Investors make progress on their journey from strangers to shareholders/advocates based on news they find on online touchpoints of their choosing. Regardless of where they find you online, you’ll be trying to get them to your investor website.
Because your investor website is the king of touchpoints that you control. It’s 100% under your control. It's the place where you have the best chance of influencing investors to like and trust you. So you need to give it your very best shot!
If a potential investor reaches your website and doesn’t like you straight away, that might be the end of the relationship right there. If a returning shareholder visits your site and is disappointed, you might be creating a seller.
So what?
Here are 10 golden rules for your investor website, with links for more information on each. These success factors will help your site become the authority on everything about your company as it addresses the needs of your investor audience as well.
1. Attract
Use all other online touchpoints to draw traffic to your investor website.
After all, the purpose of all these other touchpoints is to bring investors to a place where you can have a full conversation. Deliver the facts or news they want and have the best opportunities to help them progress on their journey.
2. Appeal
The initial impression is vital. A modern, fresh clean corporate website design should be reflected in the home page design and carried through all other pages of your site.
The home page needs to do three things in three seconds. It needs to make people like you, say who you are and what business you’re in, and provide the link to the next thing they want to see. When you don’t know what that next thing is.
Your investor website is king of all touchpoints.
3. Navigate
Investors are busy and important people. When they arrive at your website, and have decided they (still) like you, they will have a maximum of two clicks in their mind, and they know what they (think) they want to find out.
If you can’t deliver what they want direct from the home page, make sure it’s on the next page they visit. Only then do you have a chance of getting the third and fourth click for real in-depth engagement.
4. Quality
Your content needs to be great quality, complete, and current. Don’t be too technical or tricky with language on the main pages. Leave the technical things to a downloadable PDF or technical internal web page.
Ensure your ASX Announcements are available immediately. Be the authority on all of your company information, good, bad or indifferent. This invites respect.
5. Mobile
A website that does not work on mobile devices is poor for about half the visitors and ranks lower on Google. It also says, "We don’t really care about our visitors."
Your website must look great on every phone or tablet (landscape or portrait), browser or screen size. Don’t compromise, this is not negotiable. Mobile also means fast, without huge downloads.
6. Educate
You are the expert in your industry and company. Understand the educational needs of investors and support them. If they choose to learn more, that improves their progression rates.
Provide educational material that explains your industry, uses of your products and services, market assessments and so on. If there is relevant industry news, include links to third party media articles or to your own blog discussions.
Work on the golden rules to make your investor website a success.
7. Relate
Blog, tweet, share, like, and post. Provide capabilities for visitors to do the same right there on your website using your content. If they are inclined to share, help them.
People like stories. Consider the opportunity for storytelling, giving additional information beyond the compliance-related detail in your ASX Announcement.
8. Engage
Investors in later phases of the investor journey need news at the right time, immediately after it is released, and in an easy and effective way for them to absorb the news.
Encourage “registration” for Email Alerts through whichever touchpoint they choose and invite feedback. Email alerts are essential to push news to investors as soon as it’s available. Make sure your emails are responsive.
9. Measure
Examine your analytics and SEO results and measure by these principles. Score how you are going by these standards and see how you have improved over time.
Refine your messages, navigation, images, style - everything. Then measure again. Compare with your peers by the same measures.
10. Maintain
Make sure your investor website is quick and easy to update. Be able to add new pages and change navigation easily without web developers.
Have ways of keeping up to date with new technology so the site lives longer. If your website is hard to maintain, it will fall behind and fewer investors will move forward in their journey.
Make your investor website the authority on all information about your company.
In summary
Your investor website is the king of touchpoints. Use all other online touchpoints to bring investors to your site where you have a better chance of managing the conversation. Leverage the 10 golden rules to make your website the authority on all information related to your company.
Optimise your website today!
Nothing like a website that’s professionally done by experts who specialise in ASX-listed companies.
At IRM, we support around 170 clients with their websites and online investor communications needs. Call us on +61 2 8705 5444 or email clientrelations@irmau.com for details.
Btw, this blog post is part of the "5 New Ideas for Better Online Engagement with Investors" series. Catch up on the previous related blog posts below:
Online touchpoints move investors in their journey - and so what?
Stages of the Investor Journey - and so what?
Reading the minds of Investors - and so what?
Who are these people we call investors - and so what?
Online Investor Engagement Specialists
