Sarah is a sales & marketing content writer, with ten years of experience within the engineering & manufacturing industry. Working both at Qimtek and on a freelance basis, she can usually be found hammering away at a keyboard or with her head in a pile of engineering drawings.
There’s no getting away from the fact that marketing and brand awareness strategies are evolving. With an almost universal shift in everyday life towards digital optimisation, the internet has become the most powerful tool we have - yet many engineering businesses are still failing to harness its full potential.
Whilst a company website will provide you with an online presence, its effectiveness will depend entirely on how many people know your website exists. This is where SEO comes into play. SEO – or search engine optimisation – relates to the visibility of your website in search engine results, directly influencing the amount of traffic your website receives. There are various ways of improving your website’s SEO, from the use of keywords through to manipulating your website’s meta data; however, for the less technically-savvy, there are still simple steps you can take to heighten your online portfolio.
Qimtek’s engineering network and directory is invaluable for subcontract engineering companies who are looking to increase website traffic and increase brand awareness. By taking advantage of a Preferred Supplier Profile, you will have a full range of SEO-boosting resources at your fingertips, making it easy for you to improve your website’s performance.
How Does a Preferred Supplier Profile Boost SEO?
SEO is a broad topic, meaning that a Preferred Supplier Profile can assist in many different ways. Firstly, when it comes to search engines, content is key – simply put, the more content your company produces, the more likely you are to appear in search results and boost your Google rankings. As Qimtek is 100% dedicated to the engineering and manufacturing industries, any content you publish through us will increase your visibility amongst engineering and manufacturing-related search terms. This means that the traffic being directed to your website will be more relevant than for generalised searches – your website visitors should therefore have a legitimate interest in what your company offers. Alongside your profile, our news feature will make it simple for your company to produce more content, streamlining your web traffic and getting you noticed by your target audience.
Secondly, Google prioritises its results in line with a website’s Domain Rating (DR). A website with a higher DR is seen to be more trustworthy and therefore, that website will appear higher in searches than those with a lower DR. One way to boost your DR is to have a high-ranking website linking back to your own – that is, the credibility of the higher-ranking website will also be passed onto the websites whom it links back to. Qimtek enjoys a high DR, meaning that the website links in your profile, news and content will also benefit as a result.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that many buyers use the Qimtek network as a search engine that relates directly to the engineering industry. Instead of going to Google to find new suppliers, many will simply search our site, meaning that the prominent ranking enjoyed by Preferred Suppliers increases their website traffic exponentially. The more hits your website receives, the more Google will perceive it as being both relevant and credible, sending you even higher in their rankings.
What is a Preferred Supplier Profile?
Whilst we offer a free directory listing to all subcontract engineering businesses, a Preferred Supplier Profile comes with a host of useful tools you’ll want to use:
Prominent listing:
A Preferred Supplier Profile will have a higher ranking in search results than free listings. With over 14,300 visitors using the directory each month, a prominent position gives your profile a better chance of being found by engineering buyers. It sets your company apart from the rest of the results, acting as a microcosm of wider SEO parameters. With many buyers contacting companies directly through our network, it’s a crucial place for engineering suppliers to be visible and a Preferred Supplier Profile ensures that you stand out from the crowd.
Personal Drag, Drop, Source! button:
A Preferred Supplier Profile makes it easier than ever for buyers to send you their drawings. Our Drag, Drop, Source! service allows buyers to transfer us their technical files quickly – we’ve now incorporated this as part of our Preferred Supplier Profiles so that purchasers can drag and drop their drawings to individual suppliers directly!
Image, video and social links uploader:
To allow you to truly showcase your capabilities, our Preferred Supplier Profiles come equipped with an image and video uploader, as well as a dedicated area for your social media links. Our research has shown that buyers engage more with eye-catching profiles than those with text-only descriptions – by uploading images and videos, you’ll encourage buyers to interact with your profile and contact you about their requirements. What you decide to upload is up to you, although examples of previous work and photos of your workshop are particularly effective.
In addition, you can also choose to include links to any social media accounts your business has. Not only does this illustrate your credibility as a business, but it also paves the way to increased follower numbers, giving you a larger audience to engage with over time.
News platform:
A Preferred Supplier Profile allows you to publish your company news to the industry directly, giving it the best possible chance of being seen by the contacts that matter. Whether you’ve invested in a new machine, welcomed a new member of staff, or you’re moving to larger premises, our news feature allows you to broadcast your press releases with ease. Once they’re approved by Qimtek, your story will appear in the dedicated news section of our site, as well as your profile – what’s more, we’ll also broadcast it to our thousands of followers on Twitter.
Preferred Supplier Profiles - Further Information:
We’ve made our Preferred Supplier Profile packages both affordable and flexible for engineering businesses of all niches and sizes. If you would like to find out more, please click the link below: