• by Tanya Gazdik , August 16, 2011

Change Sciences Group believes that the Web site home page of Ameriprise Financial Corp. beats out Charles Schwab's site.

Ameriprise communicates what it is about as a company, according to Steve Ellis, Change Sciences Group partner. "By featuring its Facebook page, it makes it clear that it is comfortable showing how customers have experienced it," Ellis says. "Its page layout is better. By not featuring current offers (like Schwab's cell phone promotion) it is more likely that key messages will have an impact above the fold. And its visual design is more up-to-date."

Schwab and Ameriprise compete for similar customers, Ellis says. And their home pages are similar in a number of ways. "At the time of capture a week or so ago, both featured statements by company representatives about the debt ceiling crisis," Ellis says in a blog post. "They both featured a branch locator and toll-free numbers in the right column, signaling that they put a priority on having people get in touch with them (something that is not true of all retirement Web sites, by the way)."

This is where the similarities end, however. "The Schwab page lacks a clear message about what Schwab is all about," Ellis says.

Directly under the feature about the debt ceiling, a lot of space on the Schwab Web page is devoted to two features. "The first feature suggests that people get in touch with their local branch if they are looking for 'guidance,' which we think has the (probably unintended) connotation that Schwab doesn't intend the Web site itself to provide guidance," Ellis says. "You need to go to a branch for that."

The second feature promotes a cell phone giveaway for people who are willing to open an account with $75,000 or more. "People always like freebies, but not everyone visiting the Schwab home page is ready to apply," Ellis says. "This important real estate might be put to better use to help Schwab communicate what it is all about."

Ameriprise is more clear about the value it provides to its customers, Ellis says. It has a tagline "More within Reach," which sums up the message "quality service at a low cost." It also has a brief description of how it sees itself: "America's leader in financial planning."

Below its feature on the debt ceiling, it provides a few more cues to what it calls "insights." Directly underneath this, it provides a very prominent link to its Facebook page -- a very unusual practice in financial services, Ellis says. Facebook pages for FS firms are now more common, but featuring them so prominently on the home page isn't, he adds.

"This addresses another one of our user requirements squarely: Show me how I might be treated if I am a customer," Ellis says. "People can simply follow the link to Ameriprise's wall and get a quick read on the frequency of complaints."