Manufacturing is not for the faint of heart. It is a dog-eat-dog sector where giants of the industry, who have been operating for decades, dwarf their smaller competition.
The funds that they have access to and the experience that they can draw on make it nearly impossible for newcomers to manufacturing or smaller operations to keep up.
However, while it still might be an uphill battle for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, it is not impossible to overtake the big boys. All it takes is utilization of the right tools, one of which is SEO.
When you have a smaller or newer company than your manufacturing competitor, one of the biggest challenges is to stand out.
Their brand and the product that goes along with it are just better known and buyers tend to trust what they know, giving them little reason to switch over to you.
Therefore, in order to get your name out there as a quality manufacturer you need to do something different and work hard to stand out. This is where SEO comes in.
We like to call it SEO Power since it really is the fuel for success online.
Manufacturing companies tend to have the smallest digital presence of any industry.
Many of the largest businesses have a basic website that is rarely updated, much less optimized for search engines. This is a mistake and this mistake can be capitalized on by smaller manufacturers.
Even with a small SEO budget, a company can make their website move up in the search engine rankings.
When buyers are searching the internet and they see a new name come up, they will remember it. After this happens a few times, a small manufacturer slowly becomes a household name.
Buyers have questions, not only about your products, but also about general industry information. If you put long-form content about hot topics in your industry on your website, which is then optimized for search engines, you will become a valuable and trusted resource.
Buyers will know that they can rely on you for insightful information and always having the answer to their questions.
This is a powerful position to hold and one that will slowly make you, as a smaller manufacturer, look much bigger in their eyes.
One of the biggest mistakes that large manufacturers make is assuming that they do not have much competition. Because of this, they believe that their websites can remain basic, with the bare minimum amount of information available.
This may have been true 10 years ago, but it is not anymore. Buyers have a higher digital expectation than ever before.
They know that more competition is popping up in every industry, including manufacturing, and that there is likely a new, hungry manufacturer out there that wants to go above and beyond to prove itself.
Manufacturer marketing now needs to be digital and done with thought out SEO strategy in order to compete.
This is the perfect opportunity for small and medium-sized manufacturers to get their foot in the door. Develop a website that provides all the information that buyers need to sell themselves on you and your product.
The more information and contact options you provide, the easier it is for buyers to find out about you and get all the information they need in order to switch to your product.
One of the challenges with being a manufacturer is that while you may sell large quantities of product, you only have a handful of customers.
When you market your company to the world, you are targeting only a few people who have a specific need. Traditionally, trade shows, expos, and conventions were where you would connect with these people.
However, these face-to-face opportunities are becoming fewer and further between. Buyers want to be able to find out everything they need to know from the comfort of their office chair.
So, as a manufacturer, you need to meet this demand and find these people where they are. The most efficient way to do this is through targeting with SEO.
Through the utilization of SEO a small manufacturing company can make their website a magnet. They can create an online platform that has all the right bells and whistles to reach and attract every potential buyer in their industry.
Manufacturing companies are not known for having big marketing departments. They have a sales team, but their work is generally limited to investing in product sourcing directories, trade shows, outside sales reps, and internal sales reps.
Other forms of marketing, due to how targeted a manufacturer's marketing must be, make it difficult to get a return on investment. But this is where SEO services are different.
First, SEO services are fairly affordable, even for the smallest of manufacturers. Many SEO service providers can work around your budget to give you the most bang for your buck.
Second, with a clear price being spent on SEO services and clear leads being generated from those SEO changes, it is easy to track the return on investment.
New, small, and medium-sized manufacturers do not have it easy when it comes to their competition. They are trying to prove themselves against massive manufacturers that have likely been selling their product to buyers for decades.
They have brand-recognition. They have deeper pockets. But many of these manufacturers are forgetting to keep up with the times and make the digital transformations that they need to.
By investing in SEO, competing manufacturers can slowly rise to the top and begin bringing in buyers left and right. To make sure you get on the right track with SEO, please contact us.