Investor Relations - A Practical Guide - Investis

Content
The general rule on content is that more is better:
investors can then filter what they do not want.
Many investors are using the website as their
primary source of information and they value both
depth in content (for example comprehensive
archives of historical information going back five or
10 years) and breadth in content (for example
detailed information about operating companies
and their products, explained from an investor’s
perspective not with a customer in mind).
Importantly ‘more content’ does not mean ‘longer
text’. When creating content specifically for the
web, make it easy to digest. The more text there is
on a page, the lower the recall – in general, web
copy should be 40 per cent shorter than the print
equivalent. You can improve search engine
rankings and comprehension by keeping text short
and breaking it up with good use of sub-headings
and bulleted lists.
Context
Perhaps the most common failing of websites is to
focus too inwardly on the company and not to
provide the broader picture of the market
environment and other contextual information.
• What are the dynamics of the market in which
you operate
• What are the long term trends and where do you
see it going
• Who are your competitors and what is your
market position
• Is it a tightly regulated market
If you are not providing answers to these sorts of
questions then investors will be going elsewhere
for this information, to sources over which you
have no control. It is a missed opportunity to not
provide the contextual framework within which
people will be assessing your company.
Do not just think about the written word.
Multimedia content is increasingly important in
creating an engaging experience and in bringing a
less formal and more personal tone to corporate
communications.
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Building the Investor Relations Programme