22
MiMfg Magazine
April 2019
Pretty is as Pretty Does — Don’t Waste
Money on Another Website Redesign
By John Heritage • HA Digital Marketing
In the age of digital marketing, your website is a
tool. It is your 24/7 sales center, a resource for your
potential clients, and a powerful asset your sales and
marketing teams can use to their advantage. It
should look up-to-date but design should not be
your top priority. Too many manufacturers waste
money on website redesigns that don’t work to bring
in new business.
If you’re looking to generate leads, here are five
components of your website that are more important
than design.
Content Strategy = Lead Generation
Quality content serves two purposes:
1. to draw in new, qualified visitors.
2. to help your site rank well on search engines.
It doesn’t matter what your website looks like if
you don’t have any content to support it. Without
content, there’s nothing for search engines to rank,
and nothing for site visitors to learn.
Start by identifying your ideal buyer. What are
their roles, goals, and challenges? Write content that
solves that ideal buyer’s pain points. Address their
specific situation to create content your ideal buyer
wants to read. This brings qualified traffic right to
your website for great content that solves their problems.
Implement Calls-to-Action
The manufacturing sales cycle is long. It’s important
to give potential clients every opportunity to move
through the buyer’s journey quickly. Calls-to-action
help you gently pull potential leads through the sales
funnel by encouraging actions that nudge them
closer to a decision.
Calls-to-action also help you capture valuable
contact information. With names and e-mail
addresses in hand, you can continue to nurture leads
with helpful, relevant e-mail marketing tools.
Always Include Contact Information
Your website should make contacting your team
a seamless experience. In today’s busy world, it’s easy
for prospects to drop out of the funnel if they can’t
contact someone the minute they think of a question.
Implement click-to-call buttons and enable a
contact page that allows prospects to send an e-mail
directly from your website. When prospects can
easily contact your team whenever they think of a
question, you’ll capture more leads.
Develop Attractive Content Offers
Your website is a tool to help you gain new
potential clients, and convert leads. Your website
draws people in. Content offers convert those new
visitors into legitimate leads.
Turn your catalogs and brochures into downloadable
PDFs for simple, attractive content offers. This is
valuable content a prospective client will happily
exchange their e-mail address for. They get the
content they need, and you get contact information
for an interested lead.
Prioritize Tool Integration
Your website should work with your sales and
marketing teams to collect leads and nurture them
through the buyers funnel. Integrate your website
with other sales and marketing tools like your CRM,
your newsletter, and your e-mail marketing campaigns.
When these tools function together, your sales and
marketing teams can get their jobs done efficiently.
It’s a waste to spend money on a website that only
looks nice, when you have such potential to grow your
digital presence. Few manufacturers have a robust digital
platform, which means you have the opportunity to
step ahead of the competition and be the first in
your industry to leverage your website for success.
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John Heritage is president of HA Digital
Marketing. He may be reached at 616-214-3987
or [email protected].