One of the first decisions you have to make as an IRO building a new IR website is also one of the most consequential: Do you build the site out from a template, or do you go fully custom?
Unsurprisingly, this is also one of the most common questions BLENDER gets from clients. The answer depends upon your company’s particular needs.
Every BLENDER site is among the best in the industry
All of BLENDER’s sites are professional, industry-leading platforms that include the foundational elements that appeal to investors and convey key information quickly. All our sites include the option to have your email list set up with BLENDER to start forming a list right away, as well as a live stock ticker feed on the homepage. We use proven best practices for digital IR in everything we build, and the results show in our satisfied clients and the increased traffic they receive.
But if all our sites include everything you need, why would you choose a custom site over a template?
There are advantages to each. In short, templated IR sites have a faster turnaround time and cost less, while custom IR sites have superior flexibility.
For most of our clients—small- to mid-cap public companies working primarily to capture the attention of more investors—a template, or a template with a few modifications, is an ideal choice. But for bigger public companies, with a global presence and an already extensive digital presence, a custom site will meet their precise specifications.
But why is this, and which should YOU pick? Here, we’ll dive into all the benefits and drawbacks of ready-to-use IR templates vs. custom IR sites, and help you make the right choice.
Ready-to-use templates are fast, inexpensive, and hands-off.
Because they require far less initial design and development, off-the-shelf IR templates are perfect for IROs looking for the following:
- To upgrade their outdated, DIY site. If you’ve been running a public company from a basic WordPress or self-built website, we’re confident the investor experience would be massively elevated by a new, templated BLENDER site.
- A rapid turnaround. In ideal conditions, the BLENDER team can get a templated Piknic site launched within four to six weeks; with a few small modifications, we can get it up and running within six to eight weeks.
- Low cost. All our sites cater to the budget of our clients, but ready-to-use platforms will always be the most cost-effective option.
- To leave the details to the professionals. Most small- to mid-cap companies lack internal experts in digital design and more than anything, want BLENDER to deliver a striking, intuitive, and user-friendly finished product with minimal involvement of their own. Templates are perfect for this approach.
- A platform that allows you to add content later. Many of our clients launch their Piknic sites before they go public, so it’s important that they be able to add or hide specific pages or their stock ticker as information becomes public. It’s also always essential that they be able to modify the existing content as the company grows and evolves.
See BLENDER’s ready-to-use templated sites in action:
Custom sites offer boundless possibilities and laser focus.
Custom sites allow developers and designers to tailor every element of the site to a public company’s specific needs. This can take a bit more time and resources, but the results can truly be stunning. In general, custom sites are best for companies that have…
- An established digital presence and already extensive content. When a large company approaches BLENDER, they often do so with a range of imagery, video, news, media, and project assets that need to be displayed in a carefully tailored manner. For example, a biotech company that wants an interactive graphic to show how their product is unique, or a large royalty company that needs a custom map.
- Someone internally who has a highly specific vision for the website, and who wants to be hands-on throughout the design process with input on layout details and multiple rounds of feedback.
- The space to take their time to perfect every aspect of the site. With BLENDER, custom sites usually take around three to four months.
- A global presence and/or multiple audiences. For bigger companies with a presence across the globe, there might be a need for multiple languages, or multiple different sections of the sites for different kinds of users (e.g. customers, investors, employees, etc.).
See BLENDER’s custom sites in action:
It’s a tough choice—BLENDER can help.
Whatever choice you make, with BLENDER, you can be confident that you’re getting a powerful platform that will have a significant effect on your public company’s investor outreach efforts.
If you’re planning to build a new site for your company, we can guide you in the direction best for your team.