May 18th, 2016

6 Questions to Ask Yourself When Building a Manufacturing Website

manufacturing website

You’ve probably been doing the same sales and marketing of your manufacturing company since its inception. You have had the same website for the last 10 years and you feel it’s time to improve your image and branch out in your marketing and sales efforts. But where do you start when you’re building your manufacturing website? Every day there are engineers around the world looking for new suppliers and your sales reps can’t get them all. They’re looking at your website and others like it to determine which company is the best to work with. Is your manufacturing website giving you the best first impression?

We’ve put together a list of 6 important questions you should ask yourself before building a manufacturing website to have to attract new buyers and keep them there to help your salespeople close sales.

What Are Your Core Competencies?

Simply put, this is where you can tell your potential buyer what they need to know about the services you offer. You should have detailed information about your processes so they can ensure that you’re a good fit for them.

Writing content that is both informative and easy to read isn’t always easy, but in the long-run it will help your visitors feel comfortable that you’re the right company for theirs. You should tell them what industries you serve, your production capabilities in terms of volume, and any information that you would want to know from your suppliers.

What Machines Do You Use?

If the car makes the person, the tools make the company. If you’re using a specific lathe, press, or pump you’ve probably done your research into why it was the best fit for you. When an engineer is visiting your website, they want to know what you’re working with.

What Certifications Do You Have?

Are you ISO 9001:2008 certified? You should be proud of your quality assurance achievements but also letting a purchasing agent know that you’ve been inspected and hold your work to a high standard will help them trust in your brand. If there’s a certification you require to work with you, the engineers you’re trying to reach have them too.

What Are Your Facilities Like?

Don’t just tell them about it, show them. Invest in high quality photography and tour video. We all love watching videos and it will keep them on your website longer. And as we all know the longer someone visits your page, the more likely they are to buy. An engineer in China or Brazil doesn’t have to fly all the way to you to see who they’re working with, they can know right then and there if this is the kind of company they want to work with.

What Have You Done in The Past?

Use case studies, schematic drawings, and imagery to show not only who you’ve worked with in the past but what you’ve done for them. Your foyer is filled with parts that you make so that when a visitor comes in they can be impressed with your work. The same thing should happen when they walk into your virtual door.

WHY?

Above everything else always answer the why question. Why would someone want to work with you? Why are your tools, your certifications, your facilities, why are they important? The answer isn’t, well everyone else has them, we should too. Why you do what you do sets you apart from every other manufacturer out there. You don’t get out of bed in the morning to just make parts and money, you get out of bed because you want to do the best work possible, right? That’s a part of why, and as you create content and get photos together it will be the most difficult part of building your website and your brand.

Building a manufacturing website isn’t always easy, but knowing what you want before you walk into a meeting with your Michigan web design company can help. It’s a challenge to put this all together in a timely fashion but we’re here to assist you every step of the way.

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