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It is no secret that a website is key for any business to reach customers and clients these days. Likewise, the competition can be steep and standing out among the countless other web pages on the internet can seem like a grueling task. Certain industries might require a significantly different approach to optimize web marketing. Manufacturing companies face this situation since the everyday consumer is not typically their target audience. If you own or manage a manufacturing company, you know that your clients tend to be other business owners, and business to business (B2B) marketing techniques require a different approach. Let’s discuss some of the top website design tips for manufacturing companies.
Accessibility is Key
Over half of today’s web searches are done from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This is a key concept to remember when building and designing a website for your company and brand. You are trying to reach other business owners and they are more than likely on the go. There is also a high probability that these same individuals do a great deal of their research and communicating through mobile devices. This has become modern-day normalcy. Your website needs to be mobile-ready. The same coding, layouts, and other design criteria that are used for desktop applications don’t quite cut it when it comes to optimizing a mobile platform. Viewers expect content to be easy to read and webpages need to be easily navigable. When you are on the go, you expect a website to perform quickly and efficiently before losing patience and moving to the next site. Websites can be designed to collect location data from mobile devices, which can help put your company near the top of the list when proximity is in play. Integration of a mobile-friendly platform is essential to optimize your website design and drive traffic that produces results.
Know Your Target Audience
No one knows your clientele as well as you do. Pinpointing your target audience is a critical step in any website design because everything about the design is catered to them — at least it should be. Your website needs to be customized to attract the clients you want and need. Put yourself in their shoes and look at your website from the customer’s point of view, as though you are in need of manufacturing services, rather than the one providing them. Your color schemes, themes, and offerings should be designed with them at the top of your mind. Don’t include unnecessary fluff just because you have seen it on other sites. Your audience isn’t a retail consumer, it is another business that needs your services. More often than not, your website will be a potential client’s first impression of your company and you only get one first impression.
Maintain the Infrastructure
Website design is much more than color palettes and layouts. Manufacturing companies are in the business of optimizing the production of products so their clients can meet the needs of their own customers. We already established that your website is often your only chance at a first impression. If your website doesn’t perform well, they may not believe that you will be able to meet their demands on the professional level either. Your webpage needs to operate smoothly and quickly. Buttons and dropdowns should all load and function without hiccups. This kind of reliability and performance reflects the trustworthiness of your company. Lack of attention here can translate into lost patience and lost business from potential clients. Quality infrastructure can harness performance data from your website which can, in turn, be used to edit the site design and content accordingly. This will help to assess whether your investment is performing as it should. A company that offers quality website design services understands this and can help ensure your website design and functionality are well supported and has the necessary infrastructure to keep it running on all cylinders.
Optimize Your Layout
Layout is another key concept in website design. There is more to it than what looks good and trendy. Categories such as products, services, and price similarities need to be taken into account. Only you and your clients understand the manufacturing business as you do, so group related or similar products and services into categories that make sense. Viewers’ eyes should flow easily throughout the webpage in ways that help them find the information they want quickly and efficiently. Always present information from the perspective of the target audience. With a little advance planning, an experienced website designer can take this information and use it to create an efficient layout. To maintain a quality appearance, you want to be sure that only the highest quality images are used. This may mean using some stock images that can be purchased online, or it may mean hiring a professional photographer. A high-resolution promotional video may even be in your best interest. Video is a great way to engage audiences on a webpage. In either case, don’t fill valuable real estate on your page with clutter and grainy photographs than downgrade your professional brand. Remember the cliché, “quality over quantity”.
Use Call-to-Action Buttons
Your website design needs to incorporate more than just information about the manufacturing services you offer in a pretty layout. Get to the point with call-to-action buttons that are responsive and clearly state their purpose. What does the mean? “Contact us”, “request a quote”, and “request additional information” are all word phrases that can be placed on action buttons within your website. These call your audience to action. This is your chance to generate hot leads and close more deals. Beyond site visits and click counts, these call-to-action buttons provide the greatest amount of data to prove whether your website is achieving its ultimate purpose and attracting new clients. In many cases, this is the place where you have an opportunity to extract contact information from your visitors. If they take the time to go this far, they are clearly interested and didn’t just happen to land on your page my mistake.
Give it Some Space
Part of your website design isn’t just understanding where to put things. It also entails knowing where not to put things. Blank space isn’t always a bad thing. Creating an intentional blank space allows viewers’ eyes some time to rest between clusters of information. This is one of many popular website design ideas used with luxury advertisements and branding. You may have even noticed it in some print ads. A cluttered website can quickly start to feel overwhelming and downright annoying to many viewers. Be targeted and intentional with the information you want to share. Then, go ahead and create some breathing room on the page. You may find it keeps the attention of your viewers just a little bit longer.
There is a great deal of consideration that goes into creating a quality website. Your time and attention are likely better spent focused directly on your business and procuring more clients. Contact us today and let us provide you with a free consultation to optimize your website design. David Taylor Digital is experienced and offers only the best website design services that will help to further establish your online presence and grow your business.
