SEO: A Game-Changer for Manufacturing Businesses

In the digital era, the competition amongst manufacturing businesses to stay visible and relevant online is intensifying. Gone are the days when demand, personal relationships and trade marketing alone could carve out your market space. Today, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) stands out as a powerful tool for manufacturing companies aiming to drive more business and sales through the internet. Here's why and how SEO can be your business's most efficient investment.

Why Consider SEO for Your Manufacturing Business?

1. Warmer Prospects/Leads: Individuals searching the internet for specific services and products are often further along in their buying process. This means leads garnered through SEO tend to be more qualified and closer to making a purchase decision.
   
2. It’s Measurable: With the right tracking systems, you can not only pinpoint where your leads are coming from but also view the revenue generated from each channel. SEO has been found to bring the highest quality traffic, leads, and sales for many manufacturing companies.
   
3. Brand Perception Improvement: High rankings on search engines for your products or services often result in enhanced trust and credibility among prospective and current customers.
   
4. Competitive Advantage: Many in the manufacturing industry are still warming up to online marketing. By adopting SEO early, you have the opportunity to stay ahead of your competition by setting the curve.
   

What Is Manufacturing SEO?
Manufacturing SEO tailors a digital marketing strategy to help industrial companies rank better on search engines. The objective for manufacturing companies is to rank nationally, or even internationally, for the products or services they offer, bringing customers right to your website.

Considering investing in SEO? Here are some compelling stats:

• 57% of B2B marketers state that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing strategy.
• 75% of internet users never scroll past the first page of search results.
• 79% of manufacturers have an SEO strategy.

Source: SISInternational

Is SEO Right for My Business?
SEO is versatile enough to benefit businesses across various niches. By making your website a potent marketing tool, a well-structured SEO strategy can generate high-quality leads for years, proving to be a wise long-term investment.
Conclusively, as the manufacturing sector continues to evolve with digital advancements, incorporating an effective SEO strategy will not only steer high-quality leads to your website but also significantly improve your brand's online presence and credibility. In an age where internet searches are the start point for finding manufacturing services, investing in SEO isn't just advisable; it's essential for business growth and sustainability.

Setting Your SEO Foundation
Before you dive into the world of SEO, it’s critical to first understand your current digital footprint, which includes assessing your website’s traffic, leads, and sales. This preliminary evaluation provides a crucial benchmark for tracking the success and efficiency of your SEO efforts.
The importance of establishing this baseline cannot be overstated. It offers a solid point from which to measure progress by allowing you to keep a close eye on key indicators like organic search traffic, keyword positions, and conversion rates as they evolve. The historical insights gained from this data are essential for spotting trends and making informed marketing decisions. Delay in collecting this baseline information could mean overlooking potential areas for enhancement. Having a clear picture of your present performance enables you to strategize more effectively for future growth.
Taking practical steps based on your baseline findings is essential for seeing real improvements. The baseline not only directs your SEO tactics but also informs how to fine-tune your website’s functionality and visibility. Success in SEO means aligning your approach with the unique opportunities identified in your data, and continually adjusting your content, technical SEO, and user experience based on past performance insights.

Digital Marketing Trends Among SMB Manufacturers
A new report titled "Revolutionizing Reach: The 2024 Digital Marketing Landscape You Can't Ignore." Provides a carefully curated review of the digital expenditure and marketing activities. It provides a comprehensive view of the digital marketing universe, featuring the result of client surveys and valuable strategies to overcome the challenges and attain the objectives marketers are grappling with this year which include:

• Spending patterns in digital marketing.
  
• Top digital marketing objectives for 2024.
  
• Content marketing tendencies.
  
• Evolving trends and data in Amazon marketing.
  
• Upcoming trends in paid advertising.
  
• Shifts happening in the SEO landscape.
  
• Dynamics of influencer marketing.
  
• Video marketing tactics and approach.
  

Let’s explore findings from this report from our friends at Search Engine Land and Intero Digital:

Key digital marketing priorities for SMBs in 2024
The first finding should not surprise those actively engaged in digital marketing across various industries, verticals, niches and three-letter acronyms like “B2C” and “B2B”. The most important thing on digital marketer’s minds in 2024 is revenue growth, prioritized as the top goal by 79% of respondents. 
While “growth” is something of a given for most marketers, it is still worth stating, if only to get it out of the way and focus on the digital marketing strategies and activities that actually drive it. But for the digital marketers in this survey, what really matters is the final result – the bottom line.

Marketers aren’t backing down this year in their quest for growth, with 46.2% planning to increase spending, zero percent decreasing and 53.8% planning to stay the same.

The biggest digital marketing pain points for 2024
The path to revenue growth and lead generation is filled with obstacles, and the survey respondents also outlined many of their common and shared challenges.

Aside from revenue, the top pain points were lead generation, budget constraints, competition and changing algorithms and SEO best practices. While these points are cited individually, they are oftentimes interconnected. 
Competition is fierce everywhere marketers are chasing the bottom line across many different digital channels, and it doesn’t appear things will settle down any time soon. 
When competition is fierce, more investment is often needed to be competitive, be it paid or earned media. This leads to the pain point of effectively measuring digital marketing ROI.
Budget constraints often stem from ineffective measurement and tracking systems. Ultimately, what’s crucial is a comprehensive and well-executed digital marketing strategy and tactical plan, whether focusing on a single channel or across multiple channels.
Up to 7.7% of respondents had branding as a pain point. Building a brand across crowded and competitive digital spaces can be challenging this year, as it takes a lot of work, budget and time. Combined with multiple other pain points, marketers have a lot of work ahead of them this year.

The top digital marketing goals for 2024In the “Biggest Goals” section of the survey, “Revenue growth” topped the list at 79.5%, then dropped a bit for each of the supporting goals. In second place were “More web traffic” and “Higher positioning in the SERPs” (each at 38.5%). 
Interestingly, while lead generation was the number two biggest pain point (33.3%), it came in fifth place for the biggest goal (30.8%). Are the lead generators giving up? Nope. With the close percentages, it appears they’re consistent with their priorities.

It is also interesting to see brand awareness and thought leadership prominently in this goal list (33.3%), especially when it is often difficult to attribute to revenue and it was not as much of a pain point. 
The biggest barrier to entry for thought leadership is actually having the best ideas and insight. For those who do, this can be one of the easiest goals to accomplish in 2024.
Again, when done well, it can complement and drive goals of more traffic, higher positioning, more growth, more qualified leads and so on.

Content marketing insightsOne of the more riveting findings is the shift towards more concise, impactful content, with the most-shared pieces boasting an average word count of 552—considerably less than in previous analyses. This trend suggests a growing preference for messaging that is sharp, clear, and resonates strongly with audiences without being excessively verbose.
Additionally, SMBs are diversifying their content strategies, significantly incorporating videos, podcasts, and newsletters into their marketing mix. This not only caters to varied consumer preferences but also speaks to SMBs' agility in leveraging different mediums to strengthen their engagement strategies.
The implication is that messaging was more important than being wordy, at least in the social context. For marketers competing in the SEO space with higher word counts, a balance should be struck in the content strategy to emphasize both channels through content.
Marketing publishers are also looking to diversify their content in 2024 beyond the written word. Some top asset types utilized by digital marketers this year include video (41% of marketers utilizing), podcasts (41%) and the top diversified activity, newsletters (47%).

In Conclusion
Implementing a foundational SEO strategy sets the stage for notable advancements in search engine rankings, driving both visibility and organic traffic upwards while bolstering conversion rates. The ongoing commitment to SEO is essential for sustained sales growth and maintaining brand prominence. SEO is not a switch to be flipped on and off; it requires consistent effort. By dedicating resources to a well-crafted SEO campaign, businesses can carve out a robust digital footprint, connect with their desired audience, and ultimately, enhance their conversions and revenue. This continuous investment in SEO is not just about staying in the race; it’s about leading the pack.

SOURCES:

1. Randall, Brianna. 11/2/23. "Digital engagement tips for manufacturers"
   
2. Garner, Rob. 2/27/24. "How SMBs are approaching digital marketing in 2024"
   
3. Intero Digital. 2024 Annual client marketing survey.