Macomb County and ThomasNet Help Manufacturers Increase Internet Sales

 

In the business world, the Internet has become the primary starting point for those marketing a product or purchasing products and services.  In fact, 90 percent of all business purchasing transactions originate on the Internet.  It is essential for manufacturers to understand this new way of doing business as they aim to increase sales and expand their markets.  Where once it was sufficient to simply have a presence on the Internet, today’s industrial buyers favor those manufacturers’ websites where they can easily locate the information they are seeking, and make their purchasing decisions based on product details that can be easily explored and are presented in a clear and concise manner.

In order to help manufacturers to better understand this new market dynamic, the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development sponsored a seminar conducted by ThomasNet designed to help manufacturers and other industrial businesses to maximize the impact of their websites, turning visitors into customers.  The seminar was held on February 11 at the Macomb Intermediate School District headquarters in Clinton Township.

The two-hour seminar presented information on…

• The latest research on online search methods

• How to get more Requests For Quotes (RFQ) and sales inquiries from a website

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques that help a company increase its website “hit rate” by those customers it is seeking to attract

• How to make detailed information about what a company sells, the most searchable on its website

• Using downloadable Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawings to put products in front of engineers who influence buying decisions.

 

The event, attended by 20 local manufacturing firms, was described by attendees as enlightening and very helpful. One company representative commented, “The seminar provided a lot of good information for us. We’re in the tail end of launching our new website and we now have some great ideas on how we can improve its effectiveness.”

The department, in partnership with ThomasNet and the Michigan Manufacturers Association, is sponsoring a second seminar scheduled for April 23, 2009.  The event will be held at Madonna University in Livonia. Details can be found at: www.ThomasNet.com/seminar/livonia.html .

 

ThomasNet is powered by the proprietary database of the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers.  It brings together industrial buyers and sellers nationally, regionally, and locally. For industrial buyers, ThomasNet.com is the one-stop destination that enables them to find the exact product, service or supplier they need, at the exact time they need it.

For industrial suppliers, ThomasNet.com delivers powerful Internet marketing solutions that help suppliers grow their business online by not only driving qualified industrial traffic to their websites but converting that traffic into buying customers. ThomasNet's complete range of online catalogs, CAD drawings, and e-commerce solutions help suppliers deliver the detailed information buyers need, want and expect on the web.