How Industrial Companies Can Make Their Websites More Interactive

Written by Kerry O'Malley Monday, 13 June 2011 13:17

We may be living in a Web 2.0 world, but you'd never guess that looking at the vast majority of websites for manufacturers and other industrial companies.  Especially for small to mid-size companies, the website still continues to function as an online brochure, built years ago with technology and SEO strategies that are now outdated and that ceased attracting search engines (and visitors) long ago.

Why does your industrial business need a more interactive website?  Here are just a few reasons:

1. Perhaps the most obvious reason is that this is becoming the standard, rather than the occasional anomaly.  Today's Internet users have come to expect immediacy and a certain degree of interactivity on the websites they frequent for online purchases, social media connections, and any other type of Internet use.  Industrial companies have got to stay in step with culture's expectations of their Internet experience.
2. Interactive tools allow industrial companies to educate their visitors in more detail, which helps to build the desired image for the company and its collective knowledge bank and experience.  It's not enough anymore to simply say, "Our widget is the best."  In the online world, where information is seemingly unlimited, Internet users are looking for more solid evidence of a company's expertise.  Blogs, Forums, Podcasts, e-newsletters, and other interactive tools help to provide that extra level of credibility.
3. Interactivity gives a company the ability to instantly address customer concerns.  Today, toll-free "support" numbers have become such a dreaded experience that most consumers would do almost anything else to get a question answered or find a solution to a problem with a particular product.  This may not translate exactly to the industrial world, but the bias is still there.  Anything you can do to reduce your customers' anxieties in dealing with your company and conversely, anything you can do to make it EASIER for a customer to communicate with your company puts you ahead of the pack.
4. If you REALLY want to know what's important to your customers and potential customers incorporate interactive tools like polls and surveys into your website.  Rather than pushing your customers to buy what it is you have to sell them, why not ASK them what it is they need, and then develop products and services that have already been pre-qualified?
5. An interactive website brings along with it a human element.  It's cliché, but still true: people don't do business with companies, they do business with people - people they like.  Give visitors to your website a human connection through some form of interactivity, and your "company" has just taken on human characteristics: characteristics like friendly, helpful, concerned, interested, insightful, knowledgeable, and responsive.
6. Interactivity is good for search engine optimization.  Simply put, the search engine "spiders" are looking for sites that are important.  Nobody knows exactly what "important" means at any given time.  The search engines are constantly changing their algorithms in an attempt to outsmart web development geeks who think they've figured out a way to get all their websites on the first page of Google's search results.   One thing, however, is clear: a static site with low traffic numbers and very few back-links will NOT be considered "important."  An interactive website will increase traffic, and you can use certain features (like a Blog) to build more back-links to your site.
7. There's a certain "WOW" Factor when you incorporate interactive tools into your website.  They're just cooler - period.  Wouldn't you rather spend time on a website that has lots of bells and whistles than some static, Melba toast site that hasn't changed in five years?  Interactive sites appear more sophisticated and state-of-the-art.  Important note:  if your company's competitive differentiation is based on technological leadership, this is a MUST.  You cannot convey the image of a technological leader with a tired, outdated website.

How can industrial companies incorporate interactivity into their websites?

There are literally dozens of interactive tools, plug-ins, and widgets that manufacturers and industrial companies can incorporate into their websites.  Some of them are extremely inexpensive and if you have someone internally who manages your website and is even slightly Internet savvy, they can handle some additions without a complete site overhaul or outside assistance.

Depending on HOW outdated your current website is, you may be required to build a new site using current development technology and allowing for more width on each page of your site.  Older websites were sized to fit within the frames of much smaller monitors than are being used today.  Those websites look pretty weak  when viewed on a 21" monitor!

Blogs

Blogs don't exactly rank high on the WOW! Factor scale, these days.  They are probably the most commonly used form of website interactivity.  Blogs allow users to participate in an online discussion about a post or to ask questions.  Most standard blog software includes a comment feature, but not all blog software is created equal.  Compare features and the cost to add to your website.  If you're not building a new site, you'll have to use a platform like Google's Blogger that can be "designed" to look like one of your website pages, but actually has its own URL.  Visitors to your site don't realize this, of course.  When they click on your Blog link, there is a redirect to the Blog page that occurs behind the scenes.

Forums

Forums enable visitors (or someone in your company) to post questions and interact with other people who are also interested in the subject.  Sometimes conversations can go on for weeks and provide in depth coverage of a topic, revealing a wide range of experiences and solutions.  Forums usually work best on websites that are already generating a lot of traffic.  Nothing is more pitiful than going to a forum that has never had any posts made to it!

Live Chat

I don't understand why more industrial companies aren't using this tool.  If you have customer service or inside sales people (or even ONE person) sitting in front of a computer most of the day, this is a brilliant way to give visitors to your site the ability to instantly interact with your company.  There are many different live chat clients available, even a free one from Google.  Do a little research to find the one with the features you need.  This is usually a simple plug-in to your existing website that shows a box that a person can click saying something like "Have a question?  Chat with us NOW!"  Depending on the platform you use, you can have one or multiple individuals available to take chat inquiries.  No matter what they're doing on their computer, every time someone types something into the Live Chat window, that window pops up on their computer and alerts them.  Then the conversation begins!  So simple, and such a great way to make it easy for visitors to your website to get questions answered.

Forms and Auto-responders

This goes a step beyond the email address listed on the Contact page of almost every website.  How about a form on EVERY PAGE of your website that allows a visitor to request a meeting - or a technical paper - or a free sample - or some ad specialty item that promotes your company?  The form can capture any information you want in terms of follow-up.  Just remember that unless you're offering something pretty special, most people won't take the time to fill out a lengthy form.  Name, email address, and if they're requesting a meeting, a phone number are about all you can reasonably hope to get.  The purpose for the form is two-fold: first, make it super easy for someone to connect with you and second, gather enough information so that you can hand it off to sales for follow up.

Auto-responders do exactly what the name implies: they provide an automatic response to a form request.  Auto-responders send an instant reply to users without human intervention.  They are especially useful if the user filled out a form requesting a technical paper, a newsletter, or some other digital document that can be attached to the auto-responder.

Surveys and Polls

Industrial companies can view the use of surveys and polls two different ways.  They can either be a feature that is intended to entertain, or they can be a strategic marketing tool that provides insight into the minds of potential customers.  They can take on a light hearted or tongue-in-cheek tone, or a very serious tone.  The only real requirement is that the poll question or survey is somehow related to your business or industry, otherwise visitors to your site may not be interested. This requires a bit of creativity, but it's worth experimenting with.

Several blog platforms offer poll plug-ins, but you can also do something more customized with other 3'rd party services.  Polling allows users to vote and then see the current results immediately after their vote.  Surveys are a little different, in that users don't immediately see the results after filling out the survey.

Social Media

If your company has a Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook page, you can easily add a feed of your latest posts to your Home Page.  This works especially well with Twitter, since posts are short.  It also makes it easy for visitors to click on the link to go directly to your Twitter page and follow your company.

Podcasts

A podcast is an MP3 file of your content that a person can download from your website.  It doesn't take a professional to record blog posts, technical papers, descriptions of your products and how they work, or any other content.  Users can download the file to their computer, iPod, iPhone, or any other MP3 player and listen to it when it's convenient.

Webinars

Webinars are basically a hosted presentation where someone talks, and there are visuals appearing on screen to support what they are presenting.  Most webinars are promoted as live events which also allows for a Q&A session at the end.  The webinar recording  can then be archived on your website for anyone to play at a later date.  Webinar content doesn't have to be complex or sophisticated.  It can be as simple as someone who is an expert in your company explaining how a particular product or service you provide solves a problem that your customers commonly experience.

Video

Not all people like to read text.  Some would much rather watch something visual to obtain information.    Adding video to your website enables visitors who prefer visual communication to watch, rather than read your content.  Most manufacturing companies have numerous opportunities for short, 3-4 minute video presentations.  How is a particular product made?  How does it function?  If you can't show it in actual operation, film someone with the product explaining verbally how it works as they point out the different elements they're discussing.  How about filming your CEO discussing hot topics within your industry?  With all the inexpensive video cameras available today, you don't need a professional to do this.

An added bonus to a video archive:  You can create a YouTube Channel that also houses your video collection.  Since Google owns YouTube, companies that have video on YouTube are ranked higher in Google's natural search results.  Plus, there's that WOW Factor again . . . companies with YouTube channels look high-tech, don't you think?

I'm sure there are other interactive tools industrial companies can incorporate into their websites, but these are some of the ones I'm seeing used successfully.  Make an honest assessment of YOUR website, and if it's time to bring it into the 21'st century, use some of these interactive features to increase traffic, keep visitors in your site longer, make it easier for visitors to connect with your company, and deliver your  messaging using the latest Web 2.0 technology!