John Charcol

John Charcol is the UK’s leading online mortgage broker, offering somewhere in the region of 700 – 800 products from a panel of 35 reputable lenders. Since starting its online service in 1999, the company has won no fewer than 19 awards, including the prestigious industry award, Mortgage Broker of the Year 2007, and the What Mortgage? Online Mortgage Broker of the Year title for 2007, voted for by consumers.


The Brief

Liquid Light was asked to revitalise the John Charcol site in order to refresh its online presence and, ultimately, increase its sales conversion rate. Naturally, as a phone and internet based mortgage broker, creating an efficient, easy to use website that provides the right impact is vital.

Our brief was to come up with such a design – one that was dynamic and exciting, reflecting John Charcol's positioning as the leading online mortgage broker without compromising the integrity and heritage of the brand and its values.

The Challenge

The mortgage sector is a particularly competitive area, with brokers, price comparison sites and lenders all competing with each other online.

  • The main challenge for Liquid Light was to design a website which:
  • Developed a trust relationship with the customer
  • Improved search engine visibility
  • Increased visitor traffic
  • Improved conversion rates

The Result

The redesign of the John Charcol website has obviously enhanced and improved the presentation of John Charcol online, however being more specific the website redesign has focused on:

  • Repositioning John Charcol, helping to push the premium aspect of the brand without excluding the less affluent end of the market.
  • Developing a more engaging and conversational approach to John Charcol’s messaging, helping to connect with visitors.
  • Differentiating John Charcol from competitors who have replicated John Charcol’s previous website.

The result is an clean and elegant design, which simplifies the visitors journey into the website’s content. This is powered by an enterprise level content management system TYPO3 CMS, empowering John Charcol to manage their website effectively and efficiently.

Key benefits include:

  • An enhanced desktop and mobile navigation allowing visitors to quickly explore the wealth of resource in the website.
  • A highly successful content strategy, resulting in large amounts of long-tail search traffic into the website.
  • A high level of visitor engagement, helping to develop both potential customers and brand ambassadors.
  • Improved calls to action, doubling the ratio of visitors to phone calls.

This project has won the following awards:

  • Interactive Media Awards (IMA) - Best in Class in the Consumer category
  • Interactive Media Awards (IMA) - Best in Class in the Financial category
  • Davey Awards - Distinction in Financial Services
  • Communicator Awards - Distinction in Financial Services
  • W3 Awards - Award in the Insurance category
We've worked with Liquid Light for a very long time and we are always being reminded as to why we work with them - They are innovative, experienced and consistent.

Katherine Sellwood, Marketing Manager

Visit John Charcol