Following up on my blog with five tips about how to make your IR content more accessible, here are four more tips (beyond our set of criteria that companies can use to make their IR websites more transparent):
- Don’t Force Attendees of Earnings Calls to Register to Enter
When it comes to earnings calls, don’t force visitors to type in their name, title, employer name and their email address in order to watch the webcast. It’s understandable that IR departments desire this information so they can get some insight into who’s watching.
This practice risks irritating impatient investors and analysts, particularly in this era of increasing concerns over data privacy. It’s a pain. You also risk losing people who might otherwise attend but don’t want the hassle.
A click-through “forward-looking disclaimer” at the beginning of the earnings call is a big enough pain to suffer through.
2. Include a Table of Contents with Links in Your Proxies and Annual Reports
When it comes to annual reports and proxies – or any kind of long PDF that you post on your IR webpage – include a “table of contents” with links the various sections.
It’s amazing how many companies don’t take the time to create a list of links for the table of contents page of their proxies and annual reports. It’s easy to create and it really helps readers navigate the documents.
3. Archive IR Content for a Longer Period
I have mixed feelings about this tip. Sometimes I feel like a short period for archived content is a good idea. Sometimes I don’t.
A lot of companies make the mistake of deleting the older documents on their IR web page and not archive them. They might have a fixed period when they delete documents – maybe two or three years after a document is the “latest.” Or they delete documents on a more random basis.
More people than you might realize come to your IR web page to conduct deep research so let those archives grow over time. Make them as deep as possible – and that’s true for press release archives related to financial results too.
4. Don’t Just Provide PDFs for Earnings Releases
Many people access your IR content on a mobile device. And it can be pretty awkward to access and view PDFs on a mobile device. Make sure that your entire IR web page provides a good mobile experience. And that includes reading – and navigating – content.
