It is not only retail customers that have long been able to rely on De Volksbank, the parent company of SNS Bank, ASN Bank, RegioBank and BLG Wonen. Corporate customers, partner organisations and job applicants are also an important target group. The website Devolksbank.nl was developed especially for corporate stakeholders, such as media and investors, who wish to learn about the banking group. Seeking support in the migration of this website - as well as its further optimisation - the organisation selected WHITE.
Smoothly managed, complex migration without downtime and without loss of SEO positions
Technologically up to date and secure website thanks to Craft CMS upgrade and other optimisations
Secure and reliable CMS with total freedom for further development and optimisation
Complete confidence in WHITE's knowledge and expertise as a Craft CMS Enterprise Partner
Our corporate website had been managed by another party for some time by the end of 2022 when we decided that the time was right for a new partner,’ says Patrick van Wersch, content coordinator in the corporate communications department of De Volksbank. ‘We were in need of new energy, a higher service level, increased proactivity and an absolute and recognised Craft CMS specialist - because that was the foundation of our existing website and we wanted to continue developing the website in Craft CMS going forward.
In summary, our requirements were:
It was also important for us that the new party could act quickly after agreeing to its proposal. After all, there are a lot of hurdles to clear for a new supplier to a banking organisation like ours.
Together with his colleagues, Patrick made contact with various suppliers. ‘WHITE was included in the first selection in any case, because it is one of the few agencies in the Netherlands that is a recognised Craft CMS Enterprise Partner. We ultimately chose WHITE because its proposal was by far the most well-considered and best crafted, and because it was the only one to include proposals for optimising the website. The meetings with Marloes - COO and Head of Client Relations at WHITE - were also very pleasant. She asked a lot of questions to understand exactly what we were looking for, not only for the migration, but also with a view to the future of our website. Conversely, she responded to all our questions with lightning speed and clarity.’
According to Patrick, the switch to a new website partner went smoothly. ‘As we had requested beforehand, WHITE took care of more than just the ‘relocation’: it also upgraded the website to the latest version major version of Craft CMS, replaced a few plug-ins with new ones and checked the entire website for code improvements. The monthly security scan that WHITE has carried out for us on its own initiative since going live in late 2023 is very welcome as an extra on top of our own scans and annual vulnerability test.’
Asked about further plans for the revamped website, Patrick explains that it also needed to be optimised for people with audiovisual impairments. ‘We want our website to be accessible to everyone, including people with various audiovisual impairments, to do so we have carried out an audit to see what improvements were needed. The improvements that came out of the audit have since been implemented by WHITE. These include visual alternatives to the existing carousel, better contrast between colours and adjusting font sizes and further formatting to improve readability. With these improvements we also anticipate on the approaching European legislation in this area. In the longer term, we also want to expand the website and adjust its structure. For that, too, we will rely on WHITE and its knowledge and expertise in Craft CMS.’
WHITE – De Volksbank collaboration
Patrick is extremely satisfied with the collaboration with WHITE so far. ‘Switching website supplier is not something you do lightly. It's a major project, especially for a banking organisation like De Volksbank. WHITE remained very patient during the complex procurement process: its people interacted smoothly with our colleagues from the cybersecurity department and delivered all the necessary information at lightning speed. Since the migration - which went smoothly - we have always received quick and personal answers to our questions from the Client Success Team. Safe to say that WHITE now has several of our websites under its care.
Patrick van Wersch
Patrick van Wersch, Content Specialist
Mark Wijsman
Web developer