When it comes to running a business in the modern world, few things are more important than optimizing and streamlining the way your business interacts with technology. One of the key ways this is achieved is through search engine optimization, or SEO, which will increase sales, draw more traffic and attention to your website, and help you rank higher on search engine results. While all companies should focus on SEO principles, the competitive market for manufacturing and industrial companies has evolved in such a way that it is especially critical for firms to take SEO for manufacturing companies seriously, which means having strong technical knowledge and utilizing proper SEO techniques.
Optimization for Success
One thing manufacturing companies excel at is utilizing engineering techniques to meet demanding and extremely specific product requirements. However, what some manufacturing professionals might not be as familiar with is designing and engineering their company itself to interact more effectively with technology. By utilizing SEO techniques to streamline and improve their websites, internet presence, and technological services, manufacturing companies can increase sales and connect with more relevant customers.
With the rise of Chinese and overseas manufacturing and the decline of manufacturing in the United States, it’s more important than ever to ensure that you are doing everything possible to promote your company far and wide. One thing that SEO engineers focus on is how to optimize your website for conversions. In sales terms, a conversion is what happens when someone goes from being merely a passive observer of your company or website to someone that is actively making a sale or purchase. In this sense, you want to maximize the percentage of people you convert from browsers to active consumers that will provide you business, creating the revenue you depend on.
The art of achieving these conversions is a science that takes study and dedication. An entire field of SEO has arisen in the modern world, taking the business of “sales” to the next level using technology. Technology and the internet have drastically changed the modern economy in many ways, some positive and some more challenging. One of the positive changes is that we now have, at our fingertips, millions of people to market and sell to — if we can reach them.
How to Achieve More Conversions
So, this leads to the question: How does one go about converting the maximum number of people possible into active consumers? Although you’ll have to retain the services of an SEO professional to see the absolute best results, several basic steps can be examined to begin understanding the process. Two of the most important methods used to streamline and improve sales conversions are:
- Consider customer acquisition cost (CAC) and learn how to target demographics that will give you the most return for your investment.
CAC is a metric used by businesses to decide how to spend money moving forward, depending on what will produce the best returns on investment. Calculating this figure is a complex process that requires the addition of all costs required to obtain new customers, which can include advertising or marketing, sales, employee pay, as well as the costs of manufacturing and production. Without determining how to achieve a good value on customer acquisitions, any business will have a harder time achieving success.
- Learn how to research and analyze market trends and the impact your advertising has using click-through rate (CTR).
Part of the way that SEO professionals use research is to target more efficiently and effectively. You’ll want to discover the CTR, or click-through rate of your content, essentially measuring those who just see a preview of your content in search engine results versus those who actually click on it. From there, you’ll use demographic research and targeted advertising to reach more people like the ones who clicked through. In addition, you’ll want to analyze and attempt to manipulate what happens when they land on your page, such as how long they stay on your site and what pages they look at.
SEO for Manufacturing Companies Is Timely
While all of this focus on technology can seem impractical or irrelevant to a hard science like manufacturing, in reality, there’s nothing more important to the long-term success of a manufacturing business than optimizing its relationship with technology. Increasing organic traffic, brand awareness, and consumer confidence in your company will mean more sales and cash flow for you, enabling you to invest more into the staples of manufacturing, such as factories, machines, and warehouses, while simultaneously increasing revenue.
According to a 2019 study conducted by the Chinese government, about 40% of companies currently manufacturing in China are looking to relocate out of the country. This means that now is a great time to step in and try to reclaim some of that market share and the vast amount of wealth that it represents.
However, to do so, manufacturing companies will have to be performing at their highest level and have to make sure that they are utilizing all aspects of technology that they have available. Without proper SEO for manufacturing companies, conversion rate optimization, and measuring metrics like CTR, trying to stay ahead of the competition is nearly impossible.
Competition in the Modern World
Unfortunately, much of the market share looking to relocate will likely end up in various other countries which pay low wages and have a track record of poor working conditions and human rights abuses. It’s extremely difficult to offer a profitable service in the modern, globalized economy when a competitor, such as Vietnam, pays their workers an average of about $150 a month.
The only way that manufacturing companies can compete and stay viable in this economy is to take advantage of the many benefits of technology available to them, which means — among other things — taking SEO for manufacturing companies seriously. Moving forward, we can expect to see the internet continue to evolve and change the way the global economy interacts with goods and services.
So if you haven’t already started working on your search engine optimization, there’s no better time than right now to start. If you don’t, you risk being left behind as your competitors around the globe take their businesses to the next level by taking advantage of all the benefits that technology has to offer.
