NerdWallet: 2023 Best-Of Awards
Background
In fall of 2022, brand studio began the process of creating landing pages for the Best-Of Awards, NerdWallet’s annual list of the top financial products on the market. I worked closely with my design partner to determine the overall structure of the pages, which differs substantially from what NerdWallet has done in the past — this was our first year highlighting our Nerds on the BOA homepage, for example. I was also responsible for writing the content on the BOA homepage as well as the individual category pages the BOA homepage links out to (credit cards, insurance providers, travel rewards programs, etc.). I love everything about the final pages, from the bold design to the beautiful photography to the clear, conversational copy guiding users through the experience.
Problems & Solutions
There were a few small problems with the 2022 Best-Of Awards experience that we wanted to solve for with our 2023 landing pages. The three key problems from 2022 — and the corresponding solutions we came up with for 2023 — were:
Problem: Once people were on a category page (credit cards, insurance providers, etc.), they were unsure how to navigate back to the Best-Of Awards homepage or to other category pages.
Solution: We added a sticky navigation bar — i.e. a navigation bar that “sticks” to the top of the page as you scroll — to every single page within the 2023 BOA experience. The nav bar features links to the BOA homepage as well as each individual category page, making navigation throughout the experience seamless.
Problem: People didn’t have enough information to fully believe that we’re 100% objective when selecting which financial products appear on the Best-Of Awards list.
Solution: We added a “Get to know some of our Nerds” section to the new BOA homepage. This section features photos, titles, and bios of some of our editorial team — AKA the real, experienced, extremely qualified journalists who spend hundreds of hours determining which products have what it takes to receive a Best-Of Award.
Problem: People wanted to continue hearing from us after leaving the Best-Of Awards list, but didn’t have a good way of telling us that within the 2022 BOA experience.
Solution: We added an email sign-up module to the bottom of each landing page where visitors could opt in to getting our emails. People who signed up would go on to receive a series of personalized financial product recommendations delivered straight to their inbox.
The 2023 Best-Of Awards list is located here, but copy may have been updated since publication. The screenshots below reflect my original copy. I’ve only included a couple of the category pages below to keep things concise, but definitely check out the other category pages on the live site — they feature a ton of awesome products!
Homepage
Best Insurance Providers
Best Travel Rewards Programs
Results
As of May 2023, we reached a total of 1.33 million sessions on the new Best-Of Awards landing pages, which was 116% of our original goal. Additionally, a total of 74 partners — 108% of our original goal — used our Best-Of Awards badge in their own advertising efforts, providing additional free visibility for the NerdWallet brand.
Content Strategist: Laura Orozco
Visual Designer: Charlene Tsang
Web Developer: Brian Villanueva