Engineering Website Must Haves

July 28, 2016

Great websites are defined by their design, content and functionality. Visitors may judge engineering companies by their website. In order to leave a good lasting impression, take note of the following seven must haves to include on your website:  

1. Showcase your talents.

Potential customers want to see your problem solving skills, project capabilities and employee service expertise. It’s common not to want to toot your own horn by bragging about how awesome and wonderful your company is. However, that’s basically what marketing consists of! Showcase your talents with a portfolio page and either a gallery or slideshow, so your completed work is on display for everyone to admire.

2. Provide a call-to-action.

The goal of your homepage should be to introduce visitors to your company and drive traffic further into your website. State right off the bat what you want your visitors to do and provide exactly what your visitors want to accomplish on your site. You can achieve this by making sure your CTA’S are noticeable by placing them above the fold of the homepage. You need at least two but no more than four: 1) CTA for visitors to help them find what they want quickly and 2) CTA to direct visitors where you want them to go. A call to action can be anything from a free trial to buttons for projects or services. It can even be as simple as a contact us for more information or to schedule an appointment.

3. Make it easy to navigate.

Nothing is more frustrating for a visitor than difficult navigation on a website. If they can’t easily explore your content and flip from one page to another in search of something particular, then they just won’t and they will leave. Don’t let that happen to your engineering website. Consider drop down menus, secondary navigation for sub pages, or breadcrumb menus to allow visitors to easily find their way through your site.

4. Display your geographical work area.

If your company spans from one seashore to the other, then say so! That is an interesting and informative detail potential customers would like to know. Displaying your geographical work area can mean two different things:

1) You have several locations across the state and/or country.

Showing a map can make finding the closest location much easier for customers. It also shares that you are willing to travel in order to meet the customer’s expectations and get the job done right, which is an impressive feat.

2) Your projects have been completed across the state and/or country.

Displaying a map can It can also be a determining factor on whether or not you have experience working in the potential customer’s region. Missouri terrain is a lot different than the Colorado’s Rocky Mountains…

5. Brag about awards.

Going back to the bragging topic, you worked hard for those awards be sure to showcase them! Awards are an incredible victory for your company and you should be proud of it. Awards inform viewers that your company is responsible and dependable, build up your credibility by displaying your hard earned accomplishments. A simple way to list awards can be like the featured picture above, include the award title, who awarded it along with a picture and maybe a brief description of the award.

6. Present quality photographs.

Photographs can be a hit or miss on engineering websites. Most companies are reaching the goal of posting original photography, which means taking pictures of your work and staff rather than using stock imagery. However, many engineering websites have poor quality photos: some are blurry, a few are oddly cropped and many have bad lighting. When taking your own photos, be aware of these challenges. For more information on DIY photography, check out our previous blog for tips on how to create your own photos.

7. Include safety information.

Safety is probably the most import thing for engineering companies. Therefore, shouldn’t your number one priority be on your website? The answer is YES! Potential customers might feel more comfortable with your company after reading how you keep the work environment a safe place. It will also portray your company in a professional way, and you should state that safety goals make you a professional because you are on!

8. Showcase areas of expertise/services/capabilities.

No lazy bulleted list for this section! With today’s technology, service pages are growing in popularity, not only with content but also with design. So, don’t just list your expertise and/or capabilities, display them in a stylish fashion. Create galleries or slideshows with links to each service page, where more detailed information can be found.

9. Optional Must Have: Feature a Careers page.

If your company is still growing, then you may be looking to fill a few more positions… If this is the case, create a careers page where current openings are listed. There, you can give information about the job and provide a way to apply, either by completing an online application or by contacting human resources. Another possibility is an email sign up list where interested applicants can be updated via email about new job opportunities.

Looking for examples?

Do you want to read more about engineering websites? Perhaps view a few well-designed ones? If so, head on over to our previous blog post on the Best Engineering Website Designs. There, you will find several examples and a brief explanation on why they are considered the best.