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New website reduces customer frustrations and retains Position 1 on search engines


WTI Fasteners had three critical elements they needed their new website to deliver on.

#1 Retain the search engine positions of the current site, as this drove almost all new business enquiries.

#2 Make the product selection process feel so simple that clients can select the right solution first time.

#3 Easy to edit the website without any technical ‘know-how’.

Jo Mason explains their concerns and the results achieved since their new websites launch in June.

Our existing site was No1 on Google, we were afraid a switch may lose this vital position

Although the existing site was difficult to update and limited in how it could present product information, it was in position 1 on all the leading search engines. The terms and key phrases featured in position 1 drove visitors to our website and this was our main source of new business enquiries.

We needed to free up the directors of the business from answering technical questions

WTI Fasteners manufacture helical inserts for a wide range of applications from aerospace and rail to automotive and medical equipment. Having grown significantly since 1989, the greatest challenge to growth was the technical support required to ensure clients specified the correct product. This is because the product is a commodity precision-engineered component. Which means although it’s low cost, where it is in use it performs a mission critical role. So selecting the correct size wire thread insert is of paramount importance. Because of this, the directors were typically the only ones with the specific product knowledge, so they had to deal with all technical enquiries.

Helping customers specify the right product was critical but very time consuming

Because the technical requirements for wire thread inserts can be confusing if you’re not familiar with the product, customers often specified the wrong dimension when ordering. This is partly due to different wire thread manufacturers using different specification selection processes. We had tried to resolve this issue on our website by publishing the different selection processes alongside technical illustrations, but this added to the confusion.

Ordering the wrong product could be disastrous

As the product is typically used within a tier 1 or 2 manufacturing process, having the wrong size wire thread insert can possibly hold up production. As a minimum, the delay and time required to understand what the correct dimensions are is very frustrating for a client. When trying to get a new potential customer to switch insert manufacturers, it was often this risk which blocked it. Many clients send in samples and drawings to ensure the selection of their insert size and material was correct first time. However this was a time consuming process.

With online ordering you have to trust the customers selection

Obviously if we are given a sample wire thread insert to match to we can guarantee the right product, but with online ordering you have to trust the customers selection. Because information on our old website was less interactive, it meant customers often experienced difficulty in finding the product they needed and typically called us.

We needed the resources to grow the business and help with sales and marketing

With more and more clients choosing the internet to source and procure supplies, we knew we needed to have a website to overcome this ‘specification’ barrier. But it couldn’t lose our existing search engine positions. All three directors within WTI Fasteners are very hands on and none of us really enjoy sales, or feel confident about marketing. Which meant we didn’t really know who to approach to help us overcome these challenges.

The ‘Get Inside Your Buyers Head Free Marketing Workshop’ really helped

Having attended one of Quiet Storm’s free marketing workshops, I felt comfortable they would be able to help us solve this challenge. This led us to participate in Quiet Storms’ Storming Growth Programme. This series of workshops explained the science behind sales and marketing and enabled us to develop a clear marketing strategy. It was designed around our business needs and resources, and gave us a real understanding of what we needed to do.

A website that could take the hassle out of specifying was identified as the key to our growth

This meant extracting the knowledge from the three directors to design a specification process which eliminated the most common selection errors. It could also incorporate clients switching from a competitor product within specification process. This means whichever dimensions the prospective customer wanted to use they arrived at the right solution for their needs.

This in turn has freed up the directors and made staff training easier

As well as new prospective customers being able to self-select with confidence, it’s also easier to train our sales support team. Now anyone can quickly and confidently walk a customer through a series of questions to arrive at the most suitable product for their needs.

The site is ecommerce ready and we’re working on further streamlining sales

The site has the products, weights and costs built in for small quantities, so its ready to go full ecommerce and further streamline our sales process. We can add new products, edit the content and have great support from Quiet Storm to keep us in control of our sales.

We’re really happy with the new site and the support we get from Quiet Storm

The site has prevented customers ordering the wrong product as it provides much clearer information. It’s retained the number 1 positions on the search engine pages we were concerned about and has steadily increased the traffic from a broad range of related search terms. What’s more, it’s really easy for us to manage updates.


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