Imagine a design engineer in Munich who needs a supplier for a batch of precision parts in a material her usual partner cannot process. She searches for the process and the material, finds three Swiss companies and gives each website a few minutes. The first shows a list of services and a photo of its building. The second offers a PDF brochure from several years ago. The third has a page for exactly that process, with the materials, size range and tolerances it holds, two photos of comparable parts and the direct number of an engineer. It is not hard to guess which company receives the enquiry. This guide is about becoming the third company.

Why industrial websites follow different rules

A consumer looks at a website and decides in minutes. A technical buyer looks at it several times over weeks or months: first to check whether you can do the job at all, then to compare you with other suppliers, then to prepare an internal recommendation, and finally to find the right person to talk to. Often several people from engineering, purchasing and quality are involved, and each looks for something different.

That changes what matters. Big images and slogans are secondary. What counts is how quickly an engineer finds tolerances, materials and capacities, how easily a purchaser finds certifications and delivery terms, and how directly a quality manager reaches someone who can answer a technical question.

Winterthur’s industrial companies often have excellent capabilities and very modest websites. The site was built years ago, describes the company in general terms and hides the real expertise in PDF brochures. That is an opportunity for every company willing to show what it actually does.

What each person in the buying process looks for

Write for the person who forwards your website

B2B websites are often read second-hand. The engineer who found you sends the link to purchasing, purchasing sends it to quality, and someone summarises it for management. Each of them opens a single page, usually not the homepage, and has to understand it without context.

That changes how you write. Every important page needs a short summary at the top that answers who you are, what you do in this specific area and what the reader should do next. Key facts should be quotable: numbers, materials, certifications, lead times, written so that someone can copy them into an internal email. And every page should end with a named contact, not a generic form. A website that survives being forwarded wins projects that a beautiful homepage never will.

Capability pages instead of a list of services

Many industrial websites list services in one sentence each: “CNC machining”, “assembly”, “engineering”. That tells a buyer almost nothing. A capability page explains what you can actually do: materials and dimensions you handle, typical batch sizes, tolerances you hold, machines or processes you use, industries you serve, and examples of parts or projects.

One capability page per process or service is usually the best structure. Each page can then rank for the specific searches technical buyers make, such as a process combined with a material or an industry. A short “typical projects” section with photos of real parts, where confidentiality allows, is often the most persuasive element on the whole website.

Be honest about limits as well. A short line such as “we machine parts up to 800 mm in length; for larger parts we work with a partner” saves both sides time and makes everything else on the page more believable. Industry pages are a second useful layer. A page for medical technology, one for machine building and one for energy, each explaining what you do for that industry and which requirements you meet, helps buyers recognise themselves quickly.

Technical documentation: make it findable

Technical buyers need documents: data sheets, certificates, material specifications, sometimes CAD models or installation manuals. Many companies hide these in a download area behind a login or scatter them across old PDFs.

Make documents easy to find from the page they belong to. Put the key information from each data sheet on the web page itself so it can be read on a phone and found in search, and offer the PDF as a download for those who need it. Keep certificates current; an expired ISO certificate on your website raises more questions than no certificate at all. If some documents must stay confidential, explain how to request them, and answer those requests quickly.

Export: languages and markets

Many Winterthur companies sell a large share of their output abroad. For them, English is not optional. Buyers in Germany may accept German, but customers in most other markets, and international corporations even in Switzerland, expect English.

A complete English version is the minimum for exporters. Additional languages make sense where you have sales partners or many customers, but only if you can maintain them. Each language needs its own pages and addresses, connected correctly so search engines show the right version in each market. Technical texts should be translated by someone who understands the subject; a mistranslated tolerance or material name damages credibility instantly. The setup is explained in our multilingual SEO guide.

Distributors, partners and service

If you sell through distributors or have service partners abroad, give them a page. Customers in other countries want to know whom to contact locally, and partners benefit from a central place for product information and marketing material. A simple map or list of partners by country, with contacts, saves your sales team many emails.

For companies with spare parts or consumables, a simple ordering or request system on the website can reduce phone calls and speed up service. Depending on your process, that can be a request form with part numbers or a full B2B shop. Our e-commerce guide helps you decide which fits.

Recruiting engineers and apprentices

Skilled people are one of the biggest constraints for industrial companies in the region. Winterthur companies compete with large employers in Zurich and with each other for engineers, technicians and apprentices.

Your careers page has to sell the job as carefully as your capability pages sell the product. Show the workplace, the machines and the team. Explain what an apprenticeship with you looks like, which training you offer, how people develop, and which languages are used at work. Publish open positions on your own site, not only on job boards, and keep them current. For apprenticeships, write for two audiences at once: the young person and their parents, who often read the page first.

Trust signals that matter in B2B

Avoid empty superlatives. “Leading”, “innovative” and “high quality” appear on almost every industrial website and mean nothing to a buyer. Specific facts, such as the materials you process or the certifications you hold, are what build trust.

Technical enquiries: the contact that converts

For many industrial companies, the most valuable action on the website is a request for quotation. Make it easy: a form with fields for the essentials, the option to attach drawings or specifications, and a clear note on what happens next and how quickly you respond. Mention that drawings and data are handled confidentially, and make sure your privacy policy covers uploaded files.

Show a direct phone number for technical questions. Many engineers prefer a quick call before sending a formal request, and a named contact with a direct line removes the hesitation. For local customers in Winterthur and the surrounding region, a complete Google Business Profile and consistent company details support local search, as explained in our local SEO guide.

Your sales engineers have already written your best content

Every week your sales engineers answer the same questions by email: which material is better for a certain application, what tolerance is realistic, how long a prototype takes, what information you need for a quote. Those emails are the most valuable content your company produces, and they disappear in inboxes.

Ask your team to forward the best answers to one person once a month. Remove anything confidential, tidy the language and publish them as short FAQ entries or application notes, in German and English. Within a year you have a library of genuinely useful answers that no competitor can copy, written in the words your buyers actually use. It is also the fastest way to make your website sound like your company rather than like a brochure.

Content that brings technical leads

Engineers search for solutions to specific problems long before they search for suppliers. They type questions about materials, tolerances, surface treatments or process choices into Google. Companies that answer those questions on their website meet buyers at the very start of a project, often before the specification is written.

Three formats work particularly well for industrial companies. Application notes describe how a typical problem was solved, which process was chosen and why, with numbers where confidentiality allows. Engineering FAQs answer the questions your sales engineers hear every week, such as minimum wall thicknesses, lead times for prototypes or the difference between two processes. Comparison pages explain when one process or material is the better choice than another, honestly, including when you are not the right supplier.

This content does not need to be long or frequent. One solid article a month, written with your technical team and published in German and English, builds visibility over a year and gives your sales team useful links to send to prospects. Each article should link to the matching capability page, so readers move from the problem to your solution in one click.

Real images of production

Stock photos of generic factories are easy to spot and say nothing about your capabilities. Photos of your actual machines, inspection equipment, clean rooms or assembly areas, and of the people who work there, tell buyers far more. Short videos of a process in action can be even more convincing. Plan one professional photo day every few years, and add simple, well-lit phone photos of new projects in between.

Is your B2B website ready for technical buyers?

Tick what is already true for your website today.

What an industrial website costs

Our subscription covers design, content support, Swiss hosting, updates and a yearly design refresh for CHF 49 a month in one language or CHF 69 for two, billed annually. Larger industrial sites with product catalogues, many documents or more languages get an individual offer. If you want regular technical articles in two languages to build visibility, the Growth plan adds eight blog posts a month for CHF 199. Details on our web design prices page.

"Swiss made", explained rather than claimed

For many buyers abroad, Swiss manufacturing stands for reliability and precision, and also for a higher price. A website that simply shows a Swiss flag leaves the buyer to justify that price on their own. Explain instead what Swiss production means in your case: shorter communication paths, tight quality control, delivery reliability, engineering support close to the machines.

Be careful with the claim itself. Under the Swissness rules that apply since 2017, industrial products may be labelled "Swiss made" only if at least 60 percent of the manufacturing costs arise in Switzerland and the essential manufacturing step takes place here. If your products meet these conditions, say so with confidence; if they only partly do, describe precisely what is done in Switzerland.

Five mistakes we see on industrial websites

1. Capabilities hidden in PDF brochures. Search engines and phone users cannot read them well, and buyers give up.
2. Generic services lists. "CNC machining" without materials, sizes or tolerances does not help a buyer decide.
3. No English version. International buyers and corporations based in Switzerland leave before they understand your strengths.
4. Expired certificates. Outdated quality documents raise doubts about the whole company.
5. No direct technical contact. A general info address is not enough for an engineer with a specific question.

How we work with Winterthur companies

We work remotely across Switzerland and meet in person when it helps, for example to photograph your production. After a free 30-minute call we define audiences, languages and the page structure, write the content with your technical experts, build the website and look after hosting, updates and changes. Because it is a subscription, new capability pages, documents or job ads can be added at any time without a new project. Before choosing any provider, read our guide on how to choose a web design agency in Switzerland.

Asel Mamytova

Founder of Clear Design Experts. She builds clear, multilingual websites for Swiss SMEs and international firms, including technical B2B companies.

Updated November 2026. Examples are general and not tied to a specific client.

Industrial web design in Winterthur: frequently asked questions