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Search engine optimization (SEO) is necessary for manufacturing companies looking to increase their online visibility, attract more website traffic, and generate more leads and sales. With the right SEO strategies for manufacturing companies, manufacturers can get their websites ranking higher in search engines like Google for relevant keywords in their industry.

Manufacturing companies like plastic manufacturing, bottle manufacturing, industrial equipment companies, machinery, electronic equipment manufacturing units & other manufacturing plants actively looking for more dealers, clients, and distributors nationally and locally need SEO. This can help them connect with more potential customers searching for their products and services online. Ultimately, this connects them with more of their target audience and grows their business. Studies indicate that search engines now cover nearly 50% of website traffic for B2B companies dealing in manufacturing, production, and industrial units.

 

5 Key Highlights:

  1. SEO is critical for manufacturing companies to increase website traffic, connect with more prospects, and generate sales.
  2. Optimizing for industry terminology, product keywords, location, and long-tail phrases should be part of the SEO strategy.
  3. Creating targeted landing pages, blog content, and case studies helps engage prospects during their buyer’s journey.
  4. Technical SEO factors like site speed, navigation, and mobile optimization impact organic rankings, so they should be addressed.
  5. Monitoring keyword rankings, traffic, and lead KPIs is important to refine SEO efforts for the best ROI over time.



Table of Contents on SEO For Manufacturing Companies:

  1. What is Manufacturing SEO?
  2. Why is SEO Important for Manufacturing Companies?
  3. Top Benefits of a Strong SEO Presence
  4. SEO Tips for Manufacturing Companies: A Step-by-Step Guide
  5. What KPIs Should be Tracked?
  6. Conclusion and Key Highlights

What is Manufacturing SEO?

Manufacturing SEO

Manufacturing SEO refers to optimizing a manufacturing company’s website and online content to rank better for industry-related searches. The goal is to appear prominently in search results when prospective customers search for terms like “bottle manufacturing company” or “LED light manufacturers in California” in Google or other search engines.

By ranking high in organic search results, manufacturers in specific sub-sectors can optimize for niche keywords relevant to their particular industry segment:

  • Manufacturers offering prototype development can leverage SEO to connect with customers searching for rapid prototyping and prototype manufacturing.
  • Paper manufacturing units in the US can leverage SEO to better promote their paper products, capabilities, and services to domestic prospects searching online.
  • Auto manufacturers use SEO to reach potential customers by researching different car models and brands online.
  • CBD manufacturers need SEO to rank for product terms and build visibility around their offerings as interest in CBD grows.
  • Textile manufacturers should focus on ranking for keywords related to different fabrics, materials, patterns, and textile categories.

Why is SEO Important for Manufacturing Companies?

An effective SEO strategy positions manufacturers to capture web traffic surges when launching new product lines. With more buyers starting their research online, having an optimized website that appears prominently in search results is key for manufacturers to gain an edge over the competition. Here are some of the top reasons why investing in SEO should be a priority:

Reach More Qualified Website Visitors

By optimizing pages and content for keywords that prospective customers are searching for, companies can tap into buyer intent and get their website in front of people actively researching products and solutions in their space.

The traffic coming from SEO is also more qualified than other sources because people find the website by searching for related terms. The higher the website ranks for terms meaningful to the business, the greater the opportunity to capture that interested audience and convert visitors into leads and sales.

Boost Brand Awareness and Credibility

Appearing on the first page of Google search results lends credibility to a manufacturing brand in the eyes of searchers. It signals to prospective buyers that the company is relevant, established and trusted as an authority in the industry.

Higher rankings also lead to increased brand visibility and awareness. The more prominently and consistently a manufacturer’s name and website appear for industry keywords, the more familiar prospects will become with the brand as they conduct research.

Higher ROI than Other Marketing Channels

Unlike paid search ads, SEO delivers results that can compound over time and provide a higher return on investment in the long run. Once pages are optimized, and rankings improve, the website will continue generating organic traffic month after month with minimal ongoing costs.

Manufacturing companies can earn those high rankings through consistent, high-quality content creation, website optimization, backlink building and other best practices. While this requires an investment, it ultimately pays off with free, qualified visitors to the site.

Target Local Searchers

For manufacturers selling products in specific geographic regions, local SEO is crucial. Optimizing the website and content to rank for location-based keywords helps drive foot traffic from nearby searchers interested in visiting the manufacturing facility or storefront.

For example, a marble countertop manufacturing company in Miami would want to rank for searches like “marble countertops Miami” or “custom countertops Miami.” This allows them to be found by local home builders, interior designers, and property developers looking for countertop solutions in that region. Ranking well means the manufacturer is more likely to be contacted and have the opportunity to bid on local projects.

Complement Paid Search and PPC

While paid search ads require ongoing ad spend, SEO provides free organic traffic after the initial time and resource investment. Manufacturers can leverage both strategies in tandem for optimal visibility.

SEO boosts visibility for broader informational queries, while paid ads help drive conversions by targeting lower-funnel, high-intent keywords. Using both gets manufacturing brands in front of searchers throughout the purchase process.

Analyze Performance Over Time

Search engines provide robust analytics data to track SEO success over time. Manufacturing companies can measure organic traffic growth; rankings progress, keyword expansion and ROI.

With clear SEO analytics and reporting, manufacturers gain insight to further refine strategies. They can identify high-performing pages and content to optimize further, as well as underperforming areas needing improvement.

Build Brand Loyalty and Trust

Manufacturers can establish their brand as a helpful expert resource by consistently publishing high-quality, relevant content optimized for SEO. This cultivates customer trust and loyalty over time. Serving as an authority figure that educates and guides prospects toward seeing the brand as a long-term partner versus a one-time transaction.

The Future is Mobile

With mobile searches growing, having a mobile-optimized website is crucial for manufacturing companies to effectively engage customers on smartphones and tablets. They can capitalize on this increasing local and on-the-go product search source with advanced mobile SEO.

 

SEO is a proven, cost-effective strategy for manufacturing brands to boost leads and sales. By optimizing for search, manufacturers can connect with more qualified prospects online.

Top Benefits of a Strong SEO Presence:

  • Higher conversion rates: Site visitors from organic search convert into leads and sales much faster than other traffic sources because of their buying intent.
  • Better customer targeting: SEO allows manufacturers to laser target and connect with audiences looking for their specific products/services by optimizing for niche industry keywords.
  • Future-proofs marketing: SEO delivers long-term sustainable growth by securing strong rankings and constant traffic. It provides resilience against issues with other marketing channels.
  • Positive ROI and lower CPL: Optimizing for the right keywords gives manufacturers a positive return on investment and a low cost per lead/sale. The leads have already done their research online before engaging.

SEO Tips for Manufacturing Companies: A Step-by-Step Guide

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for manufacturing companies like contract manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, bottle manufacturing, and toy manufacturing businesses to get their websites found online and connect with potential customers. This step-by-step guide will walk you through key SEO strategies tailored for manufacturers.

Conduct a Website Audit

The first step is to audit your website to identify issues impacting search visibility or user experience. Look for:

  • Technical errors like broken links, missing meta descriptions, and page speed problems
  • Low-quality, thin content pages that need beefing up
  • Website navigation issues make it hard for visitors to find pages
  • Problems with mobile optimization

Tools like Google Search Console, ScreamingFrog, and PageSpeed Insights can help analyze site health. Fix any problems found to create a solid SEO foundation.

Research Target Keywords

Conduct keyword research using Google Keyword Planner and other tools to find terms and phrases manufacturers commonly search when looking for companies like yours. Focus on more specific “long-tail” keywords rather than broad terms.

For example, a bottle manufacturing company may target keywords like:

  • glass bottle manufacturing equipment
  • plastic bottle manufacturing process
  • custom bottle manufacturing services

Optimize pages for the most valuable keywords identified in your research. Include them in title tags, headers, image names, URLs, and content.

Implement On-Page and Technical SEO

With target keywords in mind, optimize on-page elements for search:

  • Title Tags: Include your most important keywords and brand name. Keep under 60 characters.
  • Headings: Use H2 and H3 tags to structure content topics around keywords.
  • Image SEO: Use descriptive filenames and alt text with keywords.
  • URLs: Format with hyphens and keywords instead of dynamic URLs.
  • Page Speed: Minimize load times by optimizing images, enabling caching, and fixing bulky code.

These on-page factors help search engines crawl, index and rank your site content effectively.

Produce Helpful Content

You can’t rank without great content that answers searchers’ questions! Optimize both website pages and blog posts around manufacturing-related topics and keywords.

Helpful foundational content may cover the following:

  • Overviews of key manufacturing processes like injection molding
  • Equipment guides and comparisons for CNC machines
  • Explanations of technologies like automation and IoT
  • Manufacturing safety tips and standards
  • Introductions to lean, Six Sigma, and other methods

Include keywords naturally 2-3 times in paragraphs. Format content in scannable sections with useful headings and lists. Publish regularly to provide fresh material for search engines and visitor engagement.

Claim and Optimize Local Listings

Since manufacturing is so closely tied to location and facilities, focus heavily on local SEO tactics:

  • Create a Google My Business listing with complete info and photos of your physical location(s).
  • List your business on other directories like Yelp, Foursquare, and industry-specific ones.
  • Include your address, phone number, and other location specifics on your website’s “Contact Us” page and footer.

Optimizing local listings helps you rank for geographic searches and capture interest from nearby customer bases.

Get Featured on Relevant Industry Sites

Earn valuable backlinks and exposure by getting featured as a guest author on manufacturing news sites, trade publications, local business resources, and manufacturing blogs.

Offer unique perspectives on things like:

  • Supply chain strategies
  • Smart factory technology adoption
  • Manufacturing workforce development
  • Sustainability in manufacturing operations

Use keyword-optimized anchor text in 1-2 internal links when possible. Link back to your site from your author bio. This raises authority and relevance for those terms.

List Your Products and Services Strategically

Product aggregators give added SEO benefits. Submit your product catalogs to relevant manufacturing directories on sites like Thomasnet, MFG.com, and Supply Chain 24/7.

For custom equipment builders, list products on marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba. Use optimized titles and descriptions with keywords and Enrich Product Data feeds.

Proper categorization also helps search visibility for your specialties, like “CNC machining services” or “contract electronics manufacturing.”

By following this comprehensive manufacturing SEO plan, you can boost visibility, attract more prospects, and grow your company’s web presence over time through quality content creation, local optimization, and thoughtful technical improvements.

What KPIs Should be Tracked?

For manufacturing companies to make data-driven decisions and maximize their SEO ROI, they need to track key performance indicators relevant to organic search. Here are the top KPIs manufacturers should monitor:

Organic Traffic

Total visitors from organic search is a top-level indicator of SEO success. More traffic from keywords you’re targeting means rankings are improving. Analyze organic traffic volumes over time by keyword, landing page, and geographic source. Traffic should increase month-to-month as you work on SEO.

Keyword Rankings

Measuring rankings for your target keywords shows how you stack up against the competition for important searches. Try to benchmark and track rankings every month. Tools like Siteimprove reveal keyword ranks across Google and other search engines. Improving rankings indicates your SEO efforts are succeeding.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Click-through rate measures how often searchers click your result to visit your website when you appear in results. Aim for CTRs above 5-10% in aggregate. If CTR drops, it may signal issues with page titles/descriptions, site speed, or other on-page factors impacting performance.

Organic Leads

The number of sales or contact form leads generated from organic search traffic reflects how well SEO contributes to lead generation. If lead numbers from organic are low, look at adding more CTAs, optimizing product/service pages, etc.

SEO ROI

Calculate the ROI from SEO efforts using the value of leads/sales generated minus SEO implementation and management costs. A positive ROI justifies further investment.

Crawling Errors

Search engine crawl errors like 404s and 500s indicate technical SEO issues to fix, like broken links. Crawl stats are available in Google Search Console.

Site Indexation

The number of pages from a site that search engines have in their index impacts potential traffic volume and keywords targeted. Indexation can be tracked in the Search Console.

Link Equity

Link equity metrics estimate the “link juice” being passed to your site from backlinks and impact search visibility. Moz and Semrush offer link equity data.

Domain Authority

Domain authority scores from Moz and Semrush reflects your overall site authority in Google’s eyes based on on-page and off-page factors. Domain authority should increase over time.

Ranking Volatility

Ranking volatility measures fluctuations in rankings week-to-week. You want volatility to decrease over time as rankings stabilize. Check volatility in SEMrush and Moz.

Mobile Friendliness

With mobile-first indexing, monitoring mobile friendliness and site speed is crucial. Use Google Mobile-Friendly Test and PageSpeed Insights to catch mobile issues.

In summary, consistently tracking the right SEO KPIs gives manufacturing brands insight into what’s working, what areas need improvement, and whether their efforts generate ROI.

Conclusion

SEO is a crucial component of any successful manufacturing marketing strategy today. By showing up prominently when prospects search for manufacturing-related keywords, companies can drive more website traffic, leads, and sales over time.

Companies can outperform competitors online with SEO tactics tailored to the manufacturing industry. This guide provided actionable tips on optimizing keywords, website content, technical elements and more to improve organic search visibility.

Commit to excelling at search engine optimization and manufacturing brands will reap the rewards for years to come.