By Krishna Rao

According to the report, there were 2.7 million retail finance-related searches conducted online. This was a 700,000 increase when compared with October 2010.

Most queried terms

Mortgages were the most popular subsector and accounted for 35% of searches (951,000), up 71% on October totals. The term ‘Mortgage calculator’ was the most queried, making up 13% (368,000) of all retail finance-related searches, almost double October levels.

33% of all searches were for loans. Whilst fewer in volume when compared to those for mortgages, the terms ‘Loans’, ‘Payday loans’, Loan calculator’, ‘Student loans’ and ‘Personal loans’ accounted for five of the ten most searched for terms used by UK consumers to source personal finance products, online.

Totalling 49,500, the keyword ‘ISA’ accounted for 10% of all searches related to bank accounts in January. This was an 83% rise on October’s 27,000.

‘Credit cards’, was the most popular search term used to find credit and debit card offerings online. It was queried135,000 times (a 74,500 increase on October levels), accounting for 38% of the 352,000 searches related to this sub-sector.

Most visible sites

Greenlight determined the 60 most visible websites in natural* and paid search** in this sector.

MoneySupermarket was the most visible website in natural search, achieving 68% visibility. Halifax followed and replaced MoneySavingExpert in second place. It attained a 38% share of voice, an 11% increase on the previous quarter.

MoneySupermarket was also the most visible advertiser in paid search. It achieved a 51% share of voice - 7% less than the previous quarter. Santander, whose visibility increased by 19%, made gains and replaced FirstDirect to take second place, with 33% share of voice.

Most social and interactive

Social media sites are becoming a very important source for companies to gain consumers.

LloydsTSB replaced MoneySupermarket as the most followed brand in Greenlight’s social media league table. Since October, it has seen a huge increase in the number of Facebook fans (by more than 59,000).

uSwitch was the most interactive brand, cumulatively posting 280 posts and tweets.

With nearly 11% of marketing budgets expected to be devoted to social media in 2011 (source: eMarketer), Greenlight advises firms to connect and build relationships with those speaking to them as engagement is key to building social media optimisation.

Top 10 of the 60 most visible Retail Banking websites both in natural and paid search, UK

Notes

*Natural Search - Listings in search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms.

**Paid Search – an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market.

Greenlight’s report, ‘Retail Banking January 2011’, profiles search behaviour in this sector. It assesses which brands, websites and aggregators are the most visible in natural and paid search results, and hence have the greatest share of consideration when UK-based searchers go to Google to look for bank accounts, credit and debit cards, mortgages and loans. For social media, Greenlight’s social media popularity index (SMPI), highlights and ranks the 15 most followed and proactive brands in social media.

About the author and Greenlight

Krishna Rao is PR at Greenlight, a leading independent specialist search and social marketing consulting and technology firm, with over 100 blue-chip clients including Santander, New Look, Thomas Cook, Sky and ghd. Greenlight publishes industry reports, original research, speaking at trade events, and delivering a highly respected search training programme. Founded in 2001, Greenlight is headquartered in London, with offices in New York.

www.greenlightsearch.com