How to Get More Traffic to Your Manufacturing Website in 2024

If you’ve invested heavily into your manufacturing website, it can be discouraging to see low traffic volume and low conversion rates. The good news is, there are several digital marketing strategies specifically designed to drive high quality traffic to your manufacturing website and convert them into paying customers.

Quality website traffic can only transform into loyal, lifelong customers brand evangelists if you prioritize funneling the right kind traffic to your manufacturing website and encouraging them to take the most valuable actions once they are there.

In the fiercely competitive online landscape of manufacturing, leveraging digital channels for website traffic is a game-changer and a necessity in order for your manufacturing business to scale and thrive. This comprehensive guide delves into digital marketing strategies specifically tailored to elevate your manufacturing website's online visibility and attract valuable traffic, ultimately driving conversions and creating new customers and long term business partners.

Paid advertising campaigns are one of the most effective digital marketing strategies available that drive quality traffic to your manufacturing website.

To kickstart your manufacturing website’s traffic surge, set up a paid advertising strategy. Paid advertising campaigns serve two main functions: they create demand and meet demand for your manufacturing business’s products and services.

Paid advertising campaigns designed to create demand for your manufacturing business should cast a wide net and entice in-market individuals to further engage. These ads are focused on brand awareness and getting your manufacturer top-of-mind for when online users are in-market for your manufacturing products and services. Impressions are the main performance metric to pay attention to with “create demand” advertisements.

Paid advertising campaigns designed to meet demand for your manufacturing business should be more targeted in their geographical spread as well as in the audience demographics they reach. Campaigns that meet demand typically target online users who have previously interacted with your manufacturing business or with your competitors. The ads target potential customers who are further down the sales funnel and are focused on conversions. Click-through-rates (CTRs) are the main performance metric to pay attention to with “meet demand” advertisements.

There are many paid advertising platforms to choose from: Google Ads, Meta Ads, Bing Ads and LinkedIn Ads are the most popular. Before investing in a paid advertising platform, conduct market research and analyze the digital landscape so you have a good idea of where your manufacturer’s ads will be shown. This research should tell you where your ideal customer spends their time online and help you create ads that directly resonate with them and their stage in the buyer’s journey.

For example, if you’re trying to increase your manufacturing website’s traffic from potential business partners (like distributors), running LinkedIn ads may be most profitable. Similarly, if you’re wanting to increase your manufacturing website’s traffic from homeowners, running Meta ads will get your manufacturing business in front of in-market individuals on Facebook and Instagram.

Keywords are significant elements that trigger ads to be served when an online user types a search query into the search bar. Particularly with search ads, keywords are paramount.

Craft laser-focused ad campaigns using manufacturing-specific keywords. Tailor ad copy and landing page copy to resonate with your audience and please search engine algorithms, optimizing for conversions.

If you’ve never set up a paid advertising campaign before, there are plenty of resources available. For instance, Google Ads has a Smart Campaign setup mode that walks you through the process step by step. LinkedIn Ads, Bing Ads and Meta Ads are more intuitive.

If you prefer to have a paid advertising specialist run your manufacturer’s campaigns, Venveo offers paid advertising services and has extensive experience in the manufacturing and building materials space.

Your manufacturing business’s daily ad budget will depend on how competitive your desired keywords are and how aggressive your goals are. Keywords that have a high search volume will typically be more expensive to bid on than keywords with a low search volume; but high volume keywords will offer your manufacturing business more value through high quality traffic and clicks.

Monitor and adjust ad spend based on set performance metrics. How many clicks do the ads generate? How have conversion rates increased or decreased? Are you experiencing a higher amount of high quality inquiries? Do certain months of the year require more or less budget? These are just a few metrics to pay attention to when monitoring ad spend and planning future budgets.

If you’re not seeing the numbers you want to see with your ad metrics, experiment with changing ad formats and targeting options to maximize and improve ROI.

Implementing an email marketing strategy and building a quality email contact list is an invaluable asset for driving traffic to your manufacturing business’s website.

Building an email list is one of the most valuable actions you can take to drive high quality leads to your manufacturing website and scale your business. One of the most significant benefits of an email marketing list is remaining connected to customers and leads long after they purchased from or interacted with your business. This means you can encourage repeat business or stay top-of-mind when a lead or prospect is ready to do business with your manufacturer.

There are a few things to keep in mind when creating an email marketing strategy for your manufacturing business:

• Curate segmented email lists comprising potential leads, customers and past clients.

• Attract more in-market contacts with lead magnets and subscription incentives for increased engagement and consensual opt-in.

• Make sure every email is branded and includes compelling calls-to-action.

A/B testing involves altering one aspect of an email at a time and comparing how the different versions perform. A|B testing should be a routine practice to continue enhancing your email campaigns’ performance.

Refine email content through optimizing subject lines, content, design, formatting and calls-to-action for higher open rates and click through rates.

Social media marketing used to be strictly a brand awareness strategy. However, in recent years, social media has become a lead generation tool that can drive traffic to your manufacturer’s website and generate valuable conversions.

Identify and engage with social media platforms where your ideal manufacturing audience already is. Having a clear understanding of your target audience is imperative for successful social media marketing. When you know who your manufacturer’s ideal customer is, you can vet social media platforms more easily and identify which platform your ideal customer frequents regularly.

Once you’ve chosen the social media platforms you want to invest in for your manufacturing company, learn the platform’s guidelines for creating content that both engages followers and pleases the algorithms.

Leverage viral content strategies to widen your manufacturer’s reach and generate more leads. Remember that trending, viral content and the rules of virality are in constant flux. When drafting content for the purpose of going viral, not every trend will be in alignment with your manufacturing brand. Only jump on viral trends that help communicate your manufacturer’s brand identity and the value it offers.

Repurposing existing content across social media platforms is a time efficient and effective strategy to engage multiple audiences. When repurposing and reposting content to different platforms, you may need to adjust certain elements of the content to match that platform’s post guidelines and best practices. For example, trimming a video down in length or adding different hashtags.

For more tips on using video marketing as a traffic source and a lead generation strategy, read 9 Video Marketing Strategies For Manufacturers That Drive Unbeatable ROI in 2024

Forge social media partnerships with distributors and other manufacturing business partners who can link back to your manufacturing website. These collaborations amplify your online presence and drive targeted traffic.

Effective social media partnerships and collaborations can include contests, giveaways and joint, discounted products or services.

The goal of any social media strategy should be to drive traffic to your manufacturing website and increase conversion rates. However, this doesn’t mean that every post and piece of content needs to have a website link and sales pitch. Include posts that are entertaining, educational, humanizing and that include calls-to-action for a well-rounded, compelling social media presence and strategy.

With more and more purchases and business decisions happening online, making sure your manufacturing website has ecommerce capabilities is a necessity for success and keeping traffic numbers up.

With a constant stream of updates to Google search algorhythms and influx of content on the web, technical SEO for ecommerce manufacturing web pages becomes critical for optimal site crawlability. Ensure proper site indexing and easy crawling of every website page for enhanced search engine visibility.

Technical SEO includes elements like keyword rich meta tags, image descriptions, data rich media and clear website organization and page hierarchy. Your manufacturing website’s developer or CMS host should be able to take care of technical SEO for you. If not, have your in-house SEO specialist work with your website’s developer or CMS host.

Harness the power of user-generated content like customer reviews and testimonials. Post these reviews on your manufacturing website, social media, search engine profile and anywhere else where your manufacturing company has a presence online.

These reviews and testimonials help build trust and credibility with your brand and encourage prospects and potential clients to convert and further engage with your manufacturing business.

Once you have consistent traffic coming to your manufacturing website, you need to make sure your website is set up to convert.

Revamp your manufacturing website’s design for responsiveness and mobile optimization. Streamline all navigation and add clear calls-to-actions for a seamless user experience.

Other elements to consider when enhancing your manufacturing website’s UX include:

• Fast loading speed (two seconds or less)

• Security (https://)

• Readily available contact forms and product information

A user-friendly website can reduce bounce rates and increase conversion rates. When your manufacturing website has a flawless UX, prospects and potential clients trust your manufacturing business more and are more likely to choose your company over your competition.

Conduct extensive keyword research and optimize all website content for search engine algorithms. When optimizing content for search engines, make sure it also delivers high-quality, informative content catering to your human audience's needs.

Here are a few content SEO practices to keep in mind:

• Include high-volume, relevant keywords whenever possible.

• Include data-rich media like images, videos and audio files on your website’s pages.

• Create inbound content on blogs and web pages that answer frequently asked questions.

• Post blogs consistently to signal an active and credible website to search engines.

• Add clear calls-to-action on every blog post and web page to increase conversion rates.

• Generate backlinks to reputable websites and develop a strategy where other compatible sites link to your manufacturing website’s content.

• Post content to both your manufacturing website and your company’s search engine profiles.

Here are a few content SEO practices to avoid:

• Keyword stuffing: include keywords in a natural, understated way so as to not get flagged for unhelpful content.

• Creating content just to rank in search results when you have no real expertise on the subject matter.

• Posting and updating content inconsistently.

• Neglecting to post and update content on search engine profiles.

The point of all content search engine optimization is to rank in search results and become an authority in your brand’s space. By following the aforementioned best practices and avoiding common SEO pitfalls, you’ll set up your manufacturing website to catch and convert valuable traffic.