Home Equity Web Sites Fall Behind Top Performers

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 13, 2007 -- The experience of shopping for a home equity loan online is significantly better on some lender sites according to a new research report released today by leading online consumer research firm Change Sciences Group.

To jump to a detailed report overview visit:
http://changesciences.com/cgi-bin/reports.html

The new report looks at what people experienced as they attempted to find a home equity product that met their needs and apply for it on 30 leading home equity lender sites over the last month. The best site provides a better experience than its closest competitor by more than 50%.

Factors contributing to this disparity include the following:

- The average online home equity application requires 3.3 times more data entry than the site with the best online application.
- 23% of sites have page layout problems that make information hard to find.
- More than half the sites fail to provide content that speaks to the needs of at least one distinct prospect group.
- More than 90% of sites lack at least one piece of content that many prospects find persuasive.
- 43% of sites make entering data on applications and other forms harder than it needs to be.
- 60% of sites have content written in a way that makes it hard for many prospects to understand.
- All sites fail to answer at least one key question that prospects have about home equity products.

"Although the average home equity lender may have a competitive or better product, they leave significant business on the table by failing to accurately compare the experience prospects have on their site with the experience prospects have on competitors' sites", said Steve Ellis, a Change Sciences partner.

The top three sites overall are:
1. Capital One
2. Citizens Bank
3. Fifth Third Bank

The complete list of sites covered in the report includes: Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, Charles Schwab, Chase, Citibank, CitiFinancial, Citizens Bank, Commerce Bancshares, Compass Bank, Countrywide, E*Trade, E-LOAN, Fifth Third Bank, First Citizens, First Horizon, HSBC, Huntington, Key Bank, Marshall & Ilsley, myhomeequity.com, National City, PNC, Regions, SunTrust, TD Banknorth, US Bank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.

For a detailed report overview and the complete ranking of all 30 sites visit:
http://changesciences.com/cgi-bin/reports.html

Change Sciences was founded in January 2000 to help companies optimize online business by basing decisions on how people use technology while they live, work, and play.

Contact:
Terri Dickey
888-864-1160 x723
www.changesciences.com

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