What Is the Value of SEO for Manufacturing Businesses?

The internet has completely transformed how people make their purchasing decisions. Even in the more traditional setting of “Business to Business” (B2B), customers are searching online to find products and services that give them a competitive edge. For companies that are misinformed by the myth that manufacturing businesses don’t need to optimize their websites for search, the time to wake up and take action is now.

Your website is a showcase for your business, but if your potential customers can’t find you online, it’s like a shiny, well branded product sitting in a carton within a dark warehouse. Nobody can see it, and therefore, nobody will buy it.

Learn more about SEO for manufacturing businesses to learn why you can’t ignore SEO.

A Quick Definition—What is SEO?

SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. It’s a process that improves the quality of a website to make it more visible when people search for the products and services it aims to promote. Search engines use bots to collect information from the pages on your website. This information is used to index the page to determine how it ranks when a customer searches on Google and other search engines.

SEO is considered organic digital marketing. You can’t pay to rank higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). It’s all about the quality of your website and what value it offers to the user.

Key Elements of SEO

Some people wrongly assume that SEO is about filling your site with target keywords. However, with changing and evolving search engine algorithms, SEO has grown to be much more. Search engines want the user to get the right information quickly and easily.

SEO is about the user experience, not your marketing goals. It’s about matching the intent behind the customer’s query to the right answer or resource offered on the web. You need to create a website that keeps this at the forefront.

There are three main elements to SEO: On-page SEO, Off-page SEO and Technical SEO.

On-page SEO

The goal for on-page SEO is to help the user and search engine bots understand what a web page is all about. Keywords are an important part of on-page SEO, but search engines and users are more sophisticated today. Search engines are using complex mechanisms (or algorithms) to determine if the content itself matches the searcher’s intent. On-site SEO is less about keyword repetition and more about high-quality content that is well-organized.

Some on-page effective SEO strategies include content writing with relevant keywords and information for your website pages as well as publishing well-researched articles in a blog or resource centre.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO is what is happening on other sites to drive traffic to your site. The most common element of off-page SEO is links, but this can also include social media posts, guest or affiliate posts on other sites, and partner sites. A typical off-page SEO strategy could be having your company listed in a professional directory with complete information and link to your website. Quality matters here, too.

Off-page SEO helps increase your website’s authority by getting links from other websites. When someone clicks on these links, it sends a positive signal to search engines, which can help improve your ranking in search results.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO involves the details of meeting the technical requirements of search engines’ algorithms. Think of it as the behind-the-scenes operations, such as the architecture, loading speed and security of the website. This is where an SEO agency company can really help.

Typical elements of technical SEO include improving your website pages’ loading speed, optimizing them for desktop and mobile searches and making your website structure easy to navigate.

Benefits for Manufacturers

Manufacturing marketing once relied on distributors, word-of-mouth, and sales representatives. Just as B2C shopping has changed, so has B2B. Simply having a website is no longer enough in today’s marketplace. Optimizing your website with SEO is another way to reach prospects and grow your business. Leverage the power of the internet and take advantage of potential customers who are looking to find the right products or services at the right price.

Here are a few benefits of SEO for manufacturing businesses.

More Traffic to Your Website – Quality Leads

Most people don’t look at the second page of any search results. In order to get traffic to your site from searches, you need to be on the first page. Ideally, you want to be in the top three to four positions. The only way to get to those positions is SEO or to pay for ads.

SEO isn’t free, but people trust the companies in the first positions on search results pages, that aren’t paid ads. You get more traffic to your site, and as a bonus, those searchers are quality leads who are searching for your product based on the keywords chosen, and the value that they see on your website.

Brand Awareness – Stand Out in a Cluttered Marketplace

As more people find your website, you gain stronger brand awareness. This builds your authority and credibility in the digital landscape. Again, this leads to trust from consumers, which can also support your SEO strategy. Brand awareness makes customers think of your business when they need a similar product.

Increased Revenue – Conversions Drive Profitability

As more customers find your manufacturing company, it should lead to more revenue as you get those customers into your pipeline. Investing in SEO delivers good ROI because you are getting quality leads for buyers who are interested in your product. Maybe they won’t make a purchase the first time they come to your site, but if you can draw them in and nurture their interests by continuing to provide them good information, you can make the sale, and then another, and so on.

Competitor Analysis – Preparing for the Race to the Top

A good SEO strategy includes knowing your competition and how and what they’re doing online.

• Learn how your competitors are ranking for different keywords and what kind of content they are providing.
• Use that information to find gaps where you can develop content to provide more information for the consumer.
• Analyze what your competition is doing to find new strategies that can benefit your SEO plan.

This informed action plan will help take your website to the top of the SERPs.

Recruitment – Quality Attracts Top Talent

The job market today is tight. Finding talented employees can be difficult, but if you include SEO in your recruiting methods, you may have an edge.

Market to potential hires using SEO elements that rank your job openings in search. You need to research the right keywords for the position to find the right applicants. Then, you’ll want a landing page that tells job applicants about the position, why your company is a great place to work, and how to apply.

SEO can help you find the right people to work in your manufacturing business.

WSI Montreal Can Help Develop Your SEO for Manufacturing Strategy

Getting started in SEO and manufacturing marketing can be overwhelming. You don’t have to do it alone. Our SEO Agency in Montreal solves marketing problems for many different industries, including manufacturing. We take your vision and make it happen.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for digital marketing. Our team looks at where you are and where you want to be in the digital landscape. From there we help you choose the right SEO strategies and implement a plan to help you generate more leads, build brand awareness, and grow your online reputation.

It isn’t enough just to get traffic to your website, but we want to generate high quality leads for your business. We can help improve your website and build in on-page and off-page SEO elements to make your online marketing more effective.

Ready to get started working on your manufacturing SEO strategy? Contact us to discuss your ideas and learn how WSI, as a reputable web marketing agency in Montreal, can help your business.