Historically, an area that Canadian industrial and manufacturing firms have struggled with is growing business on an international level. The challenge is not specific to certain cities in Canada. I have seen companies in Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara and others in different parts of Canada all face this challenge.

So, how can Canadian industrial or manufacturing firms grow their business internationally?

Utilize Your Website As a Global Marketing Tool

One of the most cost effective means of improving global visibility is by improving the ability of shoppers (your targeted audience) to find your website. You would think this would be a “no brainer,” however, from my experience, most industrial and manufacturing firms see their website as a “cost” versus an investment in driving new revenues and opening up new market opportunities.

In today’s world, having a decent, functioning website that clearly states what you do, how you do it, your products, solutions, benefits and contact information is absolutely critical. Your company website is one of the first things that people will look at when qualifying your product or solution against their business needs. If your website is presented poorly, what do you think their impression of your firm will be?

Your Corporate Website Is An Investment, Not An Expense

Your website should be considered an investment in the effective marketing and sales of your firm. One company I spoke with was telling me that they didn’t want to spend more than $500 building their website and getting the content together for it.

I basically told them that from our experience, you should assess your needs and how you want to present yourself first before deciding on the budget upfront. Once your website needs analysis has been completed, then you can shop around for 3 to 4 quotes to build and manage your site. A very professional website that is set-up for lead generation activities can be done for as little as a few thousand dollars.

Quality and Targeted Content Is Necessary for Search Engines

When building your website, another key aspect that needs to be considered is the content marketing component. Search engines like Google analyze millions of website pages daily and the fresher and more focused your content is on your website, the higher your probability the search engine will find you and place you on, at or near the top of the search results.

Being found at the top of Google search results is ultimately where we all want to be and the only way to get there is to consistently invest in producing and sharing content relevant to your stakeholder audience. Good content should be shared via social media platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and so forth.

Conclusion

To summarize, a few tips to help you increase your visibility to potential customers include:

• Set aside budget and invest in a good website. Remember, it is not a cost but rather an investment in your revenue generation activities
• Ensure your new website is presented well. It should be fast, functional, searchable, clean, focused and easy to read and navigate.
• Create or share new, relevant and tailored content. Think about the problems that your target audience faces and how you can provide content to help them accordingly
• Utilize social media to your advantage. Leverage the most applicable platforms to your business; we find Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook tend to be the best for B2B companies
• Have “Calls-to-Action” on your website. Entices people to sign up, register on your site, or give you their contact information by developing digital assets such as newsletters, white papers and contact us forms

If you are an industrial services or manufacturing firm and in need of web or content marketing assistance with the goal or driving inbound leads and revenue through your website, then feel free to contact me. I would be happy to see if we can help.

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