When did you last refresh your IR website? Despite being one of the most important channels for company representation and a first port of call for many investors, analysts and members of the media, more than a fifth (22 percent) of IROs say its been at least three years since they last redesigned their IR website.
That’s according to the Technology and IR 2018 report from IR Magazine. Click for more information or to download your copy now.
More than half (51 percent) of the 614 IROs and senior managers who took part in the survey say they updated the IR website between one and three years ago, while 27 percent say they have done so in the past year. At the other end of the scale, 15 percent say it has been between three and five years since their IR website had a revamp, with 7 percent having left theirs at least five years.
In terms of cap sizes, mega-cap companies are least likely to have refreshed their IR website in the past year, at 19 percent; while mid-caps are the most likely to have left theirs unchanged for more than five years, at 10.
Regionally, North American companies are more likely to have an up-to-date IR website, with 80 percent giving theirs a revamp in the past three years (28 percent in the past 12 months). Just 5 percent have left theirs more than five years.
Similar numbers of Europeans (73 percent) and Asians (77 percent) say their IR website has been updated in the past three years. Although the overall numbers saying they’ve left it longer than this are similar across each region, at 18 percent (compared with 8 percent of Europeans), far more Asian firms have an IR website that has been left more than five years without a refresh.
In July 2016, research and consultancy group Bowen Craggs gave their views on why Europeans build more effective corporate websites. In fact, of the 30 most effective corporate web estates (websites plus social media channels) on the firm’s Index of Online Excellence that year, just six were from the US; the other 24 were European. In the 2018 version of the index – Bowen Craggs’ 10th anniversary of the list – the number of US companies making the cut drops to just four.
Garnet Roach
An award-winning journalist, Garnet Roach joined IR Magazine in October 2012, working on both the editorial and research sides of the publication. Prior to entering the world of investor relations, her freelance career covered a broad range of...
