A short time ago we made a complimentary website plugin available that would search for BSB numbers and return applicable data. Used on your website it's just another tool that'll attract, engage, and convert your audience. Since nobody else provides the feature it's one that will likely set you apart from the sea of mediocrity, and it's one that will attract new cold audiences into your funnel experience.
The purpose of a website is to further escalate a website user within our marketing funnel (if they've already engaged on the journey), or ingest them into our pipeline if they're new to our website experience. If our initial call-to-action isn't compelling enough, or the user comes across us at a time when they're not ready to make contact with us now, the post-subscription experience and any subsequent website visit is designed to take the user on a real educational and entertaining journey that qualifies us as the business of choice. This experience means providing the funnel participant with a raft of tools that they have might engage with or refer to when required. Just one of these tools on the far periphery and absolute fringe of the funnel experience is the BSB Number Search engine.
The purpose of this article is to detail the basic BSB Number Search module before we introduce the mortgage broker website we make available to clients.
with a quick 3-minute install process, and we recommend that clients advertise their own services by way of banner advertising within their own asset (this is the primary purpose of providing the tool). So, if you have a spare domain name you should definitely install the standalone website.The BSB Search feature is made available from our 'Resources' menu. The page presents a number of options, one of which is the BSB Number Search. The search box (at this stage) is similar in design to the complimentary BSB search engine with the exception that it includes a panel of search options under the submit button (so, it returns more than just basic number queries).
Pictured: You may search for BSB numbers by state (a rather pointless feature, really) or by bank code. In both cases you'll eventually be presented with a panel of numbers that all link to the results page.
Clicking on 'ACT' returns the following:
Selecting the 'Bank Codes' option returns all listed banks.
Pictured: Partial list of institutions and banks. Selecting any options returns all the BSB numbers asociated with that institution.
In reality, the state-based filtering on numbers is kind of pointless. The bank-level filtering makes more sense and is generally the more transited option.
Keep in mind that the BSB Search option is a very minor module. It's tucked away for those occasions when it's required, and it isn't shown in plain sight... and nor should it be - it's not a primary function of your website, but as a bank-related feature it's one that we deemed to be extremely important. Like a lot of tools, if it's not on your website it'll be on somebody else's, and the migration of a user away from activity on your on-site resources is something that should be avoided.
Search Engine Optimised
We submit a BSB sitemap to your website when the numbers are updated (about once every two weeks). The sitemap references every number and essentially creates a page reference that can potentially be indexed in Google and other search engines... although we don't want them to be. The content runs the risk of evaluating as duplicate content so we simply assign the value to another page or create a noindex reference (the latter is the default).
The idea behind creating the tool isn't to optimise the experience for search engines, but rather your website users. If the resource exists, your clients will use it. If each of the pages presents a high-level conversion opportunity (and it will) we'll capture more volume into our active pipeline.
Conclusion
The BSB Number search feature is not unlike a similar module that returns regional data, such as local schools and childcare centres, in that it provides an on-site service, and it leans into a module we call Saturn, with Saturn providing the highest-volume lead generation program made available to SME mortgage brokers in the industry. Another module made available the Resources section of our mortgage broker website includes a search feature that returns a large mix of geographic features, such as hospitals, care providers, banks, and educational facilities. Again, these modules feed into our Saturn program but provide a standalone turnkey service.
In a world where many mortgage brokers make it difficult for themselves to attract business, and rarely provide the tools necessary to attract and convert organic traffic, the feature we've just described is one of many we use to set you apart. Establishing your expertise and authoritativeness - and the elusive trust element that underpins any interaction - is easy when your online resources do the heavy lifting on your behalf.
The BSB Search Number feature described is one that'll be shaped by the brokers that user it. Rather basic at the time of writing, we'll add new elements and features by way of our one-click website plugin.
