6 Web Design Tips for Aviation Manufacturers

Most Internet users today use search engines to find what they’re looking for online, and search engine optimization, or SEO, is the only way to ensure that your site will show up in the search results. By optimizing your site for keywords related to your industry and products, you can improve the chances that people who are looking for products like yours will arrive at your site—and not the sites of your competitors.

This is absolutely essential, because even the best-designed sites are useless if people can’t actually find them. It would be a shame to spend weeks (and thousands of dollars) building a site, only to realize that the amount of visitors it receives isn’t enough to justify the cost.

Also, it’s important to note that SEO is an ongoing process, and algorithm changes happen all the time. So if your site hasn’t been optimized within the past year, this is definitely something to discuss with the web design company you choose to work with.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but perhaps they’re worth even more when it comes to dazzling visitors to your website. Humans are visual creatures, and stunning photography can often be the element that draws us in and makes us want to learn more about a product.

For that reason, we recommend that you hire a professional photographer to take images for your site. Even if you only get a handful of photos, they can form a solid basis for your site’s layout. And contrary to popular belief, this strategy works for virtually every industry.

Whether you choose to use photos of your products being manufactured, or photos of finished aircraft made with your parts, they can help show potential buyers what they’d get if they used you as a supplier.

A news section is the perfect place to showcase awards, honors, events, publicity and more. The key, though, is to keep the news flowing. One of the biggest mistakes made by aviation manufacturers is having a news section and then allowing it to “go dark”.

When a potential investor or buyer comes to your site, he or she wants to read updated news, not news that’s two years old. As an added bonus, a well-put-together news section can be a great visual addition to your homepage, because it shows visitors right off that bat that your site is well-maintained.

Although content isn’t necessarily a design element, it’s important to keep in mind as you work with a designer on the layout of your site. You’ll need plenty of room for body copy, not just because it works wonders for SEO, but also because it’s compelling to visitors.

If you’re not sure where to start, try writing up a company history. We all like a good story, and if your company has one, it can lend a personal feeling to an otherwise corporate site. This can set your aviation manufacturing company apart from the rest, and bring in leads who would otherwise lose interest and leave.

Pro tip: Use a customer relationship management (CRM) platform to easily analyze audience behavior on your website to understand which content your prospects enjoy the most. A CRM for manufacturing is a powerful tool that helps you create more high-quality content that provides your audience with the information they need, which leads to more conversions and revenue for your business.

Many aviation manufacturers have PDF copies of product brochures on hand. Why not offer these on your website in exchange for email addresses (and names, phone numbers, etc.) of visitors?

This strategy, often called “email gating,” allows you to judge how often your brochure is being downloaded, which gives you a good indication of interest. It also allows you to begin collecting names of people who may be interested in finding out more about what you make. You can use those names later as part of an email drip campaign, or for direct selling.