IR Café

To evaluate a corporate website, especially the investor relations section, one approach is the “checklist.” More than a checklist, actually – we can look at a long list of potential items, assess the quality of each and compare to peer companies.

Here’s a list of about 40 items relevant to investors. Some of these overlap, and I’m not suggesting that a website needs to have all of them – they are examples of site components that may be useful to investors. See also my blog post on websites. 

HOME PAGE

• Investor content, explicit or implicit, on home page
• One-click link to get to investor information page
• Corporate branding: How does your company bring value into the world?
• Search engine for website

INVESTOR INFO PAGE

• Title of page: “Investors” … “Investor Information” … “Investor Relations”
• Clear introduction to company, brief statement on your value proposition
• Industry-appropriate, high-quality look & feel
• Search engine for website – penetrating into specific IR information
• Links to all information of interest to investors (examples follow)

COMPANY PROFILE-TYPE INFO

• “About Us” or “About XYZ Co.”
• CEO video and/or letter
• CEO or investor relations blog
• Vision, mission statement or values
• Fact sheet
• Investment points
• Investor FAQ
• Map & description of locations or geographic markets
• Corporate governance page & supporting policies
• Corporate social responsibility & sustainability section

NEWS & DATA

• Press releases: recent & archived, possibly more than one format
• SEC filings, possibly by type
• Annual reports, possibly more than one format
• Financial highlights or “Fundamentals” page
• Business segment or product breakdown – with revenue & operating profit?
• R&D pipeline (where shareholder value depends on innovative products)
• Monthly sales data if appropriate
• Stock price & volume data, stock chart

EVENTS

• Proxy & annual meeting information
• Calendar of events & presentations, past & future
• Webcast replays of conference calls
• Slides from presentations
• Podcasts for investors
• Financial calendar: earnings dates, dividend dates

CONTACTS

• IR contact information: names, numbers & emails
• IR information request form
• Company headquarters address & phone number
• Email alerts sign-up
• RSS feed
• Twitter, other social media links if applicable
• Comment/question form
• Transfer agent/shareholder services contact information
• Stock purchase plan

HISTORY

• Company history
• Dividend history
• Stock information (history)

EXTERNAL INFORMATION & LINKS

• List of analysts who cover company
• Earnings estimates via third-party provider
• Reprints or links to articles in news media (consider disclaimer about third-party information or exiting the company site)
• Link to third-party information provider (consider disclaimer about third-party information or exiting the company site)

Copyright © 2009 Johnson Strategic Communications Inc.