How to Turn Your Manufacturing Website Into a Lead Generating Machine

Manufacturing is often thought of as creating something new and fine-tuning it to be the best. This is also true for the process of marketing manufacturing companies and their products and services.

To get the most out of your marketing and drive traffic and revenue, you need to kickstart your lead generation engine -- your manufacturing website -- the right way.

Here is how to turn your manufacturing website into a lead generating machine:

Target Specific Keywords

To generate leads, your audience needs to find your manufacturing website through the use of target keywords. These keywords should match what search engine users are typing into the search bar.

Research Keyword Volume

Once you come up with a target keyword list, it’s important to know how many searches your keywords will have per month. Use SEO tools that display the monthly search volume for your keywords. This number will give you an idea of how much traffic these searches may send to your manufacturing website. The more traffic you have, the greater likelihood you can generate leads and increase your revenue.

Consider Level of Competition

Keyword volume should not be the only factor when selecting keywords for your site. While your chosen keywords may have millions of searches per month, your website has a good chance of being buried under numerous page results.

This is likely the challenge you face if your manufacturing company is in a highly competitive industry and this is reflected in the page rankings for search engines. The most popular companies rank at the top and smaller or lesser-known manufacturers are hidden behind dozens of page results.

Keywords that are ranked “High” in competition using SEO tools like Google Keyword Planner (a free tool through Google AdWords) indicate it will be difficult for your manufacturing website pages to rank on the top search engine result pages. These are typically keywords that are one-word or short tail keywords, such as “machine.”

Pursue Descriptive Keywords

Instead of the most competitive and shortest keywords, go after long tail keywords. In contrast to short tail keywords, long tail keywords are specific terms that are typically a string of three or more words, such as “shirt manufacturing machines.” Since long tail keywords are more descriptive, they are usually in the “Medium” to “Low” categories for keyword competitiveness so you have a better chance of ranking on where you want to be: the first search engine result page.

The downside to keywords that have lower competition is they also have lower monthly search volumes. However, long tail keywords could work to your advantage as leads who know specifically what they are searching for can find your content more easily. This is ideal for manufacturers who are involved in niche industries.

Create Shareable Content

Content is the fuel for your lead generating machine. I can't stress this enough... so I'll say it one more time. Content is the fuel for your lead generating machine. Not only does content serve to educate your audience and how your products and services provide needed solutions, many types of content can be turned into offers to collect lead information.

The following are examples of content that manufacturers can utilize:

• Landing pages

• Blogs

• Videos

• Infographics

• Case studies

• Whitepapers

• Sell sheets

• Social media posts

• Email blasts

• Self Promoting Safety Videos (shows the human side to your brand)

Educate and Interest Using Landing Pages and Blogs

Blogs help draw visitors to your site, and if done correctly, will point them to landing pages that will convert them into leads.Blogs are versatile, acting as a way to educate your visitors about their problems, help them realize their options for solutions and guide them toward your company as the best choice to resolve their issues.

Make Visual Content

Add visual interest and help illustrate the benefits and features of your manufacturing line with videos and infographics. Dynamic forms of content like these are more likely to be shared and even get the most out of your marketing budget.

According to HubSpot, almost 52 percent of marketing pros around the world said video content had the best return on investment.

Show Positive Outcomes

To get more detailed into the advantages of your manufacturing company and its offerings, use case studies to show the positive outcomes of your products or services for real life customers. You can also post customer testimonials that facilitate buzz around your company.

Promote Content

After creating a variety of content, send out email blasts and post to your social media accounts to promote and repurpose this content. You can also use email marketing to provide leads with more information about your products or services should they request it, such as sell sheets.

With every piece of content, think about the next steps you want your visitors and leads to take. Use calls to action in your content to direct visitors to landing pages, lead generation forms and more.