The plague of the PDF in online IR

After exploring company websites of many IROs, I found most suffered from the same shortfalls. Instead of a clear path of navigation, competitive positioning material and accessible files in the proper HTML format, I found rows of filing cabinets. In these cabinets are PDFs, multimedia files with required players and excel files. This results in a full workout for the potential and current investor to find pertinent information. In fact, they will most likely break out into a heavy pant and full sweat trying to rummage through all the print materials.

Most feel having information available on the site in a PDF form is good enough. IROs point to the screen and say, “See it’s right there”. If you were to think of your website as a lobby, and these files are in the filing cabinets behind the desk, there is a very high chance nobody is going to find them, nor do they want to waste their time looking.

Companies can create a great experience online, they just need to have a better understanding of what investors are looking for. Implementing best practices into a web-friendly experience can go a long way.

Here’s a few simple yet highly overlooked practices that you can implement at a low cost and will create a clear vision for your website users.

• Look at all your company materials, select important content, then develop it into web content. The best information is often buried and it’s your job to ensure it filters onto your website. Visitors are impatient so give them a hand.
• Ensure all your PDFs have the appropriate file names, so when downloaded they are easy to identify. Start with the company name then the file name, which should be descriptive. I have seen file names like this: 34293-3892774oiAR09.pdf. A good file name example is ABCComapany_AnnualReport09.pdf.
• The website should provide data and positioning material to address both prospective and current shareholders. Cameco is a good example of this.
• All links that prompt you to download an item should be clearly marked. Nothing is more frustrating then when you click on a link and bam… a PDF starts downloading.