ILMA Compoundings - July 2020 - 31

if it doesn't, customers may quickly look elsewhere for what
they need.
"This digital storefront is a window into your company's
mission, vision and culture, so your website should reflect
those core values," O'Donnell said. "It also attracts new
customers. If you build a website, you want people to be
able to find it. A well-optimized website, using [search
engine optimization] best practices, will help your website
rank highly in search results, leading to potential customers
finding your business."
It's also great for data intelligence. Newer website platforms provide a host of reporting and analytical tools to
track how visitors engage with a website and content.
Being able to drill down into website visitor history and
engagement is priceless for a company, as this data allows the
company to make better-informed decisions on marketing,
sales and other aspects of the business.
According to O'Donnell, a well-managed website is an
opportunity to keep customers, suppliers and potential
customers well informed about what is going on at your
company, and all manufacturers should be utilizing one.
"By keeping your website updated with press releases and
company news and providing useful, shareable industry-related content through your website, you can position your
business as one that is constantly growing, looking toward
the future and investing in the success of the industry,"

"This digital storefront is a window into your
company's mission, vision and culture, so your
website should reflect those core values."
Caitlin O'Donnell, marketing, Datacor Inc.

she said. "It's your chance to brag about your business and
showcase the latest and greatest offerings."
Sites must be readable not only from a visitor's perspective,
but from a search engine's perspective as well. Search engine
optimization (SEO) makes it so your site will display near the
top of a search results list for the search terms you know your
prospective customers to be using. In addition, a good SEO
strategy means you pay less for paid ads in the long run.
Finally, and perhaps most critically during this time, your
website serves as a recruiting tool. That doesn't mean that
your website should just list available positions - which it
of course should - but that it needs to communicate who
you are and what you stand for. Your mission, values and
culture all must be reflected upfront to potential employees.
Take RelaDyne, for example. Its homepage clearly
expresses the company's purpose and values and offers a
chatbot to immediately connect.
Another recruiting feature you could implement on your
website is an application, whether it's in-depth or a simple
lead-generation-like form that submits a potential employee's information straight to a hiring manager's inbox. You
could even include an upload field, allowing users to send
their resumés directly to the person looking for them.
SERVING CUSTOMERS
Most of all, a properly managed website provides customers easy access to your company and keeps the lines of
communication open.
"By keeping your website up to date and providing the
information customers need, customers are able to get what
they need when they need it," O'Donnell said. "For example, let's say your customer needs a safety data sheet (SDS).
Enabling your customers to self-serve log in to your website
to receive their SDSs streamlines communication and allows
you to serve your customer faster. A quickly served customer
is a happy customer."
Palma added that the role of a website has shifted over
time. Once, a website was simply used as an online brochure
or catalogue, but now it can be interactive and learn what
customers are interested in and can cater more toward the
end users. "We have a lot of material that we produce that
is educational, so they can download everything from white
papers to segment-specific brochures where they learn about
the applications and challenges they have in each of those
industries," he said. "Today, the more educational and
less 'salesy' a website is, the better. That's what will make
customers happy."
Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for major
newspapers and magazines for close to 20 years. He can be reached at
www.keithloria.contently.com.

http://keithloria.contently.com

ILMA Compoundings - July 2020

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