Today, to new and potential customers, a good business website is often the face of a company. It represents your business to a worldwide audience, answers customer queries, and should help generate leads. A great-looking website isn't enough if it can’t attract adequate traffic to it. The best manufacturing websites have mastered several ways to increase traffic on their sites.

In a B2B climate, where most manufacturers exist, social media may not sound like a priority. Or, if social media is a "priority," it’s one that often gets pushed aside due to tight turnaround times and small staffs. That’s why we created this social media cheat sheet for the little guys and the underdogs -- like you.

You can’t just blindly do social media marketing because some guy at a business seminar told you to. Whether you’re running a Facebook business page, looking for leads on LinkedIn, or (hopefully) using multiple social platforms to spread brand awareness, you need to track what’s working -- and what’s not.

Quick: What’s the difference between a Facebook profile, group, and business page? If you don’t know, you’re in danger of missing your target audience. Creating a Facebook business page is NOT the same thing as making a profile or starting a group.

By now, you’ve probably heard social media is supposed to be this treasure trove of free and cheap advertising. But if you’re like a lot of manufacturers and other folks who frequent trade shows, you’re still waiting for the evidence. Well, don’t give up just yet. And, don’t assume what you’ve been doing up until now hasn’t been working -- you just need a few more trade show ideas that connect with modern buyers.

Over 79 percent of marketing teams say they were able to increase web traffic with as little as 6 hours per week of social media marketing, according to Social Media Examiner. Yet there are holdouts in manufacturing who either ignore social media altogether or don’t do it effectively. Using social platforms -- correctly -- is more important than ever to your B2B social media strategy.

Manufacturers, in general, have been slow to learn and adopt digital best practices like content marketing to stand out in the 21st century. Not being absolutely sure about website traffic isn’t an option in the breakneck speed and high stakes of the digital world.

Are you manufacturing brand loyalty online? If not, you’re already behind these awesome manufacturing marketing teams.

You're kinda small, and your competition is very very large. What's a small business to do? Although it might seem like a losing battle, small business SEO services can provide some aces for your sleeves.