Recent research, The Construction Media Index, shows manufacturer websites rank as a significant source of construction product information. With over half (57%) visiting known websites directly. With half the world now connected via the internet, it is not possible to consider a marketing strategy without an online presence. But how can you engage in this busy world?

Making sure your construction website is found
Building your website’s reputation is key and search engine optimisation is a must. You need to understand which words and phrases your customers will type into search engines to find your products. You also need to decide which keywords and phrases you want to be found for.

There are a number of ways of knowing the keywords and phrases your customers use. You can get some insight with a tool like Google Analytics or you can work with an SEO company but be sure they understand your product niche. Another option is to ask your customers, perhaps including a question in your next piece of customer research? Once you know the keywords and phrases you want to rank on the 1st page for, you then need to review your website. Seek to include the keywords and phrases in your copy, placing these words in the title, sub-title and meta description, but they must be legitimate uses.

Making your construction website easy to use
As well as optimising your web copy, it is important that your website is designed to offer a good user experience (UX). This now means a highly visual website that loads quickly and is also suitable for mobile. With mobile browsing currently accounting for half of the world’s web traffic all pieces of online information need to be mobile optimised. The Construction Media Index research shows that construction professionals are no exception, with smart phones being the principal means of access for online blogs and articles (92%).



Source: Construction Media Index 2017

Engaging online with the construction specifier
In addition to meeting the search criteria, it is also important that your website is designed for real people. It needs to be informative, relevant and engaging, tailored to respond to the challenges faced by your target market. Providing information that demonstrates and showcases your product will help specifiers see how your construction product performs.

Seek to gather testimonials, photos, videos and project stories. Show how your product provides solutions, aiding project delivery or building efficiency for example. There are a number of sales and marketing tools that are relatively unique to construction. It is important to offer these online.

Using case studies and testimonials is a great way to bring visual content to your website, with images and video. These case studies offer validation to the technical data, demonstrating the design solutions your construction product provide. But one size does not fit all; tailor information for different market sectors with relevant images and perhaps slightly different features and benefits.

In Summary
The internet is often the starting point for specifiers looking for construction product information. Despite an increased choice of online information sources, the Construction Media Index research shows that construction manufacturers’ websites remain the key point of engagement. It is important to stay on top of SEO, so that your website is found, it is also important that its design is current, with an easy UX, quick load times and mobile friendly. Developing engaging content is at the heart of a good website, as once found you need to regularly deliver relevant content that answers the challenges of your target audience.

Download our datasheet on developing a website for construction markets

Further Information
Promoting your company and building products with Barbour Product Search can help to increase your visibility to the full specification audience. Email editor@barbourproductsearch.info for more information.

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Chris is a specialist in specification strategy and founder of Competitive Advantage Consultancy which specialises in market research and training for the construction industry. Chris is also Deputy Chair of the organising committee for CIMCIG, the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Construction Industry Group.