Advice / Tips on getting a new website established and known to people

[jporter1TS]

Hello Guys,

Long-time lurker here, but I now need some help and/or tips on how to get a new ecommerce website out there to get both customers and traffic.

The website in question sells Bearings of all types from all the top manufacturers. I not sure if I am allowed to post the link here, if I can and need then I will.

The website has been custom developed (not based an any ecommerce packages like WooCommerce ect), we are quite happy with the looks and functionality. However, we are getting little traffic or interest.

Here is what we have done so far:

• Integrated Google Analytics
• Submitted Sitemap(s) to both Google and Bing
  • - both of these have discovered most if the URLs but have crawled/indexed very few of them
• Created a presence on Facebook, however we have no followers - we aren't creating content at the moment because there is no-one to see it.
• We have got a large number of backlinks.

Unfortunately our marketing budget is low, so we are having to watch what we spend this on.

Any help or advise would be greatfully received.

Many thanks in advance,

John

 

[fisicx]

You can buy bearings from all sorts of websites and marketplaces.

If you want to get your site known you need to invest in marketing. SEO will take a lot of effort and time. Advertising will bring in immediate income but could be costly. You could contact companies that use bearings. Then there are trade shows.

There is no quick or easy way to generate new business. And most require some financial commitment.

 

[Shopclicks]

The website has been custom developed (not based an any ecommerce packages like WooCommerce ect

Why?

 

[AlanJ1]

Created a presence on Facebook, however we have no followers - we aren't creating content at the moment because there is no-one to see it.

Why would anyone follow you if you have no content?

We have got a large number of backlinks.

Nice, but for a brand new site this isn't going to help short-term.

Unfortunately our marketing budget is low, so we are having to watch what we spend this on.

So how do you plan on getting "seen"? - I appreciate this is why you are posting on here, but there is no "magic formula" you are entering an established market with large players who have a marketing budget, you need to have a marketing budget to compete with these guys.

You are going to find even by driving traffic as you are new, conversion will be low. (Things like reviews, growing socials etc will help customers to feel you aren't brand new and someone they can trust).

I am sorry to say but you really needed a marketing plan before creating a new website. Anyone can get a website made, it is the next step on getting it found. Do you have any budget for ads?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Back to basics - why did you decide it was a good idea to create a website selling bearings? Serious question, the answer to which might provide an insight to where you should go with it.

Who, exactly, is your ideal Customer?

why will they choose you over many, many others?

In common with many, you are falling into the trap of seeing marketing as promotion before doing the real work, that will actually make your promotion successful.

The questions I have asked above - and many others, will guide you in how/where to promote your business. Until you do that your marketing budget will be a bottomless pit.

 

[jporter1TS]

Why?

Because of how we wanted the site to work,

The site is data driven and most things can be changed by editing or adding new entries in the database rather than having to modify the website itself.

 

[japancool]

• We have got a large number of backlinks.

Backlinks from where?

 

[jporter1TS]

Why would anyone follow you if you have no content?

Well the fact we are "unkown" to anyone at the moment, we have no followers, and we feel that it be more benefical to concentrate on getting ourselves known rather than creating content that no-one will see anyway.

I appreciate there is no magic formula - hence the reason I'm here, I do have it in the back of my mind that ads maybe the only way to get us out there as they say, but came here so see if there was anything else we could do either concurrently with ads or before/after that.

 

[Shopclicks]

Because of how we wanted the site to work,

The site is data driven and most things can be changed by editing or adding new entries in the database rather than having to modify the website itself.

Is that your own site in your profile?

 

[fisicx]

Because of how we wanted the site to work,

The site is data driven and most things can be changed by editing or adding new entries in the database rather than having to modify the website itself.

Which you can do in any data driven site. Which all e-commerce platforms are.

However, this doesn’t change the fact that none of your marketing efforts so far are going to have much value.

You need to spend cash to get traffic and then more cash to get them to convert.

I got a set of new old stock wheel bearings last week off eBay. You may well sell the same bearings but if you aren’t listing them on eBay I can’t buy them from you.

 

[fisicx]

Well the fact we are "unkown" to anyone at the moment, we have no followers, and we feel that it be more benefical to concentrate on getting ourselves known rather than creating content that no-one will see anyway.

A total waste of time. This is an outdated marketing technique that was never very good in the first place.

If I need a bearing I go to Google and search for the bearing I want. If I need a bulk supply I'll go direct to the manufacturer.

 

[Fagin2021]

I only know two things about bearings…

• My dad went to a lot of trouble bombing German bearing factories in WW11.
• Bearings aren’t sexy.

To market ‘on the cheap’ you might try…

• An email campaign with a special offer focused on a specific industry sector.
• Create a YouTube channel with some ‘how to’ videos (eg. how to fit a xytsjn bearing properly).

If these are inappropriate then you’re stuck with more expensive marketing…
“Get big, get niche or get out”

We've got no content because we've got no followers? - Chicken and egg question.

 

[jporter1TS]

Back to basics - why did you decide it was a good idea to create a website selling bearings? Serious question, the answer to which might provide an insight to where you should go with it.

First off, I perhaps should of said this in the opening post that we are an IT company providing IT Services to SMEs in the South Yorkshire area.

We operate a website selling Stainless Steel Fittings and Pipe, which has been operating since 2008, we saw Bearings as a product we could add to our range. As well as this, one of our IT customers sells bearings and wanted to sell there goods online, so this was the ideal oppurtunity to include bearings along side of the Stainless Steel products. So they would sell there bearings online but we would manage the website etc

Rather than having one website encompassing all products it was decided to create a second site for Bearings.

Who, exactly, is your ideal Customer?

Literally, anyone who is looking for a bearing, whether it's an individual or a company.

why will they choose you over many, many others?

Well, I'm sure many people will say this, but we believe we are very competive on price, We carry over 50,000 products with many in stock for next day delivery.

 

[jporter1TS]

If I need a bearing I go to Google and search for the bearing I want.

Bingo! That is our aim - to be on top of that list!

 

[fisicx]

Well, I'm sure many people will say this, but we believe we are very competive on price, We carry over 50,000 products with many in stock for next day delivery.

Great. But to make people aware of your products you need to be ranking on Google alongside all the other bearing suppliers. You also need to be on amazon, eBay and anywhere else people are looking for products.

And price is not a big factor for products such as bearings. I'd rather pay more for SKN than trust a cheap chinese copy.

 

[fisicx]

Bingo! That is our aim - to be on top of that list!

And that costs money. Lots of money.

 

[jporter1TS]

Is that your own site in your profile?

That is the website of the company I work for. It's very outdated and needs bring up to date!

 

[AlanJ1]

I appreciate there is no magic formula - hence the reason I'm here, I do have it in the back of my mind that ads maybe the only way to get us out there as they say, but came here so see if there was anything else we could do either concurrently with ads or before/after that.

There's hundreds of things, but nothing is going to be quick like ads could be. But you need to be clever on ads these days. It is a lot more expensive than it used to be and a lot more competition.

 

[Shopclicks]

First off, I perhaps should of said this in the opening post that we are an IT company providing IT Services to SMEs in the South Yorkshire area.

Why are you offering SEO services?

 

[AlanJ1]

And that costs money. Lots of money.

And time. Anyone promising this tomorrow will be blackhat techniques.

 

[jporter1TS]

Why are you offering SEO services?

We usually farm this work out to SEO companies rather than doing it ourselves.

We are trying our hand at this with this website to expand our own lnowledge on the matter.

 

[fisicx]

3-5 years if you are going it alone. Just getting to grips with the basics of SEO is going to take a year or more. And you will be recoding the website many times during this learning period. It’s all doable but it is very time consuming and will need more reading and research than you thought possible. And will probably all change even whilst you are doing your testing.

Have a read all about EEAT

 

[Fagin2021]

Literally, anyone who is looking for a bearing, whether it's an individual or a company.

So, a Masai Warrior in the Ngorongoro crater wanting a bearing for his ancient bicycle ? Sorry, don't intend to be rude or flippant but the answer 'anyone' is typical of someone who has no idea about marketing and is doomed to failure unless he has the wisdom to hire some expert help.

 

[Shopclicks]

We are trying our hand at this with this website to expand our own lnowledge on the matter.

Sounds like you need to get a paid membership on this forum and get a website review.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Here is what we have done so far:

• Integrated Google Analytics
• Submitted Sitemap(s) to both Google and Bing
  • - both of these have discovered most if the URLs but have crawled/indexed very few of them
• Created a presence on Facebook, however we have no followers - we aren't creating content at the moment because there is no-one to see it.
• We have got a large number of backlinks.

So, you are not doing any marketing and promotion!

You need to lurk where your potential customers are and keep telling them who you are.

If you want to be different, create videos with a sense of fun - 101 things to do with bearings.

 

[intheTRADE]

Get on that Google Shopping Carousel because that's where all your competitors are and where the majority of your consumers are buying from after their quick Google Search

Set up a PMax campaign and strip out all the assets groups apart from 'Shopping' so you aren't wasting budget across the likes of Gmail and YouTube

May not be the cheapest route to market but it will bring quick custom of which they can remarked to in other ways turning them into repeats custom

 

[japancool]

Rather than having one website encompassing all products it was decided to create a second site for Bearings.

So what worked for you steel pipes on fittings site?

How big is your PPC budget?

 

[Nick@Daydot]

I'll chip in, and start by saying it looks like you do need a better understanding of your customers as that will feed through into an effective marketing and distribution strategy. I have no knowledge of the bearings market but the questions I'd ask are

are you going after
- individuals
- small commercial companies
- large commercial companies
- charities, NGOs etc

Each of these may, or may not, have different procurement processes and supply chains. @fisicx has said that he'd Google it - do you know if that would that apply to all segments? Would different segments use different keywords? Are there some who would prefer cheap Chinese bearings whilst others want quality assurance? Fisicx also advised you to be on eBay and Amazon which sounds sensible and I'd assume that many purchasers would indeed look there, but maybe there are segments that don't.

If you could understand your customers you'd have an idea where to focus time and money distributing through different channels, and whether the website should indeed be the focus, and what marketing would be effective. Maybe an Amazon shop would be more appropriate?

As an IT company don't assume that the answers to your questions can be solved with technology. It's often a risk with IT-oriented efforts.

The main thing is to take a breath and work out an approach rather than throwing limited funds at the next shiny idea.

 

[japancool]

Literally, anyone who is looking for a bearing, whether it's an individual or a company.

OK. Why are people looking for bearings? What are they using them for?

 

[Mark T Jones]

First off, I perhaps should of said this in the opening post that we are an IT company providing IT Services to SMEs in the South Yorkshire area.

So essentially a side project which isn't getting your full attention?

We operate a website selling Stainless Steel Fittings and Pipe, which has been operating since 2008, we saw Bearings as a product we could add to our range

Can you not leverage that customer base?

Literally, anyone who is looking for a bearing, whether it's an individual or a company.

Therein lies your problem. 'Everyone' isn't a market. To even get close to it you'd need to spend millions (For context, McDonalds spent £69 million on UK advertising in 2022 and are nowhere near capturing 'everyone' - nor do they plan to).

The essence of marketing on a budget is to closely define your market and to have a compelling proposition.

Well, I'm sure many people will say this, but we believe we are very competive on price, We carry over 50,000 products with many in stock for next day delivery.

If you can't quantify / prove it, it isn't a benefit.

it also isn't a benefit if you target customer doesn't prioritise it. Since you don't know who your customer is, you can't know what their priorities are.

Before you spend anything on your site or on promotion, you need to grasp the basics.

Who are they?
Why will they be interested?
Where do they gather?

To repeat myself, without that you will be throwing your marketing budget into the wind.

 

[KM-Tiger]

Before you spend anything on your site or on promotion, you need to grasp the basics.

Who are they?
Why will they be interested?
Where do they gather?

To expand that a little:

If I was a buyer at small/medium engineering company I would know exactly who my bearing suppliers were. The only time I would look elsewhere (and possibly find your website) would be if I had a problem with an existing supplier. Maybe quality has gone down, maybe they have let you down with delivery dates?

Think on what those problems might be, and design your website to clearly show how you can solve them.

 

[intheTRADE]

I think the OP is getting a bit of a hard time over who they said their tagert market is. They didn't say 'Everyone' is, they said Everyone looking for a bearing - which essentially it is with a product count of 50,000

That size product count will (I assume) consist of individual bearings for one off purchases for individuals to bulk, regular repeat orders from trade

 

[Mark T Jones]

I think the OP is getting a bit of a hard time over who they said their tagert market is. They didn't say 'Everyone' is, they said Everyone looking for a bearing - which essentially it is with a product count of 50,000

That size product count will (I assume) consist of individual bearings for one off purchases for individuals to bulk, regular repeat orders from trade

Hopefully the OP will understand the message about targeting rather than seeing people being hard on them.

The fact is that they need to define their customer in order to find and sell to them obviously the product does that s bit, but it's still a long way from Target marketing

 

[intheTRADE]

Hopefully the OP will understand the message about targeting rather than seeing people being hard on them.

The fact is that they need to define their customer in order to find and sell to them obviously the product does that s bit, but it's still a long way from Target marketing

Of course, but they are right when they say everyone looking for a bearing - that's where their problem is, covering and being present for every such person

 

[fisicx]

Google says the largest roller bearing is made by SKF and is 1.25m in diameter. I'm not sure @jporter1TS will be stocking this.

I'm not sure they will be stocking white metal bearing either.

Or high temperature ceramic bearings used in rockets

Doesn't take long to discover a whole world of exotic bearings that won't be in that stock of 50,000.

 

[AlanJ1]

Set up a PMax campaign and strip out all the assets groups apart from 'Shopping' so you aren't wasting budget across the likes of Gmail and YouTube

May be worth trying normal shopping and Pmax. We are still seeing significantly better results on the older style.

 

[Paul Carmen]

@jporter1TS Unfortunately, this project, marketing and website build sounds the wrong way round.

As an example, if you have a successful ecommerce site selling relevant products, why start from scratch again, as you're potentially doubling work and diluting any marketing efforts?

A growth and marketing plan is key to the success of a project like this, and should focus on: -

• What are the ideal products you wish to sell (80:20 rule; e.g. 80% of the sales are from 20% of the inventory/customers)
• Who are your ideal customers, bearing in mind the 80:20 rule (pun intended)
• Where do they look and what do they look for; e.g. what are the key search terms
• What do you need to do to convince them to buy from you; e.g. your USP/pricing etc
• Who are the competitors and how competitive is the market
• What is your short, medium and long term marketing/growth plans

This would have (will) determine(d) what you should be doing with the website, other channels and touch points, plus how to structure your short to long term marketing.

It should encompass research, test campaigns, PPC, SEO etc, to understand what works and then plan for the future sales growth based on the data/results.

If the above isn't realistic for you, you need to work with someone who can do this for you. It's chargeable work that relies on research, insights, data, and testing to get great results, and is beyond the scope of a forum post.

 

[intheTRADE]

Exotic and bearing are two words I never thought I'd hear in the same sentence but I get your point

However, I doubt the many many other bearing sellers I seen on a quick search will be selling those niche, specific bearings- thats a whole other market completely

 

[intheTRADE]

May be worth trying normal shopping and Pmax. We are still seeing significantly better results on the older style.

As do mamy, but when you say 'normal' do you mean a Smart Shopping Campaign or a Manual One? Both heavily rely on historic data and performance which the OP doesn't have and all new campaigns are being pushed towards PMax.

There is so much wasted ad spend in PMax with Google spending daily budgets like they are going out of fashion across multiple asset groups. Strip them all out leaving a PMax campaign just targeting shopping and even complete novices can't really go wrong with generating business

 

[ctrlbrk]

Google says the largest roller bearing is made by SKF and is 1.25m in diameter. I'm not sure @jporter1TS will be stocking this.

I'm not sure they will be stocking white metal bearing either.

Or high temperature ceramic bearings used in rockets

Doesn't take long to discover a whole world of exotic bearings that won't be in that stock of 50,000.

My, aren't we Mr. Glass-Half-Full