What a manufacturing website needs to bring in RFQs

Most people who land on a manufacturer’s website already have a job in hand. An engineer needs a part that meets a spec. A purchasing manager needs a second supplier. A distributor needs to know who covers their region. They are checking, quickly, whether you are worth an email.

This guide covers what those visitors look for, the pages and features that answer them, the mistakes that cost manufacturers enquiries, and a checklist to bring to your next website project.

Who visits a manufacturing website

Plan the site around the people who decide whether you get the work. On most manufacturing sites they fall into a few groups:

• Engineers and specifiers. They want dimensions, materials, tolerances, drawings and standards. They will leave if they can’t find a spec sheet in two clicks.
• Buyers and purchasing teams. They want to know you can supply what they need, that you are certified for it, and how to get a quote.
• Dealers, distributors and reps. They want product information, manuals and marketing material they can pass on to their own customers.
• Existing customers. They come back for manuals, replacement parts and support, and a site that serves them well keeps the account.
• Job seekers. Skilled staff are hard to find, and many will look at your website before they apply.

Each group arrives with a different question. A good manufacturing site lets each one find its answer without a phone call. Our guide to understanding your audience covers how to work out who they are before any design starts.

A product catalog people can search

For most manufacturers the catalog is the website. Buyers rarely start on the home page. They arrive from a search for a part number or a product type, land on a product page and decide from there.

• One page per product or product family, with a plain name, a short description of what it does and who it’s for, and photos that show it.
• Filters that match how buyers think. Size, material, rating, application or industry, so a buyer can narrow 400 products to the four that fit.
• Search that understands part numbers. Many visitors type the exact number from an old drawing or invoice.
• Specs as text on the page, with the PDF as a download beside them. Text on the page can be read by search engines and by buyers on a phone.
• A quote button on every product page that carries the product name into the form, so the buyer doesn’t have to type it again.

Google can find you through those pages in two ways. It can index PDF files, so your spec sheets can appear in search results (Google’s list of indexable file types includes Adobe Portable Document Format). And product pages can carry structured data that describes the product. Google’s product snippet documentation covers pages where people can’t buy the product directly, which suits most manufacturers who sell by quote. Our guide to structured data explains what it is and how it helps.

Capabilities and certifications in plain view

Contract manufacturers, machine shops and finishers sell what they can do more than a catalog of products. For them, the capabilities pages do the catalog’s job.

• What you make and how. Processes, materials, part sizes, volumes and lead times, in the words buyers use when they search.
• The equipment list. Engineers check whether you have the machines to hold their tolerances. A list with makes, models and capacities answers that.
• Certifications, by name and number. The standards your customers require, each with a downloadable certificate where you can share one. Put them where a buyer from aerospace, medical or oil and gas will look first.
• Industries served. A page for each industry you work in, with the parts and standards that matter to it.
• The shop itself. Photos and a short video of the floor do more for trust than any claim about quality.

A clear route to a quote

The RFQ form is where a visit turns into business, and it is often the weakest page on the site. Make it easy to find and easy to finish:

• Ask only for what you need to send a first answer. Name, company, email, what they need, quantity and timing are usually enough.
• Let them attach drawings. Engineers want to send a drawing or a CAD file rather than describe a part in a text box.
• Send it to the right person. Route the form by product line or region, so it reaches someone who can answer that day.
• Say what happens next on the thank-you page and in the confirmation email.

A clear call to action on every product and capability page leads to the form. Keep the wording the same everywhere, so buyers recognize it.

Dealers, reps and distributors

If you sell through a channel, the website has to send buyers to the right partner and support the partners themselves.

• A locator on a map. A buyer types a ZIP code and sees the dealer or rep who covers them, with contact details.
• A resource library. Manuals, brochures, instructions for use, line cards and photos your partners can download on their own.
• A partner login, if you need one. Price lists, order status or marketing material that shouldn’t be public. Our guide to websites and web apps explains when a login like this is a website feature and when it becomes a larger project.

What we have built for manufacturers

Most of the manufacturing sites we have built run on WordPress with a custom theme, so the client’s team can add products, files and news without a developer. Among them:

• A welding and cutting automation manufacturer, with a product catalog, a dealer locator, ROI calculators, a manuals library and quote forms.
• A maker of lab and process instruments for fuels and petrochemicals, with a searchable catalog, a distributor finder and a knowledge base.
• A dehumidification and HVAC manufacturer, with a product catalog, a rep locator, applications pages and case studies. Read the Desert Aire case study.
• A CNC machining shop for aerospace and defense, and a flange and fittings maker for oil and gas, each with capabilities pages, RFQ forms and certifications, and a factory tour video for the machine shop.
• A surgical table manufacturer, with a product catalog, a resource library of instructions for use and brochures, training and events, and quote requests.
• Rail parts suppliers and a pallet maker, with catalogs, category filters, quote requests and, for one of them, an online store.
• An industrial packaging supplier, with a product catalog, quote requests and a video library. Read the Arrow Packaging case study.

Mistakes that cost manufacturers enquiries

• Specs only in PDFs. Buyers on a phone won’t open them, and the page itself says too little to rank.
• “Contact us for more information” as the only call to action. It tells a buyer nothing about what happens next.
• A slow catalog. Large photos and heavy filters make product pages crawl. Google’s Core Web Vitals ask for the main content within 2.5 seconds, a response to each tap within 200 milliseconds and a layout that doesn’t jump.
• Certifications that expired on the website. An old certificate tells a buyer the site isn’t kept up, or worse.
• Industry jargon in the navigation. Your internal product codes and division names mean nothing to a new buyer. Label menus by what the products do.
• No owner after launch. Catalogs drift out of date quickly. Our website maintenance checklist covers the routine that keeps a site current.

A checklist for your manufacturing website

• Every product or product family has its own page, with specs as text and the PDF beside them.
• The catalog has filters that match how buyers choose, and search that finds part numbers.
• Capabilities, equipment and certifications each have a page, with certificates to download.
• Every product and capability page has the same quote button.
• The RFQ form is short, takes file uploads and goes to the right person.
• A dealer, distributor or rep locator, if you sell through a channel.
• A resource library for manuals, brochures and instructions.
• Industry pages for the markets you serve.
• Product pages carry structured data and load fast on a phone.
• Someone on your team owns the catalog and the certificates after launch.

Take it to any web designer you talk to, together with our guide to everything we need to get started, and see how to choose a web design company for the questions to ask them.

Questions we hear

Should a manufacturing website show prices?

Only if you sell standard parts at fixed prices. Most manufacturers quote, because the price depends on quantity, material and spec. In that case, make the quote route clear and fast instead.

Can we sell parts online?

Yes. Replacement parts and standard products often sell well online, beside a quote route for custom work. We have built WooCommerce stores for parts and products, with the catalog behind them. Our guide to starting an ecommerce site covers the basics.

How do we get our whole catalog onto the site?

Usually by import. If your products live in a spreadsheet or an ERP system, the data can be mapped to the website’s fields and loaded in one go, then updated the same way. Plan the fields before the design starts.

Will a new website lose our current Google rankings?

Not if the move is planned. Keep the addresses that rank, or redirect each one to its new page. Our guide to redesigning without losing SEO walks through it.

How much does a manufacturing website cost?

It depends on the size of the catalog, the tools you need and what the site connects to. Quotes are free: configure your site or email us, and we send your quote by email.

Planning a new manufacturing website?

Tell us what you make and who buys it, and we’ll suggest the simplest site that brings in the right enquiries. See our websites for manufacturers and industrial companies, read about WordPress design and development, or configure your website and get a quote.