Is your website a source of truth?
Recent research suggests corporate websites need to work harder to gain investors trust
Last week, we saw some research by the fine folk at Edison who surveyed 4000 investors of all shapes and sizes to find out where they are investing, and how they come to make investment decisions. The results might surprise you.
We imagine most of our readers are familiar with Edison Group, but for those who have been living under a rock for the last twenty years or so, Edison specialises in equity research and investment analysis.
It’s great to see them surveying the investor community at large and we imagine the results are used to improve their own offering, but we found them just as fascinating.
With thanks to Fraser Thorne, Edison’s CEO, for allowing us to reproduce and reference their work for this article.
Is your website a trusted source of information?
We’ll cut to the chase. As you can see from the top of the graphic in this image (click to enlarge), Edison’s survey asked investors about the sources they trust most for information and news to inform their investment decisions.
Just 16% said they trusted the corporate website.
As an agency specialising in delivering corporate websites for public companies this floored us a little.
For completeness, here’s the breakdown:
- 21% – National Financial Media
- 21% – Financial Services Providers
- 19% – Financial Newsletters
- 16% – Corporate Website
- 12% – Financial Conferences
- 5% – Friends and Family
- 3% – Social Media
- 3% – Chat Rooms
We’re not going to spend time dissecting the other 84%. As Edison summarised, financial service providers and national financial media emerged as the most trusted and influential sources guiding investment choices.
In other words, investors prefer to trust the opinions of others.
You should be the leading authority on you
In 2025 it sounds like a cliché, but perhaps we don’t say it often enough; your corporate website is your ‘shop window’.
It’s also where, we assume, many other sources in Edison’s research begin their journey of discovery. Every analyst or journalist has to start somewhere.
First party websites are an important destination for all of us when we want to learn more about a subject, and that holds true for investors looking for information on the companies they invest in.
So why do 84% of those surveyed appear to trust third party sources more? The answer to this is more nuanced.
Without speculating on why investors trust other sources over the corporate website, or indeed – if alternative sources are actually more trustworthy – we can perhaps cover what we see ‘in the wild’, and why we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the overwhelming majority of investors tend to look elsewhere when making investment decisions.
Outdated and broken websites haunt our dreams
We see so many poorly designed websites, with information that’s either hard to find, out-dated or simply non-existent, that we don’t have to wonder too hard why investors may prefer to trust alternative sources.
Likewise, we often find websites which are hard to navigate, don’t work well on mobile devices, aren’t designed to be accessible…. we see all of this – and more – on a daily basis.
Is your website up-to-date?
Does it clearly make the investment case?
Can someone who has never heard of you before quickly understand who you are, what you do and where you do it?
Does it explain the broader market and your strategy for growth?
Facts and figures are important, but they only make sense with the right context and supporting narrative. As part of an effective communication strategy, you need to think about what your audiences want to know, not just what you want to tell them.
Ask yourself this:
“If an institutional investor from abroad visits my site for the first time, would they be able to understand our investment proposition within a couple of minutes, and leave with a positive impression? “
Printed vs. digital
We often see companies with brilliantly designed annual reports and presentations full of facts and figures, expertly art-worked into something that’s engaging and compelling. Yet the website experience often lags far behind.
Which, as a bunch of technologists, seems a little strange. Not least because the annual report is effectively stale the day after publication, but because we believe websites should be fluid and constantly evolving. Technology makes life simple when you know how to use it and there’s not much we can’t accomplish in a few clicks.
We’re not suggesting companies abandon going the extra mile to create informative annual reports! We’re saying you should be thinking about updating the website in parallel with key publications. After all, that 7am announcement is guiding people to the website to download your PDF.
We can only assume these companies struggle to update their website in a timely or cost-effective manner, and it goes to the bottom of the list as a consequence. If you have a different experience or explanation we’d love to hear it!
Your corporate website checklist
Keen to ensure your website is a cut above the rest? Here’s a few things to consider:
Find the time to sit down and actually read your own website.
Try reading on desktop and mobile devices.
When we look at the analytics for our hosted clients, we consistently see the same thing – 30 – 50% of all visits come from mobiles. It pays to look at your website objectively and these days, we’re mobile first.
We recommend doing this sort of review every quarter, ideally in collaboration with your agency, and definitely in advance of key dates in the calendar.
Is your website easy to manage and are updates cost effective?
Choose the right technology and support. Selecting the right technology can eliminate these pains and the right team will help to make web updates less of a headache. When you can send an email and changes are made within minutes, you’ll make more changes.
How does your website compare to your peers and competitors?
Be honest with yourself, and your audience. Put simply, if you had some money to invest and based on the websites alone, where would you choose to put it? Don’t underestimate the power of your website to shape and set perceptions.
Does your website explain the company and make a compelling investment case?
Clear sign-posting and no jargon! It’s important to consider first-time visitors to ensure you communicate effectively, with information that’s easy to find and digest. We all use short-hand and acronyms within our respective industries, but those on the outside might not be so familiar.
What do your analytics tell you?
Study the data to identify areas for potential improvement. Sites with low numbers of returning visitors, high bounce rates and poor engagement metrics are a clear signal that you need to up your game. You need to understand how your website is being used if you really want to make it work harder for you.
Ready for a change?
We’re always happy to share unsolicited opinions, but we prefer to share solicited ones.
If you would like to know how we can improve your corporate website – and help you rebuild trust with stakeholders in the process – drop us a line and let’s chat.
We’ll happily perform a thorough review and hopefully come up with some actionable insights. Luminate works for you.