![\"Web](\"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/web-design-manufacturers.jpg\")
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Chances are if you are reading this blog post, you are a decision-maker at a manufacturing company – or at least someone who has been tasked with figuring out what to do with your seven-year old beast of a manufacturing company website.<\/p>\n
Chances are also pretty good that your\u00a0website sucks.<\/p>\n
I don’t mean “sucks” like the cyclonic technology of a Dyson vacuum. I don’t even mean sucks as in it is not visually appealing (even though it might be.) \u00a0I mean it sucks like a Twilight vampire; it consistently drains your company of two of its most\u00a0precious assets: time and money.<\/p>\n
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You’re here because you want to change that. Now, unlike 99% of the other B2B\u00a0web design\/marketing\/advertising blogs\u00a0out there, I’m going to spare you all the fancy UI\/UX design best practices and color theory<\/a>,\u00a0and just focus on strategy. Above all else, when contemplating web design for manufacturers and manufacturing companies alike, planning and strategy are critically important. \u00a0Here are three key factors\u00a0to keep front of mind at all times during this process:<\/p>\n NOTE: I should also mention a new wrinkle that search giant Google recently threw into the mix that has to do with having a website that is “mobile-friendly.”<\/a>\u00a0It used to be a nice-to-have; now it’s a must-have. This means that companies must have a web presence that not only displays optimally on traditional desktops and laptops, but a host of other devices, as well. For this, we generally recommend what is called a “responsive design,” which literally means it will allow the website to physically \u201crespond\u201d to the device it is being viewed on, by reformatting the page\u2019s content to provide an optimal viewing experience based on the screen size and\/or device it is being displayed on. In short, a responsive design will ensure that your website will never appear as a miniature version of itself \u2013 thus limiting the amount of panning, pinching, and resizing a user needs to do in order to get to your content. It will also keep your website from sucking in the eyes of Google. \u00a0(Want to test your current site? Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Google will tell you if it considers your current website to be mobile-friendly or not.)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Still not sure about web design for manufacturers or where to start? Maybe you think your ten-year-old website doesn’t suck and covers\u00a0all of the above, already? (HINT: It doesn’t, so stop kidding yourself.) Maybe you think that that free website template company that advertises during intermission of the Yankees game will get the job done for you. (HINT #2: It won’t. It will just be a slightly more modern-looking version of the sucky website you already have. You get what you pay for, every time<\/span><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n Chances are if you are reading this blog post, you are a decision-maker at a manufacturing company – or at least someone who has been tasked with figuring out what to do with your seven-year old beast of a manufacturing company website. Chances are also pretty good that your\u00a0website sucks. I don’t mean “sucks” like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,249,18],"tags":[220,211,217,221,231],"class_list":["post-11484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","category-insights-for-manufacturers","category-technology-and-mobile","tag-b2b-website-design","tag-mobile-friendly-web-design","tag-responsive-web-design","tag-web-design","tag-web-design-for-manufacturers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11484"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12797,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11484\/revisions\/12797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mgb2b.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nWho are you? What is your product? Beyond the nuts and bolts – what does it do? Does it solve a problem? Your website should clearly state who you are and what you do. In today’s global economy, telling the user where you do it (i.e. where you are located) can also be beneficial.<\/li>\n
\nWho are your customers? How do they use your product? Moreover, why do they use your product?<\/em> What does your brand mean to them? In a nutshell: you must understand your customers. The content of your website must speak to them in a language they understand and provide them with the information (words + images) they need to make an informed decision. (Hopefully one that involves choosing you over a competitor!)<\/li>\n
\nHere we can stop with all the questions and boil it all down to one statement: Content is king. When evaluating websites for ranking on their results pages, search engines love to see strong, regularly updated content. Make sure you’ve got it – in spades. Make sure you’ve got it today and make sure you have a plan for how you’re going to continue providing it tomorrow and for the foreseeable future. Websites aren’t like those Ron Popiel ovens, you can’t just set it and forget it<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nYour website should be an active, B2B sales lead generating machine<\/a>. If it isn’t that, it sucks. Plain and simple. Give us\u00a0a call today and let’s talk<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"