As more and more manufacturing is done overseas, US based industrial and manufacturing companies need to think more globally in their web marketing efforts.  Language, cultural and time zone factors are all important considerations when developing your industrial internet marketing strategy.

Here are a few things to consider:

1.  Have your homepage professionally translated.  Identify the countries you want to target and what language(s) they speak.  Have a professional translation done for each language and create multiple versions of your homepage.  Allow visitors to pick the appropriate version from your English homepage.  If you can’t afford professional translation, try out Google’s Translate tool.  Keep in mind, however, that computer based translations tend to perform poorly on technical words and phrases.

2. Translate your Google AdWords too!  While you are at it, translate your pay-per-click campaigns.  I wrote about this some time ago (Go Global with your Pay-per-click Ads) but the principles remain the same.

3. Include a contact form.  I’m not a big fan of contact forms in general.  People tend to ignore them, opting for email or phone instead.  However, I do like them in cases where a website might have a lot of non-English speaking traffic.  With time differences, making contact via phone call is not always feasible.  And if someone is not very fluent in English, typing out an email can be daunting.  Thus, a simple form can eliminate availability issues and provide an easy way for foreign language speakers to contact you.

4. A picture (and video) is worth a thousand words.  On that same note, include pictures and videos to illustrate your product.  Images are universal – no language barriers to contend with.

5. List your manufacturer’s reps and/or foreign offices.  Do you have a rep in Europe?  An office in China?  A plant in India?  Wherever they are, you should list these locations prominently on your site.  It demonstrates your global presence and gives foreign customers additional contacts in their native language and/or time zone.

Once upon a time, the Internet was populated by clumsy websites, flashing graphics, animated .gifs and other unseemly things. Thankfully, those days are largely behind us, but for a few antiquated holdovers that just won't die. This is largely due to the increased options in web design and the increasing skill level of web designers.

If you are a business seeking to make waves in the online world, then you need to have the right web designers working on your behalf. What might happen if you choose the wrong option? Before we delve into the benefits of choosing the right provider, it might be useful to learn what you want to avoid.

First, it's essential that you understand that the wrong web design firm can actually harm your potential for online success. If the designer or design team does not have an intimate knowledge of your industry niche, your customers and your company, then they will not be able to create a website that mirrors those qualities. If the designer does not understand the goals of your customers, then your website will not be designed in a way that entices them to read more, to make a purchase or to place an order – whatever your goal might be.

Now, with the right web design company, you can obviously avoid those problems listed above. In fact, you can enjoy a considerable number of benefits here. First, your website will be constructed to meet the needs and expectations of those who visit your site. Industrial companies will expect certain options, while retail customers will have other needs – your web design firm needs to be able to understand and design your site with those needs and expectations in mind.

Another benefit that you'll enjoy is better natural search engine rankings, thanks to expert keyword research and placement within your overall site. Your web presence hinges on several things, but using the right keywords is one of the most important considerations here. The wrong keywords can lead to significant problems. However, the right keywords can boost your traffic (and your conversion rate) by a staggering amount. It's really all about proper targeting – you don't want mass appeal. You want to target those Internet users who are searching for what you have to offer. Keyword research and placement do that for you (along with several other key SEO practices).

Finally, when you use the right web design firm, you will enjoy access to related services that can further boost your online visibility and profitability. For example, you will benefit from specialized PPC management and ad creation that reflects your company's values, goals and services. In addition, you will also be able to enjoy benefits found through social media integration, such as a blog, a Twitter presence and a Facebook page. These are becoming more and more important in the modern world, as customers increasingly demand a more personalized approach to doing business. The right web design firm can ensure you are able to attract the right customers, immediately.

As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is particularly true when it comes to web design projects. Web surfers have extremely short attention spans and a few well-chosen and properly optimized images can do wonders in terms of drawing visitors to your web site and capturing their attention once they are there.

Here are 4 Tips to Leverage Images for Better Web Design Results:

1. Enhance the Message. The images you select for any web design project should supplement the written text on the page. In other words, your readers should be able to look at an image and immediately “get” why it is on that particular page. The worst thing you can do is pick an image because it is cute or funny, but distracts from the main points you are trying to make. It may capture attention and even generate a laugh or two, but that won’t help pay the bills. If an image takes attention away from your intended message and call-to-action, you should replace it.

2. Complement the Overall Design Aesthetic. Care should be taken to avoid adding an image to a web page that competes with or clashes with the overall look and feel of the site. For example, if your web design scheme is based on warm, earthy colors and conveys a sophisticated and subdued tone, a silly cartoon image comprised of neon pink and lime green will look out of place. Your readers will be scratching their heads and trying to figure out why that particular image is there, rather than focusing on your message.

3. Incorporate Keywords. Adding images to your web design projects can do more than help communicate your message to your target audience. They can also be used to help the search engines find and return your web pages to online searchers. There are two main ways you can accomplish this:

• First, change the file names for your images to include a targeted keyword or phrase for that page. This will make is easier for search engine spiders to “recognize” the image. To illustrate, a file named “TrendyYogaPants.jpg” is more meaningful than one with a generic file name like “0983491.jpg.”
• The second way to get organic search engine traffic from your images is to use “Alt Text” tags. Again, use the keywords or phrases you are targeting for that particular page. Not only will this help the search engines figure out what your image is about, it will also help your human visitors by providing a text explanation in the event the image fails to load.

4. Optimize for Speed. Site load speed is an important web design consideration. This is because slow load times can negatively impact how your web site ranks in the search engines and cause visitors to quickly reach for the back button. Overly large image files can slow down your site speed, so be sure to properly optimize each file to the smallest size you need before uploading it.

Effective web design is the key to developing a successful and profitable online presence. In many respects, your web site acts as the virtual equivalent of an offline sales representative. In other words, it should help develop leads, instill confidence, share information, solve problems and ultimately, close the sale. Unlike a face-to-face sales professional, your web site can't rely on developing rapport with potential customers over time. Instead, it has only a few brief seconds to capture the prospect's attention and start building that all-important online relationship. Fortunately, an effective web design strategy can help accomplish this.

Effective Web Design Is Based on These 2 Key Concepts:

1.    Keeping Your Ideal Customer in Mind at All Times. A business web site should never become a corporate vanity project. You'll know your web design plan is veering dangerously off-track when it becomes more focused on "we" than on "you." Too many business owners try to establish credibility by providing too much background information about themselves and their companies. While this makes sense in theory, it can quickly overload the short attention span of online surfers.

Instead, be sure to think about what matters most to your customers and focus on how your products or services can help solve their problems. When you relate information about yourself or your firm, keep in mind the old sales adage "What does this mean to you?" Asking - and answering - this question from your customers' perspective will keep your message focused on addressing their wants and needs as you plan your web design project.

2. Getting to the Point - Clearly and Quickly. Imagine having to sit through a lengthy sales presentation that never quite gets to the point. To be polite, you try to stay focused as the salesperson go on and on about all the great features surrounding his company and product line. Unfortunately, he never really explains why these things matter to you. Instead, he keeps plowing ahead without checking to see if you have any questions or concerns. To make matters worse, he neglects to close the conversation by asking for your business, so you are left looking at each other in awkward silence. After a moment, you politely thank him for his time and show him to the door, while you silently lament the hour of your life you'll never get back.

Of course, this scenario will never occur online because visitors to your site will never hang around that long! Which means your web design team will want to focus on ways to quickly grab their attention and get them to take some specific action, such as completing a contact form, requesting more information, or buying your products. You will have a very narrow window to accomplish these goals, so the design and message of your site will need to be clear, concise and easy to follow.  Powerful attention-grabbing headlines, an easy-to-navigate site structure, and a clearly defined call-to-action are all great ways to achieve these goals.

If your business operates online, certain web design choices can make or break the overall success of your web site. Although a lot of people prefer a “pretty” or visually compelling web site, there is a lot to be said for simplicity in many cases. This is because there are a number of important factors which must work together in order to convert first-time site visitors into long-term customers of your business.

From a marketing perspective, there are three important factors you want to consider before beginning any web design project. These include:

1.    The Web Site’s Major Purpose. Before a site is designed, it is important to define what it is supposed to do. A lot of businesses seem to skip this step and instead forge ahead simply because they’ve been told they need an online presence. Although they most likely do, addressing this issue first could lead to a much more successful outcome for them. Developing a clear understanding of what the site is meant to do (i.e., sell products or capture visitor contact information) increases the likelihood that the site will perform as intended. At the end of the day, there is no point in having a great-looking web site if it doesn’t add directly to your bottom line.

2.    The Graphic Elements. These essential components of effective web design add visual appeal and interest to your site. They include images, font types, color selections and other style choices that determine how the site “looks.” What makes these features so important is that they are what first captures your visitors’ attention (or not) and pulls them into your site (or not). Without a pleasing graphic presentation, it is very difficult to get web surfers interested enough in your site to stick around for a while. Think about it. How many times have you landed on a blinking, flashing, or otherwise visually chaotic web page and scrambled for the back button as fast as possible?

3.    The Web Copy or Content. Of course, these are the words found on your web site. Keep in mind, web copy and content are two different things: web copy is created in order to get your prospect to actually do something through a clearly defined call-to-action. Well-written web copy is compelling and spells out exactly what you want your prospects to do next, whether it is to pick up the phone, subscribe to your mailing list or submit a contact form. On the other hand, web content is generally informative in nature and adds value to your site by entertaining or educating visitors to your site.

The key to achieving strong conversion rates with your web site is to make sure that these 3 factors work in harmony with one another. Of course, you’ll want to introduce web copy that is aligned with your site’s (or individual web page) primary purpose. You’ll also want to make sure that the graphic elements don’t compete with or conflict with either the overall objective behind the site or the copy conveying that message. For best results, you’ll need to get all three pulling together in the same direction.