Online annual reports allow you to tell your company story to your investors in an enticing and engaging way. With more people consuming content on mobile devices, it makes sense to create an online responsive version, rather than just a printed annual report or PDF.
Here are 5 elements to consider when converting a printed annual report to an online responsive version:
Responsive Design
An online annual report starts with a responsive web design, and it’s created using HTML and CSS code. This enables your annual report to adjust to different screen sizes since your content could be consumed on a smartphone, desktop computer or tablet.
If you’re not a programmer there are premade responsive themes available online, although you may have difficulty customizing them to your liking. A better option would be to hire a professional to create a responsive design for you.
Interactive Charts and Graphs
A major benefit of using an online annual report is including interactive charts and graphs. Printed annual reports, as well as PDFs, are limited in their ability to display complex data in an engaging and interesting manner. Interactive charts and graphs enable investors to get a high level detail of the data in your report, in an easily digestible way.
These charts and graphs can also be customised in real time by selecting different data sets such as time period, dollar value, sales metrics, etc so that investors can view the specific data that interests them.
Engaging Videos
Another benefit of having an online annual report is adding engaging videos. These videos help capture attention in ways that text and photos alone can’t. An interesting usage of video in an annual report is creating a CEO video, in addition to the usual CEO’s letter. This allows the CEO to send a more personalised message to communicate the company’s strategy.
Other ways of using video include having them as visual devices in the background to maintain the attention of the website visitor.
Adding Links
An online annual report will allow you to add links within the pages of the report. You can use these links to point to detailed information related to your report, link to your homepage, send people to your online store, or point people to videos about your company.
Improve Reach With SEO and Social Media
Unlike a printed version or a pdf, your online annual report is a fully functioning mini-site. As a result, it can be optimised for search engines so that your content will show up in search results. This will bring organic traffic to your report and exposure to your company that might not have happened otherwise.
Also, online social media sharing buttons can be added to an online report. This opens up the possibility for your investors to share the content with their networks, bringing potential investors that you might not have otherwise reached.
Conclusion
Creating an online annual report involves creating a responsive web design, interactive charts and graphs, engaging videos, adding links, SEO optimisation and social media sharing. If you need help with converting a printed annual report to an online responsive version, contact the Room Design Studio today.
