IR DEPARTMENTS ignore web usability at their peril because unusable sites create bad impressions and deter investors from giving up more expensive traditional communications channels and disclosure documents.

Poor website ease of use hampers investors from getting important information quickly and easily, leaving them more prone to make bad judgments because they don't have all the facts. An ill-informed investor base can in turn hurt your company's valuation, increase volatility and undermine confidence in management and the IR team.

For these reasons alone, it will pay you to pay attention to usability. Usability is one the four main factors in IR Web Report's Global Benchmarks algorithm. As of writing, the average usability score for sites in the benchmarking survey is just under 36%. That means that most investor relations websites have major usability flaws.

What follows are the biggest usability mistakes that investor relations websites make. By avoiding them, you will dramatically improve the usefulness of your website and make it a more valuable and efficient source of information on your company.

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