Category: Industrial Websites

Why Industrial Websites Shouldn’t be an Afterthought for Manufacturers
Industrial websites and manufacturers’ expectations are not always in sync. I say that from my regular conversations with manufacturers from various industries and from around the world. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they have one thing in common–generate more leads by targeting industrial buyers in North America.

Industrial website goals and usage are misaligned

Using an industrial website for lead generation has always been a priority for manufacturers. Lately, I have seen an encouraging shift towards “better quality leads.” However, the people I talk to are not happy with the results. That’s why they contact me in the first place.

Let me walk you through a typical conversation.

Manufacturer: We redesigned our industrial website two years ago, but it hasn’t generated too many good leads.

Me: What marketing have you done to promote the site?

Manufacturer: We pay an SEO company to improve our rankings and spend money on Google Ads.

Me: What were the results?

Manufacturer: We really don’t know other than not getting enough leads, and PPC ads have been a waste of money.

Me: Okay, how do you use your website in your sales process?

Manufacturer: (After a noticeable pause) We tell people to visit our website for more information after a salesperson has talked to them.

The above conversation is not an isolated example but a regular one. I’ve simplified it and made it into a composite conversation.

What is the problem with industrial websites?

In my analysis, there are several underlying problems. In general, manufacturers feel the symptoms (low traffic, lack of leads, poor conversions, etc.), but the cause is that expectations do not match site design.
- An industrial website redesign is not the same as ongoing efforts for organic SEO. Don’t expect to show up on page 1 of Google search results after a redesign
- Little to no time spent by the developer and the manufacturer in planning, identifying buyer personas, and creating a website strategy to address buyers’ concerns
- Adding bells and whistles on top of old, sometimes outdated, and incorrect product-centric content
- Using the new website the same old way—as brochureware. Think of the old days when salespeople used marketing collateral as leave-behinds after a sales call
I could go on listing other problems that I have seen. Instead, you may want to read my post, “5 Critical Components of a Successful Website Design for Manufacturers.”

Where manufacturers tend to go wrong

There is a deep-rooted problem in the mindset of most manufacturing organizations. But, of course, there are exceptions in companies that have embraced digital marketing. That’s not just me pointing the finger—“overcoming the traditional marketing and sales mindset (51%)” was one of the top 3 challenges faced by manufacturing marketers. (Source).

I’ve found that many manufacturers think of Marketing as merely sales support. It is difficult for them to accept that now you must use a blended approach. Sales and Marketing have to work together for industrial lead generation. Neither can do it alone because industrial buyers are in self-select and self-serve mode for a better part of their buying journey. Therefore, they are unwilling to engage with Sales until they are ready.

It is not difficult to understand then why industrial websites are an afterthought. Manufacturers are not convinced websites can help their sales because they have been burned before by developers and agencies that lack the experience and understanding of how engineers and technical professionals make buying decisions.

Don’t shortchange your industrial website

It is definitely worth taking the time to plan carefully and invest the marketing dollars in developing a robust industrial website that fits your sales process and addresses the needs of your target audience.

I understand if you are skeptical about that statement since my company offers industrial website redesigns. Let me present independent survey findings as evidence to support what I said.

Exhibit A: When researching a product or service for a business purchase, 69 percent of engineers go right to the source: supplier/vendor websites. (Source).

Exhibit B: The top four owned-media platforms that manufacturing marketers used in the last 12 months were their organization’s website, email newsletters, email, and blogs. (Source).

Exhibit C: 73% of Engineers and Architects said a “simple and easy to use website” was at the top of their wishlist. (Source).

The industrial website should be the hub of your digital marketing plan and not an afterthought. This post should help you if you are planning an industrial website redesign soon.
June 16, 2022
Is Your Industrial Website Ready for Business After the Coronavirus Pandemic?
Will your industrial website still meet the needs of engineers and industrial buyers when the coronavirus pandemic is over, whenever that is? In my last post, I talked about adapting your industrial content marketing strategy for COVID-19. In this post, I want to focus on the changes that you may need to make to your industrial website for post-pandemic business.

A site audit will help you determine if you need a complete industrial website redesign or just edit and/or create new content. The first step must be an in-depth review of the current site by a team that includes Marketing, Sales, and Executives. This is important because management may have made certain strategic business decisions which need to be reflected accurately in your website content. How your company approaches business during and after the pandemic will have an impact on your sales processes too. In short, this can’t be just a marketing initiative.

Let me give you a few real-world examples to illustrate what I’m talking about.

Industrial website changes for the upstream Oil & Gas industry

Rig layups and preservation services are part of the regular offerings by some service companies in the Oil & Gas industry. However, the current economic conditions have increased the number of offshore rigs being stacked and/or mothballed. Look at your current content, can it be better optimized to address this need during the pandemic?

These companies could also highlight their expertise by publishing new blog posts about re-commissioning and reactivation after the pandemic. Creating a short white paper explaining the differences between warm and cold stacking would be a good lead generator because of its educational value.

I understand it takes times and the right skills to come up with new content at short notice. Consider outsourcing technical content creation if you don’t have the in-house resources or are shorthanded right now.

Website content to match repurposed manufacturing

You’ll find a ton of online articles if you Googled the words repurposing manufacturing. Many manufacturers across a variety of industries have repurposed their manufacturing to meet the pressing needs during the crisis.

Some have increased their sourcing and production capabilities to meet the increased demand for safety equipment for healthcare workers. Others have completely changed their manufacturing focus even if it is only temporarily.

Make sure the Home page of your industrial website highlights these changes. For example, a Houston based and locally operated MedTech company, successfully created a line of cleaning products including surface disinfectant and hand sanitizer to meet market demands during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Website updates for medical device manufacturers

Here are some search statistics from IEEE GlobalSpec over the past few months that are all related to COVID-19.
- Searches for face shields are up 125% year over year and 338% from last month
- Resuscitator searches are up 32% year over year, and 182% in the last month
- Searches for HEPA filters, while steady year over year, have seen a recent spike of 120% from last month
- Searches for autoclaves and sterilizers are up 302% in the last year, and 42% in the last month
For manufacturers and suppliers in the Medical Device industry, the above stats should help them think about their own SEO strategy and how they can fine-tune it for their company’s industrial website.

ThomasNet has created a dedicated online resource called the COVID-19 Response Suppliers. You can sign up for free and be found by over 1.5 million industrial buyers. Use their free matchmaking tool to look for COVID-19 related manufacturing partnerships.

I don’t have to tell you that SEO for industrial websites is not a quick and easy task. It takes SEO knowledge, research, planning and consistent publishing of fresh content that is relevant to your audience to achieve results.

Why not partner with one of these well-known industrial search engines and ride their SEO coattails? Sure, there is an associated cost for some of the paid options, but the ROI may be worth it.

NOTE: I’m not affiliated with any these companies.

COVID-19’s impact on industrial e-commerce websites

Many industrial distributors already have robust e-commerce websites. However, COVID-19 has had a major impact on supply chains, production, and labor. On top of that, buyer preferences have changed during this time. More companies are putting their dollars into “essential supplies” and putting off upgrades and expansions for the foreseeable future.

Your online store needs to adjust to these changes for both, disruptions to your own supply chains and customer demands. Your individual business situation will vary, but I have seen many industrial e-commerce websites with some common changes.
- Online inventory is updated real time (This may require back-end integration with your ERP system)
- “Out of Stock” items are clearly marked. Some have taken the extra step to indicate anticipated date of new incoming stock
- Changes to normal delivery and shipping schedules are shown prominently
- Measures taken to ensure safety of customers and employees for “will call” orders
- Expanded or curtailed hours of operation to sync with customers’ operations
- New or specific items made available in online stores during the pandemic
- A customer resource center devoted to answering FAQs related to COVID-19 and regulatory compliance
I have already mentioned using webinars and virtual meetings as part of your COVID-19 content strategy in my last post.

Some of these changes to industrial websites may be permanent to match business conditions after the pandemic. As I have mentioned at the beginning of this post, making these changes to your industrial website will require active participation of all stakeholders and Marketing cannot and shouldn’t try to do them on their own.
May 20, 2020
5 Critical Components of a Successful Website Design for Manufacturers
Creating a successful website design for manufacturers takes careful planning, a deep understanding of how engineers and industrial buyers make decisions and a lot of hard work. These have nothing do with the aesthetics of the site. Applying a new skin to an existing website to make it look “pretty” won’t help you move the needle when it comes to generating better quality leads. Reading Time: 5 minutes

Nine out of ten conversations about website design for manufacturers start off with, “We are not getting too many good leads from our website.” Are you facing the same problem?

The problem with that problem statement is that “not enough leads” is the symptom or the pain you are feeling. Naturally, people want a quick fix, so they jump into redesigning their manufacturing website. What they end up getting is nothing more than a cosmetic facelift to their current website.

Right after launch, everyone is excited with a new look and you even see a nice bump in traffic. Soon the initial euphoria dies down and you are back to the same old problems… no one can find you (SEO), declining traffic, poor conversions and so on and so forth.

What went wrong? Well, there is a big difference between an attractive but ineffective website design for manufacturers and one that is efficient and effective at generating good quality leads. Read my post, “Why do so Many Industrial Website Redesigns Fail?” to learn more about the problems.

In this post, I’ll mention five key areas you should focus on to make your next website design for manufacturers a big success.

#1: Understand what engineers and buyers want from a vendor’s website

This may sound simple and obvious, but I have seen too many manufacturers find it difficult to think from their customers’ perspective. The expression, “can’t see the forest for the trees” applies here because they are eager to push their products and services right off the bat.

I’m not minimizing the importance of product specifications and features; they are definitely important for engineers in making a buying decision. However, those only address the “What” questions and cannot address the “Why” question.

It is very likely that your competition has the same or similar specs on their website. You must quickly answer the basic question, “Why should I buy from you?” Making a generic statement like, “We have the best customer service” won’t cut it.

#2: Earn trust and build stronger relationships

When you design or redesign a website for manufacturers, pay attention to the content. Just recycling the old content won’t help you. Focus on earning the trust of your target audience. Engineers and technical professionals are naturally skeptical of content and claims made on a vendor’s website.

Make sure your website content is technically accurate, presented in a logical manner and provides proof of concept. You are going to have a hard time convincing your audience to believe you until you earn their trust by providing content they can rely on and verify.

The best way to do that is to bring your in-house Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to the forefront. I have found one engineer to another to be a very powerful strategy for earning trust and credibility. Read my post, Industrial Content Marketing that Engages Engineers.

#3: Engineers are time-challenged—ease their pressures at work

According to the findings from the survey, 2019 Pulse of Engineering published by IEEE GlobalSpec:
- 65% of engineers work on design teams of five or fewer participants.
- On an average, engineers work on between three and five projects concurrently.
Engineers are constantly asked to do more with less, are under tremendous time to market pressures and shrinking resources. Anything you can do to save time for busy engineers and help them make an informed decision will go a long way in becoming a trusted partner.

Plan your website design for manufacturers to include content assets that I refer to as sales enablers. I’m talking about assets such as downloadable CAD files, parametric search applications and online configurators to name just a few.

These sales enablers not only save time for busy engineers, they improve accuracy throughout the design process, shorten time to market and move the buyer closer to the buy decision in a logical manner. These are practically a necessity if you are manufacturer of components that must be “designed in” by a Design Engineer.

I have written several posts about this topic, here’s one you may want to read, Industrial Content Marketing for Engineers to Make a Buy Decision.

#4: Understanding the age difference among engineers is important

Every manufacturer wants to reach key decisionmakers but focusing 100% on senior engineers can be a mistake. Many of the junior or less experienced ones are tasked with gathering information in the early stages of the buy cycle. They share this information internally with senior engineers, some of whom may never visit your website.

Some of these younger engineers are Design Engineers who are specifiers, as I’ve mentioned earlier in this post, unless your industrial component is specified or designed in first, you are not likely to receive that call or email from the Purchasing Department for an RFQ/RFP.

Your industrial website design must take into consideration the age difference among engineers when targeting these technical professionals. For more information about this aspect, read my previous post, Marketing to Millennial Engineers.

Notice how the content consumption habits are different among millennials vs. older engineers. Making your new industrial website mobile responsive (RWD) is critical. Also, it is very important to understand what types of content they consume and how they use different formats in making the final decision.

#5: Website design for manufacturers and industrial content marketing

Aah, last but certainly not the least, we come to the relationship between website design and industrial content marketing for manufacturers.

This topic alone can fill up several blog posts and I have published many such posts right here. Just search for industrial content marketing.

Let me summarize its importance in one sentence, if your industrial website is the engine for lead generation, then content is the fuel that drives it.

Read Industrial Website Redesign and Content Marketing Strategy are Connected.

Don’t shortchange your industrial content marketing for lead generation by thinking of it as just a new way of doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Your content not only needs to improve your search engine visibility, but it must also increase your conversion rate optimization (CRO). While the two are related, SEO is not the same as CRO.

Manufacturers have used industrial content marketing to achieve a wide range of goals over the past 12 months as seen in this chart from the 2019 Manufacturing Content Report published by the Content Marketing Institute.

As you can see, a good website design for manufacturers, one that is effective at generating high quality leads, requires a lot of planning and expertise. Which also means they are not inexpensive like a simple reskinning of an existing website that isn’t producing in the first place.

If you are planning a new website design for manufacturers in Q4 2019 or Q1 2020, you may want to download our guide, Step-by-Step Guide to Web (re)Design.
November 5, 2019
Industrial Buyers – Their Preferences and How to Market to Them

Understanding the mindset of industrial buyers is important if you market to engineers and technical professionals. There are plenty of research reports published on buyer personas and the buying habits of consumers, but they focus mainly on B2C marketing. You can find data on general B2B marketing, but it is somewhat limited when it comes to industrial marketing.

There are four annual surveys/reports that are done specifically about industrial buyers and manufacturing or engineering marketing. I read them regularly and I’m honored to be quoted in some of them.

Sources and tools used by industrial buyers

It shouldn’t surprise you that the majority of industrial buyers prefer digital or online sources and tools for gathering information when making their buying decisions. That was clear from the findings from all the reports that I am about to cite here. It is okay if you are somewhat skeptical about the findings considering the sources of the data, but it shouldn’t take anything away from you gaining a better understanding of the behavior and habits of industrial buyers.

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January 11, 2019
Industrial Website Redesign for Marketing to Engineers

An industrial website redesign for manufacturers, system integrators and distributors that market to engineers, requires a different approach because marketing to engineers is different. This becomes a challenge if the outside web development company or your in-house marketing department doesn’t have a clear understanding of marketing to engineers and industrial professionals.

A website redesign that doesn’t match your sales process is doomed to fail. Marketing shouldn’t attempt doing a site redevelopment all on their own. You must get Sales and other key stakeholders involved from the very beginning of the redesign. Get their input while planning the site map, the architecture, the content, calls to action and the overall strategy. In other words, thoroughly vet the What, Who and the Why before you start designing the site.

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July 15, 2018
Stop Your Industrial Website Redesign from Derailment

What does industrial website redesign have to do with a train derailment? I’m not trying to be funny here by using this image of the Montparnasse derailment that happened on October 22, 1895. The action of a train leaving its tracks accidentally can have catastrophic consequences.

Similarly, obstructions that prevent a redesigned website from meeting its goals and objectives can be devastating for a company. I’m not exaggerating to scare you, but I’ve seen too many industrial website redesign projects get sidetracked and go completely off course.

Are industrial website redesigns worth the time and money?

Let’s face reality here, it takes a lot of time (4 months or more) and money (budgets of 15K or more) to complete a redesign that will turn an informational website into a lead generating system. And that’s just the start, you have to continue to invest in optimization, promotion and content marketing.

It is worth spending that kind of time and money, because your target audience of engineers and technical buyers is online for work related purposes. They are in self-select and self-serve mode for a large portion of their buying journey.

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October 12, 2017
Content Marketing Strategy Must Drive Your Industrial Website Redesign

An industrial website redesign shouldn’t be a quick decision because your site is the very foundation of your online presence. Why is it such an important decision?

According to the Industrial Buy Cycle survey of engineers and technical professionals conducted by IHS Engineering 360 (formally GlobalSpec), “The top three most frequently used sources for searching for products and services to purchase are search engines, supplier websites, and online catalogs.”

The survey also found that in the early stages of the Buy Cycle, Needs Awareness and Research phases, industrial professionals use a variety of online sources of information.

By the time buyers reach the final Procurement stage, supplier websites and online catalogs become the most important sources of information. Take a look at this chart from IHS Engineering 360’s Buy Cycle survey.

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August 19, 2016
Industrial Marketing Plan: A 3-Phase Approach

As we go deeper into Q4 with the holidays right around the corner, most industrial companies start to think about their industrial marketing plan for the next year. As an industrial marketing consultant, I’m often asked by clients the best way to approach this important planning task.

My preferred way is what I call the 3-phase industrial marketing plan approach. I refer to them as phases instead of steps because each phase consists of several smaller steps.

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October 12, 2015
Most Industrial Websites Miss the Mark
I don’t know of any manufacturer or industrial company that doesn’t want their website to generate more leads and grow sales. Do you? Yet, most supplier websites are failing to meet the buyer’s expectations. And that has nothing to do with industrial website design.

According to Acquity Group’s annual State of B2B Procurement study, “Although supplier websites are the most popular channels for conducting research online (according to 83 percent of respondents), buyers are not satisfied with the level of information offered—only 37 percent of B2B buyers who conduct research through a supplier’s website said it was the most helpful channel for this purpose.”

Here are some more key findings from the same study:
- Sixty-eight percent of B2B buyers now purchase goods online, up from 57 percent in the 2013
- Forty percent of buyers research more than half of goods under $10,000 online
- Thirty-one percent of buyers research more than half of goods costing $100,000 or more online
- Fifty-seven percent of business buyers have made an online purchase of $5,000 or more in the last year
- Less than half (48 percent) of respondents purchase goods online directly from suppliers, opting instead for third-party websites and other purchasing channels
Industrial buyers prefer self-serve and self-select modes for purchasing decisions

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June 4, 2015
Why do so Many Industrial Website Redesigns Fail?
This is a long post, so grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable. You are going to be here for a while and thanks for taking the time to read.

We’ve all heard or read about industrial website redesigns that have failed. I’m not talking about the aesthetics of a site which can be subjective; I’m referring to a site redesign that fails to produce results. For manufacturers and industrial companies that usually means that the redesign failed to deliver enough high quality leads that turned into sales opportunities.

I’ve had many conversations with prospective clients that start out something like this, “We’ve spent a bunch of money with an outside company to redesign our website but it hasn’t done much for our sales.” Some have even gone as far as saying “This other web developer did a disservice to us.”

Understandably they are now reluctant to spend more money on another industrial website redesign. What went wrong? It’s not that the other web development company deliberately ripped off these people, though there are some unscrupulous companies out there.

Most web design companies are led by graphic designers and coders; some are also experts at search engine optimization (SEO). Their primary focus is on creating an attractive site that gets found in Google for certain keyword phrases. Well, what’s wrong with that, you ask?

There is a huge difference between an attractive but ineffective site and one that is efficient and effective in attracting the right traffic and generating the kind of leads that your sales team will be excited about because they have the potential to increase their wins. The first one is purely an expense no matter how much or how little you paid for it and the second one is a valuable asset that will pay rich dividends for a long time to come.

A web development company or web designer cannot create an efficient delivery system unless they have the necessary experience and the expertise in understanding complex industrial sales with long sales cycles. Marketing to engineers is different and it is difficult. (See my post, “Marketing to Engineers is a Big Challenge”).

The key component missing in many of these website redesign failures is that they fail to fit your sales process. Either the designer lacks the skills or doesn’t take the time to ask the right questions to understand your sales process before diving into the redesign.

6Ps of industrial website redesigns

You are probably familiar with the original 4Ps of the marketing mix — price, product, promotion, and place (Distribution) which later became the four Cs and the more modern version is people, processes, programs, and performance.

I have my own version which I call the 6Ps of successful website redesigns.
- PRICE: Yes, price is important in the real world. The problem is the wide variance that you are likely to get when you ask for a quote. It could range from $5,000 to $50,000 or more. How do you set a realistic budget? Asking your admin assistant to call around for prices won’t help you much without knowing what you’ll get. Do your due diligence by visiting sites of web development companies. Get a good feel for starting prices, their processes and deliverables. This will help you make a quick go/no go decision based on your budget and needs. Factor in the cost of lost opportunities (sales) if the redesign fails to deliver. One of my clients likes to call this as “opportunity cost.” Remember coding is not the same as marketing.
- PROCESS: A successful website redesign is a collaborative effort. Don’t expect the developer to work in a vacuum with little to no participation from you. You should be prepared to spend considerable amount of time at least initially and the developer should devote a lot of time in asking probing questions to understand your sales process. Don’t be coy about sharing information with your website developer (Get a NDA and Confidentiality Agreement signed before sharing any information). Otherwise it will be like going to a doctor and not telling him all your symptoms but expecting him to cure you of your ills. Preparing a detailed RFP may seem like a good idea at first but it has its drawbacks. You are essentially taking out a developer’s unique expertise and the ability to think outside the box for solutions by asking everyone to conform to your requirements. While it makes it easier for you to compare proposals by standardizing the process, the only differentiation left then is the price. I know a few marketing agencies who refuse to respond to website RFPs.
- PEOPLE: Get sales and every stakeholder involved from the get go. Don’t wait for the President or the CEO to give his/her feedback only during the final review. Design by committee rarely works because everyone is eager to chime in with their own opinion. Appoint a point person internally who will be held accountable and responsible for gathering everyone’s input and vetting them before communicating with the outside developer. For God’s sake, don’t tell the web designer that you don’t know what you want but will know it when you see it. You and the developer must spend the time to define your target audience in greater details than just industry and job titles. Your sales people are the best people to talk to for understanding real customer issues instead of relying on your “gut feel.”
- PURPOSE: Have a clear goal or objective in mind for the redesign. Make sure it is documented and not just in your head. Saying “we want to increase sales” is the ultimate goal but getting there is not just a matter of redesigning the site. This where the time spent initially in understating your particular sales process is so important. You’ll be disappointed if you are expecting site visitors to pick up the phone or email an RFQ/RFP/RFI after their first visit. (See Industrial Web Design – Visit to Call is Not Automatic). Focus instead on helping visitors make interim decisions that will lead to an RFQ. Guide them in a logical manner and help them make a more informed buying decision.
- PROMOTION: SEO is important, that goes without saying. However, keyword research can only take you so far. Pay attention to the words and phrases used by your customers in describing their needs and applications. Even though some of those terms may not show up in search volumes, they are very specific to your niche or applications. You do want to optimize for those long tail keyword phrases. Input from your Sales team is invaluable here. Getting found in search engines and driving traffic to your site is only half the equation. The other half is the more difficult part and that is converting your traffic into qualified leads. Your web content must be created for human readers first and foremost, not just for search engines. Conversion optimization is very different from discovery optimization. Don’t rely 100% on SEO to drive traffic, explore other channels too.
- PERFORMANCE: Don’t wait six months to a year to find out if the redesign is working or not. Insist on site analytics and reports. Either take the time to learn how to interpret the data yourself or have the web development company do it for you (Yes, it will cost you extra). You should get a monthly report that not only shows the data but also explains trends and anomalies so you can take proactive decisions and actions. Building an efficient lead delivery system requires ongoing fine-tuning based on KPIs, not guesswork. That is why it is important to document your website goals and objectives to measure success against those benchmarks.
Okay now that you know a lot more about what it takes for an industrial website redesign to be successful, do you think it is really worth the time and effort? The answer is an emphatic YES!

Here’ a direct quote from Linda Rigano, Executive Director of Strategic Services at ThomasNet:

“Treat your website as if you were hiring a six-figure salesperson. If you were going to put them on the street, what would you do? You’d arm them with information about the marketplace. You’d arm them with information about your products and how people use them. Then you’d put that person in front of the audience and check with them.”

The cliché, “Failure Is Not an Option” truly applies when it comes to industrial website redesigns.

Step-by-Step Guide to Website (re)Design

A systematic approach to turning your website into a lead-generating machine for driving sales. This guide will walk you through each step involved in creating a roadmap for a successful industrial website. The steps outlined here are based on proven techniques and our hands-on experience in redeveloping and designing industrial websites that drive sales and grow businesses. Get Step-by-Step Guide to Website (re)Design »
March 23, 2015