Investec Private Bank UK is geared towards the provision of investing and banking services beyond the traditional scope offered by commercial banks. The company offers growth and acquisition financing, financial advice, property financing, income management, banking and specialized lending services. As a financial institution it is important that its website will portray the professionalism and high level of service it has become known for. The website analysis is done to establish whether Investec Private Bank UK succeeds through its website to offer its clients the service level required through an easy to navigate and well optimised website.

The overall view of the Investec Private Bank UK website is that of a corporate entity. The colour white is used as background and blue, black, and grey are used in the navigation system. The website does take slightly longer than the average site to open, which can hamper search engine ranking as well as customer satisfaction. JavaScript is used in the site as well as cascading style sheets. The menu displays on top of the page and on the left side.

The Investec Private Bank UK website utilizes changeable font sizes which are important to ensure readability even when visually impaired. Another feature that shows its consideration for clients is that of printable versions for most of the pages. One drawback is that the user has no warning of the file size for PDF formats and also no place on the site to directly go to the free Acrobat Reader download site.

The Investec Logo displays in the upper left corner of the website and is visible on all the pages. There are several contact options to cater for the communication needs of clients. Client orientation regarding navigation is ensured through the home button as well as the “You are here” section on top to show exactly where the user is. No side scrolling is required.

A search facility is also provided although a sitemap link is not present. This would have been helpful for quick navigation, orientation and search engine optimisation. The website does not offer feedback options, forums or interactivity. The only multimedia used is that of flash animation in the adverts. Personalisation of banking services becomes all the more important in the current competitive business environment and as such a virtual consultant to provide general guidance or a video about the investment services will enhance its interactivity.

The site consists mainly of text. In any other industry this may seem uninteresting, but since information about the financial services is a main focus point, banking and investing sites don’t normally display many images. The information supplied is comprehensive and valuable. No dead links were found and no unnecessary information has been supplied. Even though the Investec Private Bank website contains a tremendous amount of information the user can easily navigate to relevant sections.

The latest news is provided on the main page and provides for some interesting content. The site displays a terms and conditions page. Another useful feature worth mentioning is the option to access the Investec Private Bank in your specific country by simply selecting the appropriate choice from the drop-down menu. The same functionality is provided under Products and Services options.

The title is displayed in the blue title bar. Title of the site shows an 80% relevancy to the content. The web design supports most of the popular browser clients. The website analysis revealed a Metatag with title, but no keywords. Although not essential the Metatag is still used by many search engines and by placing relevant keywords in the section, more traffic can be obtained.

The Investec Private Bank UK website has a current Google Page Rank of 5 at the time of the website analysis (May 4, 2008). This means it is well ranked although it can improve on its rankings through keyword placement and by reducing the loading time. It shows a total of almost 5000 incoming links, of which most come from AltaVista and AlltheWeb.

The overall impression of the Investec Private Bank UK website is that of professionalism, client orientated services and a functional web design with easy navigation. A newsletter subscription option at the main page, a comprehensive help section and a virtual assistant will ensure an even better client experience. The site does however succeed in its functionality, lay-out and information provision. It is also an example of why Investec is a leading provider of specialized banking services. If you require more than what commercial banks can offer be sure to visit the Investec Private Bank UK website.