Below is an article written by Thomas Industrial Network that makes sense when designing or re-designing your website:
The Internet has opened up a world of possibilities for industrial suppliers looking to grow their businesses online. At the same time, it presents many new challenges.
As the leading source of product and service information for industrial buyers on the web, ThomasNet has commissioned extensive studies on website usability. These studies laid the groundwork for the design of the new ThomasNet website (www.ThomasNet.com). Here is a sample of what we found:
96% Of all industrial buyers use the Internet in the process of researching, comparing and purchasing. |
65% Of Website visitors give up before they find what they came for |
62% The average drop-off rate of Websites that fail to captivate a visitor after 5 to 8 seconds. |
40% Of users who abandon a Website NEVER come back. |
One of the biggest mistakes companies and website designers make when designing their websites is that they guess at what the buyer wants. Our studies show that what Industrial Buyers want at your Website is:
- Extensive product information or descriptions such as specification sheets. As much as possible (90%).
- Regularly updated information with simple, intuitive, linking paths to locate that information.
- Pricing (84%)
- Online ordering, RFQ forms, E-Commerce
- Tech support details (61%)
- Product Applications/Uses (72%)
- Shipping information
- When Applicable - Downloadable CAD drawings, Plans (42%)
Easy to find “calls-to-action,” such as E-mail Addresses, Phone Numbers, Toll Free Phone Numbers, Contact Forms, etc.
Thomas’ website usability studies found that most industrial websites fail in supplying one, two, and three and in some cases any of these critical usability elements.
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