23 Manufacturing SEO Stats | Industrial Company SEO

These days, there’s a lot of concern about manufacturing in the United States.

As a powerhouse of the nationwide economy, manufacturing plays a huge role in American employment as well.

But, as the US shifts to tech-focused companies, manufacturing is in danger — especially as lower costs attract clients from overseas.

So what can a US manufacturer do to stay competitive?

The answer lies in inbound marketing. Our search engine marketing stats help to demonstrate the importance of inbound marketing.

Inbound marketing is the practice of attracting potential clients to your website so you can convert them into full-fledged customers without cold-calling.

You can generate new leads, get signatures on contracts, and start working relationships all through the Internet. It all starts with getting someone to your website. Learn more and read our website SEO statistics below.

Infographic: How Inbound Marketing Helps US Manufacturing

US Manufacturing at a Glance

First, let’s establish just how important manufacturing is to the United States.

Manufacturing pulls in $2.17 trillion for America every year — a huge portion of the country’s gross domestic product.

That stat makes sense when you consider 251,901 manufacturing firms were in the US in 2014 with 75% of them employing fewer than 20 people each.

All in all, that’s 12.3 million Americans working in manufacturing, or 3% of the total population.

How Do US Manufacturers Market?

To start, let’s check out some stats on how US manufacturers market in the first place.

On average, your manufacturing can save an average of $20,000 per year by investing in inbound marketing.

That’s not even what you earn — that’s just what you save.

This comparison is up against traditional marketing like television, billboards, and print ads.

Maybe $20,000 isn’t much of your annual profits. But every company could stand to keep $20,000 more dollars every year — especially if all you have to do is market smarter.

So what can we learn from the way manufacturing marketers use the Internet? Or how their clients view them?

First, 89% of manufacturers use LinkedIn to earn new leads. But only 54% say they’re effective at it, meaning there’s a major opportunity to succeed on LinkedIn and to build B2B SEO stats for any manufacturer.

Next, 88% of B2B marketers say case studies are their most effective marketing form. As a B2B industry, manufacturing can take that to an extreme and publish case studies about their distributors or clients to showcase their profit-making potential.

Third, 87% of manufacturing marketers use video for marketing. In a nutshell, there’s no better way to explain something than to show it!

Fourth, 84% of industrial professionals use search engines like Google to find equipment, components, and services. That means if you don’t have an SEO plan, you’re only reaching 16% of the people who could become your new customers!

Fifth, 83% of industrial customers read at least three pieces of content on a website before making a purchasing decision. So to really get a new lead online, you need at least three pages — one to get their attention, one to explain pricing, and one to turn them into new customers.

Next, 74% of industrial professionals say they compare suppliers online. Manufacturing is the essential middle-man of the natural supply-demand in the American economy, meaning it’s critical for you to reach these suppliers with SEO.

On top of that, 70% of industrial professionals say they use search engines specifically to compare suppliers. Again, this stat is a huge testament to why SEO is essential for manufacturers like you.

More importantly, 56% of industrial professionals say they don’t contact vendors until they’ve compared websites. So not only do you need to show up in search results, you also need a sleek, modern, and easy-to-use website that a user will love.

Ninth, 52% of industrial marketers say PPC is the most effective method of paid promotion. PPC pairs naturally with SEO to let you dominate search results, so when you launch both campaigns at the same time, you can earn twice as many customers as using PPC or SEO independently.

Finally, 52% of manufacturing marketers say they’re effective at SEO, and only 34% think print is effective. This is the final stat that really drives home the point of this infographic — you can beat at least 48% of your competitors just by launching a strong SEO campaign!

So what do these stats look like in action?

US Manufacturing Case Studies

We wouldn’t have all these SEO stats for websites if we didn’t have a few examples of manufacturers that succeeded with inbound marketing.

We have three that serve as prime examples.

Fisher

Fisher Tank Company is our first example of a manufacturer that thrived with SEO.

First, Fisher earned a 3,900% increase in leads. Overall, that’s enough for any manufacturer to start an SEO plan today.

But on top of that, Fisher also saw a 500% increase in quote requests, resulting in $3.4 million more qualified sales opportunities.

With all of that from one marketing strategy, Fisher stands as a stellar example of what manufacturers can achieve through SEO.

Belden

Belden Brick Company also achieved outstanding results with SEO.

First, they earned 33% more organic search traffic in one year. That’s a huge upswing for any corporation, especially once that works in manufacturing.

Second, Belden earned 134% more leads year over year.

So imagine the number of leads you got last year, double it, and then increase it by 33% more.

Wouldn’t you like to do that business next year?

Bell Performance

Bell Performance is our third example of SEO’s potential for manufacturing.

Bell Performance used SEO to earn a 700% increase in search traffic in just one year. That’s a colossal improvement in such a short amount of time.

That increase in search traffic led to 600 new customers in a year — almost three every work day.

Last, they saw a 14x increase in leads over the course of two years.

This last stat is the most incredible. Even if you only get one lead every month, increasing that number by 14x would be an incredibly boost to your business.

The chances are really good that you have more than that anyway.

Just think what it could do for your manufacturing company.

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Posted in Case Studies