On August 6, 1991 the Internet first went public; we are quickly approaching the 25th anniversary. It has changed every aspect of our life. At this point it is impossible to imagine life without it. However, small independent machine shops are just coming to the realization that their Internet presence is terrible. You can frequently find smaller machine shops with websites that haven’t been updated since the mid-1900s. Owners of these shops are finally seeing that their businesses first impression is embarrassing. As a small machine shop you should have specific thoughts regarding your website and ways to guarantee its effectiveness.
4 thoughts a small machine shop owner should have
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Best Employee
Your website is available for customers at all times, it works for you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Your website works for your machine shop as hard as you allow it to. It allows customers to find you through search engine tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click campaigns (PPC), and ultimately give you leads leading to sales, which can be optimized by conversion rate optimization (CRO) practices.
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First Impression
The Internet is how people find businesses with today’s technology. Your shops website is the first impression that a potential client will have of your business. This can go one of two ways. You can either “wow” them or be terrible as mentioned above. Providing the “wow’ factor will peak interest, and have the potential customer looking further into your machine shop. Being terrible will have someone quickly exiting your page.
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Edge Development
Small independent machine shops tend to specialize in a particular niche. This niche allows you to stay in business while competing with bigger shops. Your website showcases this edge. Your machine shop will also reap the benefits of more online traffic (SEO) as you focus the websites content towards this specific niche. These visitors finding your niche are more likely to convert into customers due to the specifics of their search.
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Expansion Possibilities
As a smaller machine shop you more than likely conduct most of your business within the local geographic area. The Internet allows this barrier to be broken. You can promote your small machine shop on a National level; your local niche can now be visible across the country.
In order for a website to be effective for your small machine shop it must bring the right people to it and actually be working for you.
6 elements needed to generate the two positive effects
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Showcase Work
People are visual. The addition of pictures of your machine shops work eases the transition from website visitor to paying customer.
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Highlight Specialties
Focusing on your niche has been previously mentioned, however, it is important enough to mention twice. More focus on your specialty will increase traffic of those interested in the specialty you provide.
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Identify Capabilities
Customers will want to know if you can handle the workload that they are looking for. Making it important to display everything that your shop can manufacture.
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Industries Served
This will benefit your machine shop in a few ways. First, industry focus will drive traffic for a particular industry to your website. Second, a list of industries served builds to your machine shops credibility.
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Non-threatening Communication
People do business with businesses they like. It is important that your website expresses some human-like personality in a non-pushy way. People are more likely to convert to customers if they are comfortable as they scan your website.
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Address Fundamental Issues
This is the last element, but it may be the most important in creating a successful website for your shop. Each of the following issues must be addressed, and if they are, you will see business booming via online. Customers need to find out who you are, have trust based on what they read, see your track record, know what you are going to do for them, understand costs, know that their investment is protected, and know that your machine shop has the resources to deliver.
Overview For Small Independent Machine Shops
The Internet is here to stay and here to help you grow your machine shop. Following what has been mentioned above will put you on the path for success. As a small business owner you need to create an advantage for yourself, and this can be done online efficiently. This is a budget friendly solution that will provide plenty of ROI, and as technology usage continues to increase the time to migrate efforts online is now.