Industrial Marketing on the Internet: Leveling the Playing Field

Remember when the Internet was free? Small and large companies alike had the same chance of their web sites being found on the Internet. The playing field was level; money had no influence on search engine results. Over time capitalism crept in and search engines tried to find a way to become profitable, charging for favorable positioning in the form of ads or charging a fee for inclusion in their database. Hitting your target audience Most major search engines attempt to index sites on every topic imaginable. Each time a user performs a search the engine relies on a ranking system to determine which sites have more relevancy and quality. Both relevancy and quality are important issues. Typically, the broader the search engine, the less relevant the search results will be. The search results pages tend to be cluttered with sites that have nothing to do with industry. They are also diluted with directories, trade publications, and associations that are able to maintain high rankings due to the massive size of their sites and linking schemes. What about industrial directories? These directories do not operate like true search engines. A search engine can deliver results with one click of the mouse. Directories require the user to repeatedly select from a list of headings until arriving at the desired results page. Even if they have a search feature, it brings up a "sampling" of sites from various categories and the user then has to drill-down to find the complete listing of sites in the appropriate category. This usually means multiple steps for the user that can be both frustrating and a waste of time. On top of the multiple-click issue, Industrial directories usually charge for representation in their database and sell preferred positioning or advertising at great expense. This means that many companies have to pick and choose the directories they can afford thus limiting the overall size of their database to those who can afford a listing. Targeted advertising everyone can afford A new search engine has just arrived dedicated to serving only the industrial community: Industry2Industry.com. This is a free-to-list search engine specifically for industrial companies that provide products and services. By filtering out the non-industrial providers, directories, trade publications, and associations from the main search results, Industry2Industry.com delivers quality search results for industrial buyers. The results are not influenced by money; hence it is a level playing field for all companies in the database. Industry2Industry.com offers industrial buyers a relevant platform to search for quality goods while providing an advertising medium free-of-charge for all industrial companies. Removing listing fees provides buyers with a more complete database and gives all industrial companies an opportunity to be represented, not just those with large budgets. In addition, the "recommend this vendor" feature and the rating system affords industrial buyers the opportunity to voice their satisfaction with specific companies. These tools provide buyers with valuable information when specifying products and gives valuable feedback to the site owner. Managing your message With most search engines, the site owner cannot really control the message shown when his site is selected for a search query. The description under the title of the selected link may or may not come directly from his site or his meta description tag (a tag most site owners use to state what their page is about). With directories, the site owner may get a chance once-a-year or so to update his listings' description, if at all. At Industry2Industry.com, however, a site owner can log into his site's listing at any time and update the title and description displayed to users. It's by controlling this information that the site owner can influence the terms that his site will appear in a search result. It is to the benefit of the site owner to enter specific and accurate terms that will bring buyers to his site. Industry2Industry.com recognizes that industrial site owners want relevant traffic and trust their judgment as to how to achieve that goal with the proper title and description. Unlike some Internet media that forbids the use of superlatives, at Industry2Industry.com there are no limits on how a site owner may describe his site except in the number of characters allotted for this purpose. As a professional Internet marketer that specializes in promoting industrial websites on the Internet, we feel that Industry2Industry.com is a great way to get your site more exposure and a valuable tool for the Industrial buying community.