What’s the value of SEO for manufacturing companies? Search engine optimization (SEO) of your site and its content is your tactical plan to boost quality traffic and direct leads into the sales funnel.
A fast-loading website, keyword research, high-quality content that directly addresses the top questions of your ideal customers — these are the key elements of a manufacturing SEO strategy.
Together, they boost your site’s search engine ranking performance (SERP), funneling more potential customers to your brand.
In manufacturing, SEO optimization achieves ROI by making it easier for prospects to find you and access your solutions.
What’s the value in SEO for manufacturing?
If the decision makers at your company don’t see the value of investing time and resources in SEO tools and strategy, your enterprise will be kept in the dark.
Trade shows and referrals do drive the volume of qualified leads into the funnel. But don’t overlook the value in investing in your online assets to support sales and capture early leads. After all:
- Like the weather, we can’t create the sales conditions we want.
- Research to find a new B2B vendor, service or product starts with an online search.
For every broken machine, canceled contract, unexpected shortage, product redesign, new regulation and facility expansion, there’s a buyer or engineer going online in search of solutions. And there’s a marketing department at one of your competitors working to reach them.
- 71% of B2B buyers begin their research with a generic online search.
- 80% of manufacturing marketers are seeking to differentiate their online content from the competition by producing better quality content. (High-quality content is good for SEO.)
Manufacturers that make SEO a priority will rise to the top of the list. Literally.
To help you demonstrate the value of an optimized website, this guide provides you a framework of the best SEO tools for manufacturing and how to implement them.
[Read More: What is Content Optimization? 5 Tips on Writing for SEO]
Keyword research for manufacturing SEO
SEO for manufacturing starts with a keyword strategy that focuses on leveraging your strengths and opportunities.
First, focus on the low-hanging fruit with a fact-finding mission on what your website already does well — and improving it. Find the highest-ranking keywords for your site: Discover which landing pages or blog posts are already resonating with your audience.
- Start with a free SEO tool to identify the top-ranking keywords that are getting first-page rankings.
- Then, reinforce and grow your ranking with the SEO-focused content improvements detailed below.
Next, discover the gaps between search intent and your web content. These are keyword opportunities, search terms your audience uses that would be valuable for your business. Grow your reach and ranking by using them to help you plan your landing pages, blogs and other content.
Dig deeper with long-tail keywords
Now it’s time to get into the minds of your customers. Branch out into their specific questions using long-tail keywords. Search volume tends to be lower with these than with generalized keywords. But long-tail keywords carry the nectar in your SEO strategy, if you plant these key phrases in the right places.
- Headings: When extending your high-performing content, use long-tail keywords as an outline or guide to building out the landing page or blog. They make great titles for headers.
- Blog titles: Use long-tail keywords to develop blog topics. Once published, hyperlink them from your longer piece.
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Go for 10X content to gain SERP
Once you have your keywords, use them to the max. Whether you’re optimizing existing content or building new, don’t settle for 300 words and call it a day. Extend your reach and relevance by living by the 10X rule: Each optimized piece should be 10x better, 10x more resourceful and 10X more digestible (thus more engaging) than the other top-ranking pages.
In other words, you’re setting out to beat the competition with detailed, comprehensive content. Go in-depth on each topic with new sections and paragraphs. Google crawlers reward depth because your buyers and prospects value informative, reliable content.
[Read More: How to Conduct a Content Audit]
Elevate SEO and readability with H1, H2 and H3 headers
Building your content around effortless reading is also good for SEO. Why? More than 8 in 10 people skim the content they read online. Don’t lose the message in blocks of dense text. Headings are your friend for making your long-form content easy to skim.
As a bonus, headings provide prominent placement for long-tail keywords.
- H1 headers are devoted to your compelling keyword-infused title.
- H2 headers organize long-tail keywords into sections.
- H3 headers break sections into digestible chunks.
Sell succinctly with a keyword-rich title tag and meta description
As your final act of SEO, work key phrases into the HTML tags of your website’s header.
- Title tag: a shortened title
- Meta description: 1- to 2-sentence summary
The keywords in your title tag and meta description cue Google crawlers on the main topic. Your title tag and meta description also show up as snippets on the search results page — so you’ll want to use a compelling yet succinct turn of phrase with your keywords to make it stand out.
Technical SEO: Deliver an effortless experience
Creating unique optimized content that hooks and reels your prospects should be at the heart of your manufacturing SEO strategy.
But there are other SEO improvements that have nothing to do with content that can better your website’s ranking and visibility. These fall under the umbrella of technical SEO.
Google factors in these technical SEO elements into their search rankings:
- Download speed
- Sitemap (is it intuitive and well-organized?)
- Mobile-friendly display.
One in four visitors will exit a website if it takes more than 4 seconds to load. At this stage, when buyers are venturing a click to check out your manufacturing capabilities, don’t tempt them to smash the back button with confusing layouts and laggy load times.
Technical SEO creates a frictionless web experience, keeping the buyer’s attention where it belongs — on the engaging, useful content you developed!
How can you get started on SEO?
To pull together a quick list of action items tailored for your enterprise, head over to our website audit tool. Enter your company’s website along with your contact information. In moments, a detailed to-do list that will make your site more functional, and more SEO friendly, will be delivered right to your inbox. Get your free website report today!
