Creating a Powerful Manufacturing Website
Having a good website is key in today’s marketplace—in every industry, including manufacturing. Yet, what makes a “good” website differs for different industries. As manufacturers, you are not attempting to sell large parts via e-commerce but you should be reaching new, potential customers and familiarizing them with your capabilities and expertise so that you can begin quoting work for them.
There are many factors that go into the creation of a good website but ensuring you have a site that works for you doesn’t need to be overly complicated. Check out our tips for creating a simple, yet powerful website.
- Strong User Interface
Website usability is simply how easily your buyer can navigate through your site, find the information they are looking for, and decide to become a customer. Strong user interfaces are clear, consistent, and concise. Not only must a customer be able to navigate on their computer, but your website must be mobile friendly to increase lead generation. According to the latest numbers from Global Web Index, at least 50% of your audience is finding you on a mobile device.
- Navigation Usability
An easy to navigate website is critical to pulling your prospects through their buyer’s journey. Clear navigation begins with a clear information architecture when you begin building your site. You want to give your user the best experience possible on your website by allowing them to navigate the main navigation menu easily so they can find what they need. This relates directly to our next item:
- Search Functionality
Bad navigation = aggravated customers. website that is not completely optimized may force the user to click 5-6 times in the menu or search in the search section to find the part they are looking for.
When a prospect leaves your site suddenly because they cannot find what they are looking for in a matter of seconds, marketers categorize this as a bounce rate. According to Google Analytics, a bounce rate “is the percentage of single-page sessions (i.e. sessions in which the person left your site from the entrance page without interacting with the page).” The goal is to decrease bounce rate at all times which can be done if users can locate content by searching for specific words or phrases, without needing to understand or navigate through the structure of the Web site.
- Images & Videos to Support and Enhance Content
Your site needs to grab your potential customer’s attention. On your site, pictures supporting your content are of the utmost importance. Not only does all content writing on each page of every manufacturing website have to be professional, but content should speak the language of your target audience and so do the images and videos on each website page. Oftentimes, images and videos fall through the cracks because they do not seem as important as the text describing each product or service of your company. But in reality, about 65% of the population are visual learners. Your website should include images and videos that your customers can relate to, learn from, and find useful.
- Fast Loading Web Pages
According to Google, site speed is important from both a website usability standpoint and a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) perspective, as well. In other words, faster website speed equals two things:
- Your website will be higher in search rankings on sites like Google and Bing
- Your prospects are more likely to convert into customers
Today, your website design is an important key to your growth and success. An effective site needn’t be complicated, rather if you follow these tips and keep it simple, you will see increased web traffic which will lead to new opportunities. We’d love to work with you to improve your web presence, so keep us in mind when you are ready!
Click the names below to see a few examples of manufacturing websites we have worked on: