When I launched my first website back in 2001 – RealCorporateLawyer.com – there wasn’t a lot of content and anytime that I added content, I placed a shiny yellow “New!” icon next to that section on the home page. This concept works well for sites that don’t have voluminous levels of content and for which the same visitors come back for more often.
That’s why this concept works so well for IR websites. IR websites don’t have a whole lot of content. There’s just enough that an indicator for when something new is added would often be warranted. But not so much that a “New” icon IR website would look out of place.
That’s why I was so excited to come across (actually it was one of Labrador’s team members that spotted this as part of their “Transparency Awards” evaluation duties) the latest version of Coca-Cola’s IR website. The toolbar at the top indicates that there’s a new “Overview” section as that link is displayed in a different color (ie. red) than the pre-existing links (ie. black) and there’s a “New” icon sitting on the right of the term. Nifty!
By the way, it’s noteworthy that this addition by the Coca-Cola Company does meet one of our transparency criteria for IR website accessibility. #6 of our IR Website Transparency criteria states: “There is a Company Overview or About section clearly identified and accessible from the IR homepage.”
