While it’s important your business’s website has a professional look, people need to be able to find it.
Whether you’re a multinational or a start-up business, there are seven essential web pages for a mining supplier or service provider.
Before we get to that, however, it’s important to explain the purpose of a website.
The aim of your website is to ensure your company is found for any relevant online keyword searches.
People rarely search on company names; they search by searching Google for the solutions they’re seeking.
There’s no point having a website with all the bells and whistles if it can’t be found in search results when someone Googles relevant keywords to your core business.
The second thing worth emphasising is that, if you’re investing in a website or website upgrade, ensure you have something you can easily update to the best of your ability without third-party assistance.
Websites based on open source blogging tools and content management systems are great because you can easily make basic updates to your site, such as editing text and adding pages.
Seven essential web pages
1) Home page
Your home page is effectively your shop front.
It should include your company logo and mission statement and at least one glowing testimonial or recommendation from a client – and preferably a professional photo of the client – positioned front and centre on the page.
Maybe have a gallery window that automatically shows multiple testimonials – five is more than enough – with each slide having a professional photo of the client and their testimonial.
2) Capabilities page
The capabilities page should be a summary of no more than 300 words focusing on what your company can do. It should be clear, concise, factual and specific.
Avoid industry jargon and statements, words and phrases like ‘were customer-focused’, ‘results-driven’ and ‘outcomes orientated’.
These kinds of statements, words and phrases are okay in testimonials and recommendations from clients and customers, but coming from you they’re meaningless.
3) Company record page
Who have you worked with? What type of projects have you worked on? What have you delivered for your clients or customers?
Again, be specific.
A good example: “XYZ Engineering Services delivered the main civil works construction of a main civil works package for the ACME Project Onshore LNG project. This was critical infrastructure required for the building of the onshore LNG facilities. The civil and construction operations included steel piling, earthworks, roads and paving and concrete works.”
4) Accreditations & special techniques page
If you’re a service provider to the mining community, this page is critical because it explains your credentials and communicates credibility.
For example: “XYZ Engineering Services is Quality Certified to AS/NZS ISO 9001: 2000 – for consulting services, project management, engineering, procurement, construction management and maintenance…”
Also, be sure to include logos linked to any accredited bodies.
5) Testimonials page
No matter how capable you are, no matter how good your company record, no matter what accreditation and special techniques you have, no matter what plant and equipment you have – nothing is as powerful and effective in promoting a business than recommendations from clients.
Best of all testimonials and recommendations are free – providing of course you have clients satisfied with your equipment and/or services.
Keep testimonials and recommendations brief. A few sentences are fine.
If you can stretch your budget invest in a brief video clip to post on the page with testimonials and recommendations from your clients. It’s the most powerful and potent form of promotion.
6) Announcements page
Call it a ‘news’ page, a ‘blog’ page, a ‘what’s new’ page or an ‘announcements’ page, but ensure you’ve got content on this page and ensure you’re updating it at least weekly.
You don’t need to write an essay – a brief blog about trends and developments in the equipment and service your provide is just as good.
7) Contact page
Every website has a ‘Contact Us’ page, but many are presented poorly and impersonally. This is the page where you should have a human face to your company. It personalises your company and makes you more approachable.
Provide a thumbnail image of the key faces in your management and front-line teams.
Ensure each photo is professional (no fishing trip photos) and include each person’s contact details.
If people on your management team don’t want to display their direct lines or personal email addresses then at the very least provide the switch number and general enquiry email address alongside the person.
