This unique sector of the financial services category has one season a year to catch customers online.
As Americans began receiving their W-2 forms this month, they began to turn the Web for self-help tax information. In fact, the five fastest-growing tax sites combined drew more than 2.8 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.
During the week ending January 18, Hrblock.com surged 221 percent week-over-week from 113,000 visitors to 363,000 unique visitors from home. Traffic to taxACT.com jumped 45 percent in traffic to 237,000 visitors, as compared to 164,000 during the previous week. Turbotax.com drew 577,000 surfers, increasing 44 percent. Quicken.com garnered 968,000 visitors, growing 37 percent. Rounding out the top five fastest growing tax sites was IRS.gov, which attracted 1.3 million unique visitors from home during the week ending January 18.
"The Web has made it easier for millions of Americans to file their own taxes," says Greg Bloom, senior analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Offering step-by-step instructions, automated calculations and often quicker returns, filing online is an attractive option for the often daunting task of filing taxes."
Indeed, the tax preparation companies have embraced the Web to enlist customers. Earlier this month, H&R Block Online began offering a new line of online products and services, including a new library of tax tips, a new report tailored to the client’s tax and financial situation and a new, comprehensive do-it-yourself service that provides users with the option of a professionally signed return.
H&R Block Online’s money-saving Plain Talk Tax Tips help users understand common but complex tax topics, while The H&R Block Advantage report shows the effect of tax law changes on the user’s return and provides advice for the future, including tailored Occupational Advice based on the taxpayer’s profession. The new Signature Edition online product provides audit assistance and the option of a professional review and signature, making the taxpayer eligible for the same guarantees as H&R Block office clients.
“Our new features deliver financial information and suggestions in plain English so every do-it-yourself taxpayer—from those with the simplest to the most complex tax returns—get the full benefit of tax law changes,” says Aaron Horvath, H&R Block’s director of e-commerce. “We’ve found new, convenient ways to deliver the H&R Block Advantage to our online clients.”
In addition to simplified, click-through interviews with enhanced graphics and deeper tax and financial content, H&R Block Online delivers one-click access to specially selected and trained tax professionals. Taxpayers with questions can consult with an H&R Block tax professional by phone or email via H&R Block Online’s Ask A Tax Advisor service. The service is available to all taxpayers for $19.95 and is free to users who purchase H&R Block Online’s Premium and Signature editions.
Intuit Inc. has launched a similar initiative for its Turbo Tax products, creating a do-it-yourself center on Yahoo! Finance, with banner ads throughout Yahoo directing consumers there.
Just like H&R Block, TurboTax offers choices of TurboTax Basic, TurboTax Premier, TurboTax 1040EZ and TurboTax State. With the basic service, users can get up-to-date tax law changes and ask simple questions. The program also helps input information into IRS forms.
TurboTax Premier provides extra tax-slashing tools and money-saving features, plus expanded assistance with investments, retirement planning and rental property income.
Utility seems to be the key to these sites’ success, and the Web is a slam dunk medium to provide it. In addition, Scot McLernon, executive vice president of sales and marketing at CBS MarketWatch, recently told iMedia Connection: “[The Internet] is now a medium of choice, and arguably the only way to reach the at-work daytime demographic—exactly the demo that financial services want to target.”
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, January 2004
* Site did not meet Nielsen//NetRatings' minimum sample size requirements. Projected and average measures for these sites may exhibit large changes as a result.
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