When it comes to online investor relations, your investor relations (IR) website has never been more critical.
With the proliferation of online investment news and opinion outlets – many of which include overly glowing commentary or questionable fact-checking – your corporate website and IR site are the de facto “arbiter” of real news. Your IR website should be the single most up-to-date and factual source of company news and investor-focused documents. Your company’s IR website and corporate site must be organized, concise, and tell your story well – all while remaining compliant with regulators and accurate for your current and prospective investors.
Here are 4 things to know about building the best IR website around.
Your IR site should be web-, robot-, and mobile-optimized.
Both your corporate website and IR website – which is often a subdomain (investor.apple.com, for example) – should be optimized for two things:
- The user, with a clean, organized look and navigation
- The robots (like Google) that scan and glean information about what you do
For the most part, creating a great user experience will lead to a great robot experience, but not always.
You see, the majority of web users no longer type “apple.com” into their web browser.
Today, you punch “apple stock” into the URL bar on your web browser, which likely directs you to Google.com’s search results for that phrase. Chances are, this is Apple’s investor website, but for many smaller companies, all sorts of other results can come up.
To make sure you land at the top of the search results for “yourcompany stock”, your website must be optimized for robots from search providers like Google, which are constantly scanning the internet. They’re looking at your site’s speed and compatibility for users of all kinds, including mobile users. That means a clean layout, a screaming fast website, and the right “keywords” to understand your business.
If you’re wondering whether your website is optimized for both users and search robots, TickerPilot can help.
Your IR site should complement all of your other IR efforts
If your IR website looks like users have landed on another planet, or they have to spend 15 minutes figuring out what you do, you’ve already lost them.
Your IR site should integrate seamlessly into your corporate website and complement all of your other assets. That includes your corporate deck, one-pagers, your corporate website, social media presence, and more. The messaging should be comprehensive, with similar phrasing, graphics, images, and pitches as the rest of your investor relations materials.
A poorly built or incongruent IR site will distract users and leave them wondering if they’re even in the right place. Worse, it may alienate a prospective buyer.
Your IR website should be compliant and automated
Regulators expect your website to display up-to-date information, including press releases and SEC filings.
The best way to accomplish this is by automating it. TickerPilot uses custom code to seamlessly integrate current and historical SEC filings, press releases, stock information like quote and charts, and more right on your website.
We also make email and SMS alerts for interested or current investors easy, with a custom database and automated updates pushed to their platform of choice.
Your IR site should tell your story well!
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, your IR website should do a great job of telling your business’ story in a concise, compliant manner. New visitors should know exactly what you do within a few seconds of landing and be able to decide if your value proposition is worth digging into further. Then, it should make the diligence and fact-finding process as easy as possible.
TickerPilot helps you get a seamless, turnkey investor relations site live and working for your business in no time. Learn how we’ve built compliance and great design right into our sites and investor collateral by clicking here.
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