Successful searches on CU-finder site could grow with your input

In Wisconsin in 2011, 4,309 consumers from 206 cities searched www.aSmarterChoice.org for credit unions to join, and 1,618 of those searches yielded a match. You can boost that success – and capture more consumers eligible to join your credit union – by adding more detailed information about your credit union to the site.

In 2011, Wisconsin ranked 17th in the number of total visitors to the website, which has become the premier resource for media to point to any credit union nationwide that consumers can join. Wisconsin came in just behind Maryland with 4,406 site visitors and Washington, D.C. with 3,924 visitors.

Nationwide, 187,793 people visited the site 233,107 times from March (when it was launched) to December last year. Roughly 80% of those were new visits. And from that traffic, 104,985 people found 179,786 credit unions they were eligible to join.

Not surprisingly, the largest burst of traffic for the site came in the weeks surrounding Bank Transfer Day, when media nationwide reported on the social media campaign that urged consumers to ditch their banks. Wisconsin saw 800 visits to the site in October alone – almost double what was seen in August – and more than 1,689 visits in October and November.

Credit unions can help ensure an effective search – and gain new members – by updating the basic information that’s on the site including the credit union’s contact information, main office and branch locations, field of membership and affiliation. Credit unions can include up to four links such as to your member website or your Facebook or Twitter pages, provide an email address as a first point of contact and provide either a marketing message or list of select employee groups that can join.

The more detail a credit union provides, the more likely a consumer will complete a successful search.

All Wisconsin credit union presidents received a username and password to edit their information. Presidents can, in turn, add (or delete) other users to help manage the information. Credit unions can add, change or delete information from the site at any time.

Questions? Contact Judy Phillips at (262) 408-6020.