The percentage of transactions processed online is multiplying every year. In 2017, a survey revealed that more than half of personal mobile device users worldwide employed the aid of at least one online banking or digital wallet service. Therefore, having a website became a necessity for modern banks and other financial organizations.
The development of financial website requires a stable and trustworthy platform to build on. One such platform is Drupal, an open-source CMS that allows creating functional websites quickly and managing web content easily.
Have you ever wondered how to use Drupal for finance website development? In our article, you will learn about financial website development using this platform.
Financial Website Design Requirements
Creating a financial website always requires a special approach to development. In short, such a website should contain authoritative content and have a responsive design. If you want to create a successful product, you should provide your users with a convenient and secure experience.
Let’s revise some features that are necessary for any financial website that strives to be useful:
-
High security – digital transactions are common practice today; therefore, you should make sure that all related user data is protected. Security measures should cover all stages of a transaction to create a defense against different types of attacks.
-
Responsive design – customers should have a comparatively smooth usage whatever kind of device they have. You can focus on responsive design or even create a mobile app to provide customers with excellent user experience.
-
Chatbots – a successful banking website should provide fast basic support. Chatbots are a solution here because they can quickly answer common questions and solve typical problems.
-
Personal profiles – your website should provide a personal space for every customer. Use less technical forms, and provide instructions and intuitive tools.
The right financial website always has a complex structure. However, there is no need to create every piece of code by yourself. To make development easier, you can use software like Drupal for a banking website.
What Is Drupal?
In case you are not familiar with this solution, we will review it briefly. Drupal is a content management system (CMS) launched in 2000. Since then, Drupal has become extremely popular, and now there is a variety of websites built on the base of this engine.
Drupal is open-source software with numerous themes, add-ons, and in-built tools that facilitate website development. At the same time, it requires some programming knowledge if you want to employ advanced functionality. Drupal is a powerful system and that's why it is the perfect solution for such complex cases as online financial services.
The recent 9 version has made this website engine more functional than ever. It brings improved functionality for the development of intricate systems.
According to drupal.org, as of January 2018:
-
the community consists of more than 1.3 million members.
-
more than a million websites are running Drupal.
-
more than 113,000 users actively contribute to the development, which results in more than 42,000 free modules that extend and customize Drupal functionality, over 2700 free themes that change the look and feel of CMS, and at least 1260 free distributions that allow users to quickly set up case-specific site engines in a few steps.
Reasons to Use Drupal
Drupal can serve a base for a website of any scale – from a personal blog to a complicated portal. It has a lot of functionality, which is vital for financial website development. A bit later we are going to discuss how to make a banking website with Drupal, but first, let us review its main advantages.
Your project can benefit from the following Drupal features:
-
Open Source Code
You can use Drupal for free, so no one can charge you any license and maintenance fees. This is the first feature that makes Drupal so popular. Furthermore, as open-source software, it is stable because many people test it extensively every day.
Finally, the community of Drupal developers and users is extensive, so you can always find some professionals who are able to help you.
-
Flexibility
Even the basic functionality of Drupal can help you create most of what you can imagine. Starting from the website type and structure, every feature can be customized. Drupal is a platform that has tools to support numerous pages, so it is the perfect choice for a complex project.
What is more, Drupal grants access to the exhaustive module repository, which covers a wide range of purposes such as SEO and social media analytics. However, they can be hard to handle, so you’d better hire a professional to install and maintain them properly.
-
Security
A serious approach to website safety is a distinctive feature of the Drupal platform. It provides security on the enterprise level, including daily in-depth reports. That is the reason why many government websites are built with the Drupal framework.
Built-in security allows protecting the website data at the directory level. The information will be locked so no one can access private files directly. High security is one of the reasons why you can use Drupal for banks and financial organizations.
-
Mobile Capabilities
Your website should provide the same great experience regardless of the devices your customers use. Drupal has the functionality to create a customized mobile version of your website. That will make it more convenient to use and help you to widen the audience.
What is more, Drupal 8 even provides a mobile version of the administrative toolbar, making it easy to edit content from any personal device.
How to Make a Financial Website with Drupal
Thanks to the advanced features of Drupal, you can create a fully functional financial website. There are some steps, essential for any financial site development, we would like to guide you through.
Before rushing into development, you need to conduct some preparations. Drupal can be complicated for a beginner, so you should have at least basic knowledge of common web development languages such as HTML and PHP. Furthermore, you should choose a domain name and find a hosting service. These are key elements of your website that will create the first impression, so we recommend you choose them wisely.
After that, you can download and install Drupal. This process is straightforward and instructions are available on the website.
Finally, you can start creating your website. Set up a title, choose some classy theme, then start filling your website with content. An informative “About us” page is necessary for any site as well as “Home”, “Support”, and other typical sections.
Remember that Drupal offers a variety of modules to simplify the development, so you can add them to your project. The modules can create an admin menu, and help you to add images and forms.
In case you need more detailed instructions, you can learn from the Drupal user guide or other manuals.
Final Words
Now you know that Drupal can be an excellent solution for a banking website project. We hope that our material will help you to develop a fantastic financial Drupal website for your business. Remember that it can be complicated to use at the beginning. However, such complexity gives you access to advanced features, which can guarantee stable and secure performance. Do you have any more questions or need qualified help? Reach your business objectives with the dedicated team of professionals.
