internal Search Terms Are Self-Service-Related
Capital One search data Washington Mutual
includes self-service search data includes
terms such as pay bill, self-service terms such
balance transfer, and as order checks, change
redeem miles. address, and direct
deposit.
43987 Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
© 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited November 30, 2007

10 Three Areas Where Metrics Are Vital To Improve Your Financial Services eBusiness Strategy
For eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals
W H AT I T M E A N S
EFFECTIVE USE OF METRICS IS THE BASIS FOR A SUCCESSFUL eBUSINESS STRATEGY
eBusiness teams that fail to have proper metrics in place risk wasting valuable resources chasing
strategies and functionality that may or may not help them (or their customers) reach their goals.
To effectively run a Web site, eBusiness managers must drop everything until they can measure
the impact of their marketing and functionality dollars. Web analytics vendors can help, but to
be most effective, firms must be inventive and seek out resources to understand the mind of the
customer. Internal search data, external search engine keywords, and ongoing customer surveys
are just a few examples of out-of-the-box thinking to help Web sites better meet user goals.
ENDNOTES
1
At their core, Web analytics tools track where Web site visitors come from and what they do during each
visit. See the September 11, 2007, “The Forrester Wave™: Web Analytics, Q3 2007” report.
2
To understand how consumers use the Web to shop for mortgages, Forrester partnered with Compete,
tapping into its online panel of 2 million US consumers. To effectively analyze consumers researching
mortgages, we looked at a six-month period, from June 2005 through November 2005. See the June 7, 2006,
“Online Mortgage Shoppers’ Paths To Purchase” report.
3
Source: October 9, 2007, Vendor Product Catalog “Online Survey Tools Addendum” (http://www.forrester.
com/rb/vpc/catalog.jsp?catalogID=29).
4
A key measure of the success of the redesign was the reduction in the quantity of internal searches.
Stephanie Smith of Wells Fargo said that “search is an indication of failure of site design.” We agree. See the
May 23, 2007, “Case Study: Metrics Drive Wells Fargo’s Home Page” report.
5
Google’s AdWords tool can be found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal.
6
Yahoo! keyword search tool can be found at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/.
7
Forrester published a report with comScore that showed that 54% of applicants abandon applications. See
the August 22, 2007, “Why Financial Shoppers Abandon Online Product Applications” report.
November 30, 2007 © 2007, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

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