Top Tips for Building a Great Manufacturing Website
Top Tips for Building a Great Manufacturing Website
Is your manufacturing business in need of a website? You may be tempted to jump right in, but it’s important to take things slow. Websites are an investment and you don’t want to waste time and money building something that doesn’t meet your needs. Not only do you want your site to look great, but also it needs to meet your customers’ needs and be easy to find on the internet.
Whether you plan on building your own website or working with a web designer like WSI Net Advantage, be sure to follow these steps for the best manufacturing website.
Know What You Want
The first step in designing a website is to define your primary purpose. Do you want to generate leads for your manufacturing business? Make people aware of your products and services? Provide additional information to interested prospects?
Some of your goals will depend on how long you’ve been in business. If your manufacturing business is new, you may want to generate qualified leads. If your business is well-established, you may want to reach a wider audience and increase sales.
Knowing what you plan to get out of your website will help you develop a site that meets these goals.
Do Keyword Research
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a key component of any website. Using the right words and phrases throughout your website will help you rank higher on the search engines. It’s best to start planning the SEO elements before you start building your site.
WSI Net Advantage offers SEO services, in addition to our web designing services. This allows us to do the necessary keyword research rather than having to hire on someone else. We’ll research the keywords related to your industry and recommend ideas for content that is likely to be popular.
Determine Your Budget and Timeframe
It takes time to build a quality website, so leave yourself enough time so that you’re not rushing to get things done. It’s not uncommon for websites to end up costing more and taking longer to build than originally expected.
To determine how much your project is going to cost and take, gather a few quotes from web developers and content writers. If you plan on building your own site, consider how much time you have to give to the new site. Keep in mind that you’ll have to educate yourself on how to use templates, research keywords, add images and more. Even then, your site may still lack the functionality you need.
Plan Your Layout
A “wireframe” is a rough sketch of what your website is going to look like. If you’re working with a web designer, they will provide you with a wireframe so that you can see what will be on each page. You can move things around at this point in order to best serve your audience. It’s important that the elements of your site help you achieve your goals.
Consider Functional Elements
Your on-page elements will help you reach your goals. For example, if you want to generate leads for your manufacturing company, you’ll need email capture, lead magnet downloads and strong calls to action. If you want to increase direct sales, email hosting functionality and an e-commerce system will be a better fit.
As long as you use a user-friendly CMS like Wix or WordPress, it’s easy to add widgets later. But you still want the most important features and functions included in the original wireframe.
Select the Appropriate Technology for the Site
To ensure your budget is put to good use, it’s critical to work with an experienced website development agency. Your web developer can help you pick the best technology for your site. As long as the right technology is chosen for each function or purpose, you can expect a high-performing website.
Some areas to focus on are:
● Client-side coding
● Programming language
● Database engine
● Web server software
● Operating system
Top Tips for Your Manufacturing Website
After working with numerous manufacturing clients, including a Silicon Valley equipment manufacturer (see the case study here), these are our best tips to keep in mind for your website:
● Make it easy for people to find what they’re looking for. Include well-written pages that are organized by application, industry, material, etc.
● Speak to your target audience. When creating content, remember who you’re speaking to and the information they’re looking for. Need ideas? Leverage your sales team to see what types of questions customers are asking.
● Include customer success stories. Case studies, customer testimonials and reviews demonstrate your work ethic and how you handle customer service issues. Trust signals are also essential and include awards and certificates.
● Offer different ways to contact you. Make it easy for people to contact you via phone, email or social media. Also include simple calls to action on each page and keep your contact forms short.
● Convey a strong brand image. Show prospects why they should trust you. Your brand should have a clean and professional logo, a modern web layout, beautiful imagery and value-based marketing.
Build Your Manufacturing Website with WSI Net Advantage
Are you ready to build a new website or update your current one with something new and modern? Contact WSI Net Advantage for a consultation and complimentary quote. We have helped many manufacturing companies build a stronger online presence, generate qualified leads and increase sales. We’ll be happy to do the same for you!