Changing IR website providers should begin with ownership and continuity planning. Before ending the current service, confirm what the company controls, what can be exported, which services must remain active, and how the replacement will be accepted.
Treat the change as a coordinated handover. The commercial agreement, content migration, technical cutover, and post-launch support need a shared plan.
Review the current agreement and accounts
Confirm the contract term, notice provisions, transition assistance, and any fees or restrictions relevant to export and termination. Have the appropriate company adviser interpret unclear terms rather than assuming the website team can resolve them.
Inventory the domain registrar, DNS, hosting, CMS, analytics, webmaster tools, forms, alert service, filing integration, and market-data accounts. For each, record the owner, administrator, billing relationship, and transfer process.
Verify access while the current relationship is active. Do not wait until cutover to discover that a required account belongs to a supplier employee or that the company lacks recovery information.
Define what must move
Export pages, assets, documents, dates, relevant metadata, and available configuration information. Identify materials that cannot be transferred under existing rights or licensing terms and agree on a replacement.
Review subscriber information separately from ordinary content. Have the company's privacy owner confirm whether and how it may be transferred, including applicable notices, permissions, and suppression records. The provider should implement the approved instruction rather than infer it from the existence of an export button.
Reconcile the export against the live site and the approved inventory. A file count alone does not show whether links, dates, relationships, and required documents have been preserved.
Specify the replacement operating model
Decide which services will continue, which will be replaced, and who coordinates the change. The new provider should know the company's approval workflow, reporting calendar, support needs, and accessibility scope.
Use the provider-selection guide to evaluate fit and the cost guide to normalize setup, recurring, and transition charges. Agree on acceptance criteria before migration begins.
Keep a clear boundary between the company's approval of content and the supplier's responsibility for technical execution. A provider switch should not silently change who can authorize public information.
Preserve useful URLs and access
Keep existing URLs where practical. Where URLs change, map them to appropriate destinations and test the redirects. Google recommends maintaining redirects for as long as possible, generally at least a year, while also updating internal links. [1]
Include externally hosted documents and old subdomains in the inventory. Determine who will keep the old destinations working and for how long under the agreed retention and transition plan.
Use the migration checklist for the technical acceptance work. The commercial handover should not be considered complete merely because the new homepage is visible.
Rehearse cutover and close the old service deliberately
Choose a release window that accounts for scheduled investor communications. Define publication control during migration so updates made to the old site are not lost. Record the final content reconciliation and the person authorizing cutover.
Test important journeys after the production change, including filings, results, events, forms, and old links. Maintain an agreed recovery option until the new service is accepted.
After acceptance, remove obsolete access and confirm continuing account ownership. CISA recommends MFA for administrative access. [2] Recheck that control when accounts and operators change.
Close old services only after their remaining responsibilities are resolved. Obtain the final exports, configuration records, support contacts, and evidence of the completed handover.
Questions companies ask
Should the current contract end before the rebuild starts?
Plan timing around the contract and continuity needs. Avoid a gap in required service while the replacement is still being prepared or tested.
Can the company keep its domain?
Verify registration ownership and access. The actual account and contract arrangements determine the transfer work required.
Do email-alert subscribers move automatically?
Do not assume so. Confirm technical portability and the company's approved privacy and permission requirements before transferring data.
What should final acceptance include?
Content reconciliation, essential journey tests, redirect checks, operating access, support ownership, and resolution of material open issues.
When discussing a transition with VendorGroup, include the current agreement, account inventory, and required continuity arrangements in the brief.
Related VendorGroup resources
- How to Choose an Investor Relations Website Provider
- How Much Does an Investor Relations Website Cost?
- Investor Relations Website Migration Checklist
