Which online Annual Report approach is best?

CHOICES, choices. When it comes to putting your annual report on the Web, you've got no shortage of formats, vendors and price tags to pick from.

It gets confusing even for me -- and that's before we get to the question of whether there is any value left in having an annual report in a real-time networked world.

So to keep us all straight as we sort through the options, let me share with you the straightforward approach that we have developed to help companies choose the best report for them.

Only four of the six approaches pass our test
First of all, there are six main ways that you can publish your report online. Actually, there are some other minor variations, but these are the six main ways that represent the practices of most companies.

Of the six, only four are worth taking seriously. To arrive at that conclusion, we ranked each approach against five key factors that should shape your decision:

1. How much work and time is required to execute the approach;
2. What the approach costs;
3. How usable is it for investors;
4. How fast it can be accessed;
5. And what communications impact does it have.