The Essential Role of SEO Audits for Industrial Websites
Introduction to Industrial SEO
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, encompasses a range of practices that are aimed at increasing a website’s rank on a given Google Search results page. A page with excellent SEO may rank on the first search engine result page, or SERP, for a given keyword; meanwhile, a page that hasn’t been optimized probably won’t be ranking at all. SEO is a critical practice to enhancing online visibility of any brand, product, or service- and the industrial world is no exception.
Although industrial SEO is just as important as in any other sector, it holds a unique set of challenges. On-page, off-page, and technical SEO alike have to be approached with great care and attention to detail to yield results that will boost your industrial website’s SERP rankings but also provide real value to your readers.
Understanding the Industrial Audience and Their Search Behaviors
To navigate the industrial SEO effectively, it’s essential to understand the specific search behaviors and terminology of industrial users. In the industrial realm, buyers engage in meticulous research, often using technical terms specific to their field. These search terms naturally tend to have a low search volume when compared to broader keywords; however, industrial websites can use this to their advantage. A low search volume is almost always synonymous with low competition, meaning that targeting a keyword that’s highly specific to your audience yields a high chance of success.
A 2018 study by ThomasNet found that a majority of B2B purchasers, as large as 73%, considered a company’s website when vetting industrial suppliers. Since then, the importance of a quality industrial website in B2B sales has only increased. This necessitates an industrial SEO strategy that aligns with the intricate search patterns of purchasers, ensuring your content resonates with your audience at every stage of their buying journey.
So, how does one get started? The first step is understanding where a website currently stands. An excellent way to do that is with SEO audits! Proper, regularly performed SEO audits will return valuable data that shows which current elements are working for the industrial website, and which ones needs to be improved to reach the right audience.
The Benefits of Industrial SEO Audits for Manufacturers
Embarking on a journey of regular SEO audits yields tangible benefits. It’s about optimizing technical elements to improve search engine rankings, resulting in a higher influx of targeted traffic to your industrial website and translating into higher conversion rates. An SEO audit is not merely a technical endeavor; it’s about crafting a digital experience that captivates your audience, fosters engagement, and builds trust.
In the industrial sphere, content is not just about words on a page. It’s about delivering detailed, technical content that aligns with the specialized needs of your audience. An effective SEO audit ensures that your content strategy is not only comprehensive but also tailored to address the nuanced demands of the manufacturing sector.
Key Components of an SEO Audit
When delving into the core of an SEO audit, there are three distinct angles of approach. These three facets of SEO include on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.
Firstly, technical SEO involves the identification and resolution of technical issues. This ensures a seamless user experience by eliminating broken links and optimizing page speed. Load speed is an immense factor of technical SEO, and has been confirmed by Google to be a significant SERP ranking factor. SEMrush goes in-depth on addressing technical SEO issues here.
Secondly, on-page SEO encompasses all on-page elements—meta tags, content, and headings. An SEO audit will provide an in-depth assessment of these on-page ranking factors, giving users an idea of what to improve to create a compelling online presence.
Lastly, off-page SEO is most heavily influenced by backlinks. Backlinks include every instance where a website from another domain has linked to a given page. For example, we implemented a backlink to SEMrush just a couple paragraphs ago. An SEO audit performs a meticulous analysis of a domain’s backlink profile, offering direction to shape a robust foundation for enhanced website authority.
Best Practices for Industrial SEO Website Audits
Focus on Customer Needs for Relevant Keywords
Tailor your content to meet the needs of your audience, generating keywords that matter to them.
Wise Selection of Industry-Specific Keywords
Choose keywords with precision, ensuring they align with the unique demands of the manufacturing sector.
Regular Checking of Internal and External Links
Maintain the quality and relevance of your links for sustained industrial SEO effectiveness.
Prioritize Mobile Friendliness
Acknowledge the rise in mobile traffic and optimize your industrial website for seamless mobile experiences.
Continuous Tracking of Industrial SEO Performance
Stay agile with continuous tracking of performance metrics and conversion rates.
Regular Evaluation of Crucial Web Pages
Ensure ongoing improvement by evaluating and optimizing crucial web pages.
Creating and Updating Quality Content
Craft and update content that not only captures attention but resonates with your industrial audience.
Industrial SEO for Manufacturers: Website Audit Tools and Resources
To traverse the industrial SEO landscape effectively, one needs the right tools. The right tool will empower any team to make informed decisions, track performance metrics, and stay ahead of the curve. Here are just a few of our favorites:
SEMrush
SEMrush is renowned for its robust keyword research capabilities, enabling businesses to identify high-performing keywords and understand their competitors’ strategies. SEMrush offers a powerful website audit tool that meticulously analyzes your website’s health, identifying issues affecting its performance. This includes checking for broken links, site speed, and other technical factors. Understanding your backlink profile is crucial, and SEMrush excels in providing detailed backlink data. This information is vital for enhancing your website’s authority.
Moz Pro
Moz Pro provides an extensive link index, allowing you to explore backlinks, discover new link opportunities, and assess the health of your backlink profile. The tool offers customizable reporting, enabling you to generate reports tailored to your specific needs and metrics. Moz Pro’s site crawl feature provides insights into issues affecting your site’s performance, such as crawl errors, duplicate content, and missing meta tags. Its page optimization feature helps you improve individual pages on your site by offering actionable recommendations. This includes optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, and other on-page elements.
Ahrefs
Dive deep into the performance of any website with Ahrefs’ site explorer. Uncover top-performing pages, analyze referring domains, and track the organic search traffic of your competitors. Ahrefs boasts an immense backlink index, offering detailed insights into your backlink profile, as well as that of your competitors. This is vital for devising an effective link-building strategy. Identify high-performing content in your industry with the content explorer feature. This is valuable for refining your content strategy and staying ahead in your niche. Ahrefs’ keyword explorer helps you discover new keywords, assess their difficulty, and understand their potential for driving traffic.
Try MFG Tribe’s FREE SEO Audit Tool for Industrial Websites
Take the first step towards a high-performing website tailored for the industrial sector, right here! MFG Tribe’s free website audit plugin is designed to empower manufacturers and industrial businesses to gain valuable insights on the current state of their industrial websites. By simply entering your website domain, you’ll unlock a comprehensive analysis that goes beyond the surface, delving into the technical intricacies that matter.
What Our Plugin Offers:
Technical Health Check:
Identify and resolve technical issues that might be hindering your website’s performance, from page speed to broken links.
On-Page SEO Insights:
Receive actionable recommendations for optimizing on-page elements, including meta tags, content, and headings.
Backlink Profile Assessment:
Understand the strength of your backlink profile and explore opportunities to enhance your website’s authority.
Mobile Friendliness Evaluation:
In an era dominated by mobile users, ensure your website is not just responsive but optimized for a seamless mobile experience.
