Industrial Website Design Best Practices: Build a Site That Converts Engineers and Buyers
Industrial websites serve a specific niche of customers, so flashy aesthetics and the trendy “it factor” will not cut it with this audience. Instead, engineers and buyers look for function and credibility.
That’s where industrial website design comes in. If you’re in an industry that serves procurement teams and other technical professionals, your website should always show reliable data and be easy to navigate.
Let’s look at why strategic industrial website design can help your business elevate to the next level by appealing to the ideal customers who resonate with your messaging, experience, and services.
Why Effective Industrial Website Design Matters
Undoubtedly, your website is the first impression you make to engineers, procurement specialists, and technical buyers, so it has to stand out when they’re researching online, comparing vendors, and evaluating various solutions online.
According to Forrester and Google, more than 70% of B2B buyers begin their journey online, so the online space is critical to your sales process. Making your online brand as easy to understand and navigate as possible will most likely lead to better conversion rates.
That is why if your website is outdated or lacks key technical information, you could be losing potential clients due to confusion or lackluster user experience. Metrics like high bounce rates and low engagement can tarnish your brand by eroding trust and driving buyers to your competitors.
However, flawless industrial website design can signal professionalism and build credibility. A modern website that is intuitive, optimized for performance, and includes messaging that speaks to the needs and pain points of buyers can help any business establish itself as a top player in its industry.
Design for Your Audience In Mind
The essential element of creating an industrial website design that converts is knowing your audience thoroughly. What are their biggest needs that, if met, would take them from the 0 to hero stage? How could your product or service make their lives easier by saving them time, money, and energy resources?
One of the biggest blunders we see when we work with clients is that their website is designed for themselves and not the people they’re trying to reach. Engineers and technical buyers have a set of unique behaviors and expectations that are very different from the average public. Therefore, understanding their mindset is key to designing a website that converts visitors to buyers.
We found that one of the most important aspects of creating a buyer-centric website is to understand your ideal buyers and their:
- Demographic traits
- Values and beliefs
- Professional challenges
- Goals and aspirations
- Online and buying behavior
When you understand these traits and how your ideal buyers think, feel, and act, you won’t have to guess and miss through years of trial and error. Instead, you’ll be able to create messaging that speaks directly to them and see tangible results quickly.
Best Practices for Industrial Website Design
Prioritize Speed & Mobile Optimization
Did you know that approximately 53% of users leave a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load? That’s why it is imperative to prioritize the speed of your site. For industrial sites, where buyers often browse during work hours and on-the-go, it is imperative to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile-first design.
Use an Intuitive Navigation Structure
Another important factor in appealing to users that land on your website is to use an uncluttered and intuitive navigation structure that is logical and that provides users with everything they need to take the next step with your brand.
For example, prioritize making your menu logical and sticky, which helps to keep users engaged and helps with a better user experience on mobile devices.
Including a search bar and other features that help users filter and find what they’re looking for quickly (especially if you have a large catalog) is one of the most important aspects of industrial website structure.
Build Trust with Certifications, Testimonials & Case Studies
When it comes to technical buyers who are very numbers-driven, adding credibility markers to your website will help signal your reliability and professionalism. Including trust signals like ISO certifications, safety compliance standards, past customer reviews, and case studies, will lower buyer resistance and nurture trust.
And, when it comes to reviews and case studies, make sure to structure them for engineer minds. This means to use numbers wherever possible. For instance, “We reduced assembly time by 40% using X” will not only resonate with them but will also validate your ability to deliver measurable outcomes.
Make Technical Content Easily Accessible
To serve your audience better, you should always make detailed technical content like spec sheets and material data easy to find and download. This means that your visitors should not have to go through multiple steps and clicks to get to the information they’re looking for.
Offering high-value lead magnets to hot leads will also help to nurture them into loyal customers. By designing a lead generation strategy that works for technical buyers, you can ensure that the right content reaches the right audience at the right time.
Use Clear CTAs That Speak to Engineers and Buyers
To keep potential buyers engaged without seeming too “salesy,” stay away from generic calls to action like “Buy Now.” Instead, think of their user journey and intent, and use softer wording that doesn’t involve outright commitment such as “Request a Quote,” or “Download Our Product Catalog.”
This type of nurturing approach speaks directly to how technical buyers make decisions, especially with so many options available online.
For even more traction, you can consider chatbots that offer instant product guidance and help eliminate confusion through a more personalized approach.
Optimize for SEO
Even if you do everything right to make your website optimized for user experience, if you don’t include SEO in your website strategy, you will be missing out on tremendous discoverability potential online.
So, how should you optimize your industrial website for SEO? Start by targeting high-intent and industry-specific keywords that reflect exactly what your audience is searching for. Use keywords that are more specific and descriptive than general and place them in your page titles, headers, meta descriptions, and product descriptions.
Aside from optimizing the website page content, make sure you also apply technical SEO concepts to help your pages load faster and your product pages to be found easier with the right metadata, descriptions, and alt tags.
Finally, don’t forget to regularly publish helpful blog content, FAQs, and case studies, that will set you apart as an authority in your niche. Since search engines reward both relevance and expertise, make sure that your industrial website reflects both.
Mistakes to Avoid in Industrial Web Design
When it comes to industrial and manufacturing website design best practices, oftentimes, trying to create a pretty but generic website without an authentic representation of your brand can truly hurt your conversion rates.
Let’s look at a few things that you should avoid when looking to revamp your website for usability and conversions.
- Using outdated design elements like Flash or slow-loading carousels. Flash is not indexed by Google and carousels often use heavy JavaScript that hurts SEO and leads to poor user experience.
- Having a poor mobile layout that isn’t compatible with smartphones and tablets. Since most buyers use mobile to search and make purchasing decisions, not investing in mobile layout and navigation can lead to lower traffic and credibility.
- Missing contact forms or quote request options. By not investing in proper nurturing and servicing of your clients on product pages, you can cause even interested technical buyers to drop off.
- Relying on generic stock images that don’t reflect your actual brand. By seeming generic with your product, industry, and team images, you can easily reduce trust and credibility, no matter how appealing your offer is. Instead, through visual storytelling, you can reinforce your message and differentiation in your industry.
Top Industrial Web Design Agency
If you know that your brand deserves proper recognition online but that your website is holding you back, we have the exact blueprint to follow to help you convert technical buyers into long-term customers.
As a top industrial web design agency, we have worked with a long list of industry businesses to help them streamline their messaging and get found by their ideal customers online.
If you’d like to know how we can do the same for you, reach out to us to get a quote today!