The Initial Public Offering of a company is often the most important event during a firm's lifespan.
What can be easily overlooked in the months leading up to the event is the organization of the Investor Relations portion of the corporate website.
The day of pricing will often bring traffic levels unseen in the company's history.
Because this is such an important event, it is recommended that the maintenance and build out of this section be outsourced to professionals.
There are an abundance of Investor Relations website specialists popping up all over the globe with various levels of expertise.
If your company plans on expanding globally or listing on a foreign exchange, be sure the provider can support future growth.
Most IR website providers do offer a global reach but few actually have offices in those markets.
In terms of content and layout, you will have to decide what content will be available on the site for launch and make sure this is provided to the outsourced company in a timely fashion.
This will likely include recent news releases, presentations, annual reports, frequently asked questions, investor contact information and an updated corporate profile.
You will also want your Board of Directors and high level management biographies available on the website.
If you are outsourcing Corporate Governance as well, you will need to provide all relevant documents including board charters, committee composition and relevant highlights.
If you are changing trading symbols on an exchange you might also need to provide historical share data.
What is best in terms of layout can be a matter of opinion.
It is important to remember that you are providing information for busy investors and analysts that do not want to search around for the items they need.
Provide all relevant and up-to-date information right there on the home page.
Avoid large graphics and flash elements which cannot be read on PDF handheld devices.
While a great deal of additional content will be added over the next six months, this should provide a solid start.
Stick to the basics for day one and try to keep it simple for your target audience.
What can be easily overlooked in the months leading up to the event is the organization of the Investor Relations portion of the corporate website.
The day of pricing will often bring traffic levels unseen in the company's history.
Because this is such an important event, it is recommended that the maintenance and build out of this section be outsourced to professionals.
There are an abundance of Investor Relations website specialists popping up all over the globe with various levels of expertise.
If your company plans on expanding globally or listing on a foreign exchange, be sure the provider can support future growth.
Most IR website providers do offer a global reach but few actually have offices in those markets.
In terms of content and layout, you will have to decide what content will be available on the site for launch and make sure this is provided to the outsourced company in a timely fashion.
This will likely include recent news releases, presentations, annual reports, frequently asked questions, investor contact information and an updated corporate profile.
You will also want your Board of Directors and high level management biographies available on the website.
If you are outsourcing Corporate Governance as well, you will need to provide all relevant documents including board charters, committee composition and relevant highlights.
If you are changing trading symbols on an exchange you might also need to provide historical share data.
What is best in terms of layout can be a matter of opinion.
It is important to remember that you are providing information for busy investors and analysts that do not want to search around for the items they need.
Provide all relevant and up-to-date information right there on the home page.
Avoid large graphics and flash elements which cannot be read on PDF handheld devices.
While a great deal of additional content will be added over the next six months, this should provide a solid start.
Stick to the basics for day one and try to keep it simple for your target audience.
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