In the crowded marketplace of CNC machine shops, it’s becoming more and more important to stand out on search engines. Ranking on the first page of Google for valuable terms allows a business to bring in new customers, but it’s not always obvious what search engines prefer.
Here are some tips to improve traffic to your CNC machining website:
Google’s first recommendation for creating a Google-friendly site? “Provide high-quality content on your pages.” Search engines reward specific, valuable content designed to inform users. Let’s take a look at a few content focused recommendations for CNC machine shops.
Let’s say your shop has experience machining components for the aerospace industry, and you’d like to bring in customers looking for those capabilities. A person searching for those services may use service-related terms like “precision cnc machining services,” or industry-related terms like “aerospace precision machining.” When you search for those in Google, you’ll find different results:
Ultimately, Google wants to rank the most specific, relevant results for the search term. While a general page focusing on CNC machining may rank for service-related keywords, it’s unlikely to rank for industry-related keywords. The best solution is to create a variety of pages to bring in traffic for distinct services, capabilities, and industries.
A long tail keyword is a longer, more specific search term that usually has lower search volume. In the industrial space, a long tail keyword is often used by a more qualified buyer. A user searching for “aluminum cnc milling service” knows both the machining method and material they’re looking for, so they’re closer to the end of their buying process.
In addition, long tail keywords are less competitive than terms like “cnc machining services,” and that makes it easier to rank on page one. This is a sound strategy for small CNC machine shops who haven’t built up the digital footprint to rank for more competitive keywords.
Another sound strategy is to create informative content in the form of blogs. Many valuable searches show a combination of service-related results and informational blog content:
While a qualified buyer will know all about the basics of swiss CNC machining, they may click through to the site and then proceed to a capability page to learn more about specific services. In addition, less qualified buyers like procurement managers or purchasing agents may not know the ins and outs of a particular machining method. Providing answers to those questions early in the buying process goes a long way toward establishing trust with a client.
Related: 12 Ways To Improve Your Manufacturing Blog
When creating content for blogs, it’s a good idea to reference the “People Also Ask” section of the search results page:
These are questions that users often ask after using a search term, and answering both informs users and displays expertise for search engines.
Informational content improves rankings for service pages as well. For the valuable keyword “swiss screw machining services,” a top ranking page is from Ardel Engineering, a precision CNC machine shop located in New Hope, MN. Their “Swiss Screw Machining” page includes a mix of information about their Swiss Screw machining services, as well as information about the process itself:
This goes along with Google’s recommendations on how to create an SEO-friendly website. They recommend writing “pages that clearly and accurately describe your topic,” and this page provides enough content for Ardel Engineering to prove their expertise.
If your machine shop produces large, heavy components which can be expensive to ship, your target customers may be close to your location. This presents an opportunity to take advantage of Google’s local search results. For many search terms, Google will show listings customized to your location. When I search for “cnc machining services,” Google includes listings of nearby businesses in New York:
This search feature is populated by Google My Business listings. In order to take advantage of these local listings, we recommend performing the following optimizations to your Google My Business page:
In addition, if you’re specifically targeting customers in your area, be sure to include local keywords in your content. Terms like “cnc machining in New York, NY” will let B2B customers and search engines know where your service area is. However, be sure to use these naturally within a text. If you stuff your content with keywords, Google may be less likely to rank your page.
Read More: The Three Most Influential Personas In The Industrial Buying Process
By providing a strong foundation of relevant, informative content, targeting long tail keywords, and optimizing for local search, you can increase your company’s visibility to qualified buyers. In addition, there are a variety of other SEO strategies to explore:
If your website isn’t bringing in valuable traffic, it’s time to upgrade your SEO strategy. Request a free digital health check to see how your search presence compares to your competitors.