THE INTUIT WEB MAKEOVER.

This month, Intuit will formally relaunch its Quicken.com Web site, a key part of the company's strategy to generate "portal" revenue from personal finance information and services. The site, which went live in late 1997, currently attracts more than four million unique visitors a month--a count that Intuit keeps trying to grow, because higher site traffic translates directly into greater revenue from banner ads, transaction fees, and product sales.

Site makeovers typically focus on design and usability issues, but Quicken.com product manager Steve Gordon (who gave us a preview of the new site) says Intuit "went much further this time--we tried to understand the problems that people have with the Web itself." A key research finding: As many as 80% of investors "still feel like beginners," says Gordon. "They're really overwhelmed by all the raw data, and they lack confidence in their decisions."

Drawing on this research, says Gordon, the Quicken.com developers came up with several strategies to attract more traffic and page-views:

* Offer branded expert advice: The earliest version of the Quicken.com site gave investors a wealth of information about public companies, says Gordon, "but there was no guidance or analysis." The new version has a "One-Click Scorecard" feature that analyzes companies according to methodologies developed by four leading investment advisors--Robert Hagstrom, Geraldine Weiss, the NAIC, and the Motley Fool--and even suggests which advisor is most appropriate for a specific stock. "This feature has been up for a while, and it's already one of the top ten pages on Quicken.com," Gordon says. "It's clear that what people want is a strong point of view, not just more information."

* Create alternative delivery channels: The Intuit research also found that many people who wanted financial information didn't habitually use the Web. "A lot of people live in their e-mail or they're too busy," says Gordon. To expand the reach of the Quicken.com site, the new version offers a daily portfolio update service by e-mail and an easy- to-navigate wireless interface. "One of the things we've learned is that there's no one perfect solution to delivering core information." * Find under-served market segments: Web traffic analysis is a useful tool for discovering which parts of a site get the most traffic, Gordon points out, but sometimes the absence of traffic is also significant. "We found that more than 25% of Quicken.com customers run small businesses, but the small business pages weren't getting anywhere near that share," he says. The new version of the site offers a completely redesigned small business section, more expert advice (including branded content from Nolo Press and Palo Alto Software), and easier navigation. "We never really understood how important this segment could be," Gordon says.

Steven Gordon, product manager, Intuit, 2475 Garcia Ave., Mountain View, Calif. 94043; 650/944-6460. E-mail: steve_gordon@intuit.com.

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