Your Website Isn’t the Problem—Fix This First

Smarter Advice for B2B Industrial and Manufacturing Websites

Written by Sean Doyle

Before you spend time and money rebuilding your website yet again, ask yourself a few key questions. What if you fix what’s broken, first? If you are considering a website overhaul, something isn’t working. But is a full rebuild the answer? If your site was driving business effectively, you wouldn’t be discussing a complete redesign.

Taking incremental steps to fix what is broken reduces risk and accelerates time to revenue. It allows you to be in the market faster than a teardown and rebuild would. You spend less. You make more.

I spoke with two CEOs this week about their websites. Their concern? Their current sites weren’t supporting their revenue objectives…in turn not supporting their sales teams. That should be a primary function of any business website. Your best salespeople want a site that enhances their reach and impact. If your website isn’t working for them, it isn’t working at all.

Yet many executives are sold a different story. Marketing firms and tech vendors often push the idea that a complete rebuild is necessary. Sometimes, that is true. Sometimes. But what if you could invest a fraction of the cost and achieve the results you need? Instead of gambling all your resources on a single redesign, consider a smarter approach: Identify what needs improvement and optimize your existing site first.

This is how engineers solve problems—through incremental change. Instead of guessing what will work and investing everything in one attempt, they test, refine, and improve over time. Apply that same thinking to your website. Instead of one large change, make 15 or 20 smaller adjustments to understand what drives buyer engagement and best supports your sales team.

A high-performing website does more than present information. It drives action, removes friction, and creates meaningful sales opportunities. We consistently achieve a 16.9 percent click-through rate (CTR) on optimized web pages. If your site attracts 10,000 visitors annually, that translates to 1,690 potential sales opportunities—a measurable impact on revenue.

Here’s how to make that happen.

• Simplify the customer journey. Complexity stops buyers in their tracks. Count how many clicks it takes from your homepage to a key product or service page. If it takes more than three, rethink your navigation. Reduce unnecessary steps and create clear pathways so buyers can access the right information quickly.

Measure conversion performance. How many visitors take meaningful action? The answer varies by industry, but for B2B manufacturing and industrial companies, a strong benchmark falls between 2 and 5 percent. Where does your site stand?

At 2 percent conversion: 10,000 visitors per year equals 200 engaged prospects. At 5 percent conversion: 10,000 visitors per year equals 500 engaged prospects.

• Prioritize site speed. A slow website drives potential customers away. Use tools like HubSpot’s Website Grader or Google’s PageSpeed Insights to assess your site’s performance. A manufacturing or industrial site should aim for a load time under three seconds. Anything longer, and you are losing leads before they even see your offerings.

Site speed is not just a technical issue—it is a revenue issue. Studies show that a one-second delay in page load time can reduce conversions by 7 percent and increase bounce rates by 32 percent. For manufacturing companies, where buyers are sourcing high-value, complex solutions, slow load times introduce friction that can drive prospects toward competitors.

Key benchmarks to monitor:

1. Time to first key content appearing: Under 1.5 seconds.
2. Full page load time: Under 2.5 seconds.
3. Time to first byte (TTFB): Under 200 milliseconds.
4. Mobile performance scores: Over 80 in Google PageSpeed Insights.
   
   

• Enhance product visualization. Buyers need to understand how your solution fits their world. Instead of overwhelming visitors with technical specifications upfront, use high-quality images, interactive 3D models, or short product application videos. Detailed specs can come later in the sales cycle when buyers are ready to dive deeper.

Some companies hesitate to share too much. But modern editing and visualization tools allow you to demonstrate capabilities and credibility while maintaining control over intellectual property. The key is to balance transparency with strategic presentation.

So sure, leverage website audits—but from a revenue perspective. If your sales team is dissatisfied with your website, it likely is not driving business effectively. A comprehensive audit should assess user experience, visual design, messaging, and information architecture. Take it a step further by conducting a buyer obstacle analysis to identify where potential customers hesitate. Your website should remove barriers, not create them. The best website inspires prospects to learn more.

When your website is built to scale your sales team’s impact, the results are clear: more engaged prospects, stronger conversions, and real business growth. If your website is not delivering these results, it is time to rethink your approach.