For the average business, an industrial website can seem pretty intimidating. It’s not surprising; some of the most recognizable industrial websites are multi-national giants like Caterpillar, Boeing, and General Electric – Not exactly an accurate representation of the typical manufacturer or distributor.
Massive budgets allow these companies to build and maintain complex websites that attract thousands of visitors each day. Who can blame a smaller company for being a little standoffish at the thought of improving their own website?
For the average industrial company, there’s good news. Most don’t require a fancy website to succeed online. Instead, their websites should simply be designed to collect sales leads.
Sounds easy enough, right? But what exactly does that look like? To paint a clear picture we found 3 fantastic industrial website examples, that you’ve probably never heard of, and highlighted some of the most effective lead collection features on each.
Unex (unex.com), based in Lakewood, New Jersey, is a manufacturer of order picking equipment for companies in the automotive, distribution, and manufacturing sectors. The Unex website is by no means flashy. It is clean and simple to navigate, making it easy for prospective buyers to find the information they are looking for.
While the overall site looks fine, there were two features that caught our eye. First, Unex effectively uses forms to capture leads. Unex makes sure their forms are in areas that are likely to convert. Not only is the Request a Quote button easy to spot at the top of the website, but there is also a Request a Quote form included directly on all product pages. Forms that are placed next to important information are completed more often than generic forms hidden in contact pages or the footer of a website.
We were also impressed by the case studies section of the Unex website. They have a variety of different buyers in their target market and they made sure to have at least one case study for each sector. This not only showcases their wealth of experience but also ensures there is an example every buyer will relate to. As well, rather than keeping the case studies isolated, the case study page is linked to from each of the product pages as well, making it easy for visitors to dig deeper once they find a product that interests them.
Xometry (xometry.com) provides manufacturing services on demand by connecting American businesses to a nationwide network of CNC machine shops, sheet metal fabrication shops, 3D printers, and urethane casting experts. While the Xometry website is very modern, at its core it is built around simple features that are designed to identify sales leads.
As an industrial website, we were immediately drawn to Xometry’s use of form gating. For access to technical documents such as their CNC design guide and sheet metal design guide, visitors are first required to provide their contact information. Technical content like this is aimed at buyers later in the sales cycle, who are generally willing to provide their contact details in exchange for information that will help them with a buying decision. This is a simple way for Xometry to identify who is looking at this information and follow up with a helpful sales call or email.
We also liked how effectively Xometry showcased its industry credibility. Near the footer of the website, they display some of their most notable customers, which include GE, MIT, NASA, and The U.S. Army. Their work with such notable organizations gives confidence to new prospects, and confident prospects are more willing to provide their contact information on a website.
We recognize that not all industrial businesses will have such high profile customers, however, displaying the logo’s of industry memberships or quality certifications, such as ISO 9001, serves the same purpose.
Miller Welding & Machine Co. (millerwelding.com) has three locations in Western Pennsylvania and provides welding and fabrication services to the construction, steel, plastics, food, and material handling industries. We were immediately drawn to the modern layout of the Miller Welding website, and especially like liked how prominently they display their award as a 2016 Manufacturer of the Year on the homepage. However, there were a couple other impressive features as well.
The resources section on the Miller Welding website includes documents aimed at helping buyers decide whether or not Miller’s services will be a good fit with their business. Rather than discussing specific services, documents such as “5 Signs You’re Partnering With the Right Metal Manufacturer” and “How the Right Metal Manufacturer Improves Your Profitability” are informative. These resources help buyers get a better understanding of the industry while building trust and establishing credibility. Better yet, the documents are gated to collect sales lead contact information.
As well, Miller Welding maintains an active blog. Their blog is filled with plenty of information about the metal manufacturing industry and is aimed at being educational, rather than a sales pitch. This helps to establish Miller as a leader in their industry but also provides a great opportunity to add new SlarEO content to the Miller website, attracting more visitors from search engines over time.
The Miller Welding blog is excellent, but it does require a certain amount of effort to develop engaging content on a regular basis. For companies with limited resources, or looking for a quick fix, a blog might not be the answer. However, for businesses in it for the long haul, and looking to attract more interested visitors to their website from search traffic, the Miller Welding blog is a great example of something to strive for.
Each of these industrial website examples offers techniques that any industrial company can use to improve their website and convert it into a powerful sales tool.
As you can see, a little planning goes a long way and a website doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to start identifying leads for sales.
It is important to remember that a great website is still only half the equation. We found each of these examples using search terms for particular industries. All of these sites appeared near the top of unpaid search results or in one of the first 4 paid advertisements at the top of Google search results. Websites need traffic in order to identify sales leads, so it is important to ensure that SEO and paid advertising efforts are performing at a high level as well.
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